In addition to the Gospels, the NT epistles reveal a similar understanding of the kingdom made manifest in the coming of Christ. Hebrews, for instance, refers to Jesus as a living sign of the end times: "God...has in these last days spoken to us by His son" (1:1-2). The outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts further confirms this view, as Peter interprets the events of that day as a direct fulfillment of the thoroughly eschatological "last days" prophecy of Joel: "...this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel..." (Acts 2:16-21). This would seem to imply that miracles, outpourings of the Spirit, and other evidences of God's power seen in the NT should be taking place in the church today - because today is part of the last days. Is it possible, then, that our general failure to see miracles in the church today is simply due to our own general disbelief in miracles? Philosophical presuppositions tend to become self-fulfilling. On one occasion, the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't cast out a demon. His answer had more to do with their state of mind than with their stated theology: "Because of your unbelief" (Matt. 17:20).
Kingdom theology means that the history of the Christian church (spanning the centuries from the incarnation of Christ to the present) is actually the history of the last days. Naturally, this also calls into question your own reformed-cessationist view of church history. I would argue on the basis of both testaments (we'll examine the OT shortly) that there is but one dispensation for the church, consistently yet progressively supernatural in character. As we have seen, Jesus heralded the age to come (the last days) at the very inception of his ministry. Eschatology, then, can be seen as the gradual revelation of the kingdom of heaven in successive breakthroughs: the foreshadowing of the kingdom in OT history, the prophetic foretelling of the kingdom by the prophets, the actualization of the kingdom in Jesus Christ, and the fulfillment of all things in the kingdom to come. To put it another way: Kingdom theology means that the entire record of Scripture is eschatological: that all of history is literally, constantly progressing toward final consummation in the plan of God. Church history offers extrabiblical support for this view, in the seeming acceleration of kingdom interventions, or revivals. Whereas centuries passed between the Reformation and the Awakening, mere decades have passed between the Pentecostal Revival and the Jesus People Movement, for example, and even fewer years between the recent Charismatic Renewal and the "Third Wave" or "New Paradigm" Renewal currently underway that began in 1994.
Like so many truths of Scripture, the revelation of the kingdom is at once logical and paradoxical. To see the progression of the kingdom through the ages reveals yet another remarkable testimony to the unity and coherence of the Bible, but at the same time reveals the kingdom itself to be an enigma. Unfortunately, too many theologians seem willing to arbitrarily sacrifice the integrity of the Scripture in order to try and make sense of one or another of the mysteries it contains. Presumably Jesus called such truths "mysteries" for a reason. The very quality of God's mysteries is such that it suits the equally "mysterious" purposes of God's plan of salvation. In the case of the kingdom, part of the mystery concerns the placement of various strands of kingdom teaching given by Christ into some sort of eschatological time frame.
Jesus and the apostles taught the kingdom as a unified yet manifold unveiling of God's rule, one that can be summarized in four general statements: (1) The kingdom will come. In Matt. 24 and other places Jesus promised that he would come again in his final transaction with this world. At some point in the future, Jesus will at last gather together his elect and subject the wicked and unbelieving to an irreversible eternal judgment. Paul taught much the same in his epistles, particularly 1 and 2 Thessalonians. "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first" (1 Thess. 4:16). (2) The kingdom has come. This is the most commonly overlooked tenet of kingdom theology, that the kingdom, with all its power and dominion, has already arrived. Thus Jesus interprets his own miracles as kingdom manifestations: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Matt. 12:28). In response to the Pharisees' inquiry as to when the kingdom would come, Jesus answered that the kingdom is already "among you," or "in your midst" (Luke 17:20-21). (3) The kingdom is coming immediately. Jesus and the apostles stressed the importance of readiness, because the coming of the kingdom is always imminent. In statements that confound many evangelical scholars, Jesus promised his disciples that the kingdom would come in their own generation: "Assuredly, I say to you, there ars some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God..." (Luke 9:1; cf Matt. 10:23). (4) The kingdom will be delayed. In Matthew 25, Jesus indicated that the kingdom would not appear immediately. The parable of the virgins teaches wisdom and patience while the bridegroom delays (v. 1-13). The parable of the talents concerns the settling of accounts of a master with his servants after a long time away (v. 14-30).
Recognizing that the kingdom is indeed a mystery - a concept not easily lending itself to precise definitions and theological comparments - is the key to what otherwise appears a confusing if not contradictory NT eschatology. In turn, the key to understanding the mystery of the kingdom is understanding that Jesus is not only king but literally the living end (eschatos). He declared this of himself plainly in Rev. 2:8: "These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life..." That is, Jesus is the full and final revelation of God and of God's kingdom authority. (Incidentally, Jesus' claim to be the literal end-all is a distinct