Entering The Kingdom of God

I had a chat with a robot this week. He said some pretty interesting things. Chris said I should share them with you. I was reluctant.

Do you know about artificial intelligence (AI)? There has been massive progress with artificial intelligence in just the last few weeks, and huge publicity. The most prominent have been “AI art”. You enter some prompts telling the computer what you want and it draws a picture for you. And some of them are absolutely stunning. (The two in the PowerPoint were created by Midjourney.) And, ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a robot that you can have a conversation with about any topic. It was ChatGPT that I consulted. We had a chat about entering the Kingdom of God.

Last week, we saw that the central message of Jesus was the good news of the Kingdom of God. We defined the Kingdom of God as existing wherever God is King. Wherever God is acknowledged as King and allowed to reign, the Kingdom of God is present.

There are many, many passages about the Kingdom of God and many explicitly about entering the Kingdom. How do we become part of God’s Kingdom? Is it the same as being saved? I asked ChatGPT.

Here’s why I have reservation.

1.     My purpose is not to glorify this new technology. It is pretty amazing but our purpose is to glorify God. If you go away thinking more about AI than about God, I have failed.

2.     I would not trust a robot to faithfully interpret the Bible or to understand Christianity. It only knows what it has been taught and it can be very wrong. At best it might raise some ideas that we need to then question. Is that true? Is that what the Bible teaches?

3.     There are major concerns about artificial intelligence. Are robots going to become cleverer than humans and take over? Students can right now ask an AI chatbot to write their essays for them. Teachers are going to have to teach differently. Or pastors might ask robots to write their sermons. That is scary. A robot can mimic words but it cannot really understand spiritual things.

With all that in mind, let’s look at parts of this conversation and question how well ChatGPT has done.

I asked “What is the Kingdom of God?”

The Kingdom of God is a central concept in the Bible, and it is often referred to in the teachings of Jesus. The Kingdom of God is a term that describes the rule and reign of God over all of creation. It refers to the idea that God is the sovereign ruler of the universe, and that his will should be obeyed and his glory should be acknowledged by all people.

The Kingdom of God is often depicted in the Bible as a present reality, as well as a future hope. In the present, the Kingdom of God is a spiritual reality that is available to all who have faith in Jesus Christ. When a person places their faith in Jesus, they become part of God's Kingdom and experience the blessings of the Kingdom, such as peace, joy, and righteousness. The Kingdom of God is a place where God's will is done and His word is supreme, it's where God's sovereignty is being acknowledged.

The Kingdom of God is also described in the Bible as a future hope, it will come in its fullness when Jesus returns to establish his eternal Kingdom on earth. At that time, the Kingdom of God will be fully realized and will be marked by the complete and final defeat of sin and death, the restoration of all things, and the establishment of God's righteous rule over all the earth.

One way to think about the Kingdom of God is that it is the manifestation of God's reign and rule over the world and it's inhabitants. It's where God's will is done and where he reigns supreme. It's available to those who follow Jesus and it's a hope that one day will be fully realized. The Kingdom of God is also a state of being, of having God's authority, his peace, his joy and his righteousness in our lives.

Did it get that right? Was there anything you would want to tweak?

It defined the Kingdom of God as the manifestation of the reign and rule of God and it emphasised both the present reality of the Kingdom and the future hope of the Kingdom. Jesus said the Kingdom was present during His ministry but He also pointed to the day when God’s Kingdom would come in its fullness. Theologians sometimes talk about the Kingdom being “already but not yet”. The Kingdom is already here but not yet here.

Many times Jesus said “the Kingdom of God is among you” or “the Kingdom of God is near”.

Luke 11:32

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” [past tense]

Matthew 21:31

“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you…” [present tense – tax collectors and prostitutes are currently entering]

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ [Future tense]

READ Matthew 25:31-46

That passage is very clearly about the final judgement. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” And about entering the Kingdom (expressed here as inheriting the Kingdom). Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

I asked ChatGPT “What did Jesus teach about entering the Kingdom of God?

