"The Reign of God" is a Subjective Genitive
That's one of many things I learned last night in my first class at MBBS. The class is called "The Church and God's Mission in the World" and that is exactly what it is about. We will discuss God's mission from creation, through the Israelites, through Christ, through the apostles, through church history, and up to the present day. The ultimate goal is to determine just what it is we're supposed to be up to.The teacher is excellent. Three hours flew by. I came out with a great deal to digest and ideas galore for classes I want to teach.
One of the key ideas (for me) was the idea of God's Kingdom being active. We often mistakenly think of the Kingdom as being a place rather than an activity. It helps me to think of it as the "reign of God" rather than the "kingdom of God." As disciples, we are called to join our Creator in His work, not to simply be where He is. This is what Jesus meant when he told the twelve, "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor." (John 4: 38, NAS)
We enter into the Kingdom just as we enter into this labor. Alongside an active, loving God.
posted by Thurman8er @ 10:22 AM
8 Comments:
It was the revelation of this kingdom perspective (Rubel Shelly at Pepperdine lectureship years ago) that helped me see the "church" beyond just those we approve and accept.
I love your point, "We often mistakenly think of the Kingdom as being a place rather than an activity."
When one is of the "place mentality" one tends to be in a "defensive posture" rather than "offensive" as in going out and looking for change.
Wow... and I thought the History of Music was a broad subject when I was in college. Can't wait to hear where these discussions lead you and your classmates.
I csn feel your excitement. Looking forward to more.
Amen brother. From the beginning, God has sought after man like Hosea after his unfaithful wife because He loves us. We come closest to Him, I believe, when we realize what He wants most is to use our hands and arms to reach out to someone else.
Now...explain "subjective genitive" please.
Steve:
If you don't mind, I'll field the question by timeless and free you up to study for your class. "Subjective genitive" is a genitive that just hasn't quite been nailed down to become a "determined genitive." In other words, a genitive still open for interpretation, opinion, and analysis.
Now if I only had a clue just what a genitive so happens to be??? Glad I could help. It's good to know my years at Harding Grad School of Religion were not for naught.
Stoogelover...and Steve,
I hope that everyone didn't think I was being "lazy" by not looking up the word in the dictionary...I DID...and I knew less than if I hadn't looked it up! Vague, to say the least. The word's origins are Greek...that's all I know. But thanks for giving some definition by explaining the "subjective" part. If you have a hard time explaining "genitive", then I don't feel so bad. An analogy or example may be helpful to me.
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