Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

The dream of Utopia: the kingly rule of God in the Old Testament -- The surprising fulfillment: Jesus establishes the kingly rule of God -- A different king: Christ's kingship -- A different border control: entrance into the kingdom -- A different community: the people of the Kingdom -- A different government: the role of Christ's disciples in the Kingdom -- Transforming society: how God's reign affects politics -- Paradoxical victory: the future of the Kingdom.

This brief, accessible book offers a unique approach to the theme of the kingdom of God and to biblical theology. Sigurd Grindheim explains the whole Bible's teaching on the kingdom of God, discussing its implications for the Christian, the church, and politics. As he traces the theme of the kingdom through the Old and New Testaments, he shows how Jesus's preaching of the imminent incursion of the kingdom fulfilled and also challenged the messianic expectations of the antecedent Judaism. He explains that the theme of the kingdom is the unifying theme of Scripture and that any account of the theology of the Bible must begin and end with the coming of the kingdom. Living in the Kingdom of God shows what it means that God rules on earth, how his rule is established through the work of Christ, and how this rule is embodied by the church today, offering a new vision for the church's role in the kingdom: putting God's gifts to work. It will appeal to professors and students of the New Testament, biblical theology, and systematic theology as well as pastors. -- !c From publisher's description.