In the Bible, Jesus teaches that the way to enter the Kingdom of God is through repentance and faith. He emphasizes the importance of humility and a contrite heart, as well as loving God and loving one's neighbour.

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus states that it is difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God, and that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom.

Additionally, Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is among us, and that those who do the will of God are those who enter it. He also teaches that one must be born again in order to see the Kingdom.

Overall, Jesus’ teachings about entering the Kingdom of God generally emphasize humility, helping others, faith, and repentance, rather than following any particular set of rules or religious rituals.

It mentioned a number of things there:

1.     Repentance

2.     Faith

3.     Humility and a contrite heart

4.     Loving God

5.     Loving one’s neighbour

6.     The difficulty for the rich to enter the Kingdom

7.     Doing the will of God

8.     Being born again

In another answer it added 9. a childlike faith.

What do you think of those answers? Did Jesus say all those things are necessary? Are there any that you want to question?

1.     Matt 4:17 – repent for the Kingdom of God is near

2.     John 3:16 – so that whoever believes…

3.     Matt 5:3 – blessed are the poor in spirit; Luke 18:13-14 – tax collector and pharisee

4.     Matt 22:37-38 – not directly related to entering the Kingdom but the most important command

5.     Matt 25:31-46 – sheep and goats

6.     Matt 19:23-26 – rich ruler; easier for camel to go through eye of needle

7.     Matt 7:21-23 – only those who do the will of my Father…

8.     John 3:1-8 – Nicodemus, you must be born again

9.     Mark 10:15, Luke 18:17 – anyone who does not receive the Kingdom like a little child…

This raises some questions. Are all of these things necessary or are we saved by faith alone? Depending on our background, we might say that if we believe in Jesus we will be saved. Faith plus nothing.

But Jesus did actually say these things – quite bluntly. In the parable of the sheep and the goats the judgement is based on whether or not we have cared for those in need. In Matthew 7, Jesus clearly said that only those who do the will of His Father in heaven will enter the Kingdom of God.

If we view salvation through the lens of being guilty or innocent before God, it centres on our sins being forgiven. I believe Jesus died for my sins. If I believe that, my sins are forgiven and I am saved. And some go so far as to say it doesn’t really matter what I do after that.

Forgiveness of sins is at the heart of the gospel. However, if we look through the Kingdom of God lens we begin to see that it is about living as citizens of the Kingdom – living under the kingship of God, doing the will of God, caring for the disadvantaged, etc.. Faith is not just about believing some truth about Jesus’ death. Faith is trusting Jesus enough to dedicate our whole lives to Him and follow Him wherever He leads and doing whatever He asks. Jesus said our salvation depends on our obedience.

Jesus said to Nicodemus that we must be born again to enter the Kingdom. That new birth is a gift from God. It is a spiritual birth given to those who believe in Jesus. We are forgiven. We become new people. We become children of God, etc..

But then what? That is entry into the Kingdom. Then we must live as citizens of that Kingdom. We show that we are in the Kingdom by serving the King. We obey His commands. Otherwise, we cannot say that He is King of our lives. Jesus said, “Only those who do the will of my Father in heaven will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Jesus’ central message was not just about sins forgiven but about God being King.

I asked ChatGPT about that. It said, “Faith and obedience are not mutually exclusive. For many Christians, faith in Jesus Christ is seen as the starting point of salvation, but that faith should lead to a change of heart and a transformation of one's life. Obedience, which is to live according to the teachings of Jesus and follow His commandments, is therefore seen as a natural outflow of true saving faith.”

I think ChatGPT did extraordinarily well. I think it is amazing but the more important thing is that it takes us back to the Bible and we hear what Jesus teaches. The truly amazing thing is that through faith in Jesus Christ we can be born again and we can enter God’s Kingdom, where we serve King Jesus so that, one day, we will enter the Kingdom in all its fullness.

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