Session 4: The Two Kingdoms of God

There are two aspects to God’s kingdom: one on the restored earth for a restored humanity, and another in heaven for the transformed children of God. The Son’s millennial kingdom is a restoration of the Adamic order of being on an Edenic earth—accessed through the first resurrection of the natural bodies of the departed saints. The Father’s new heavens and new earth is a new creation and is the eternal home for the transformed sons of God—accessed through the final resurrection of their eternal bodies.

Many of the problems associated with the current views on God’s endgame are due to the fact that theologians often confuse the two orders of being and their corresponding kingdoms. For example, premillennialists have the raptured saints in their eternal bodies that no longer experience marriage repopulating the restored earth during the millennium. This is incompatible with the prophets’ descriptions of the earthly kingdom as an Edenic paradise with men and women experiencing marriage and reproduction. Amillennialists, on the other hand, do not believe in a 1,000-year restoration of this Genesis creation. As a result, they tend to impose the visions of the Adamic paradise described by the prophets onto the new heavens and new earth, which greatly distorts the nature of heaven.

Many of the problems associated with the current views on God’s endgame are due to the fact that theologians often confuse the two orders of being and their corresponding kingdoms. For example, premillennialists have the raptured saints in their eternal body that no longer experiences marriage repopulating the restored earth, which is incompatible with the prophets’ descriptions of the earthly kingdom as an Edenic paradise with men and women experiencing marriage and reproduction. 
Amillennialists, on the other hand, do not believe in a 1,000-year restoration of this Genesis creation. As a result, they tend to impose the visions of an Adamic paradise described by the prophets onto the new heavens and new earth, which greatly distorts the nature of heaven. How can heaven be a human paradise given the fact that we will not even experience marriage?
This new creation is not a “re-creation” of the old Adamic order of being; otherwise, there would be marriage in heaven. The Adamic order of being actually comes to an end when this Genesis creation comes to an end. The new creation as children of God is truly a new order of being, and one whose form and function are unknown until we experience the final resurrection. Because God’s plan of redemption revolves around two orders of being, there are two aspects to God’s kingdom. One, on the restored earth for a restored humanity (the millennial kingdom), and another, in heaven for the transformed children of God (the heavenly kingdom).