Kingdom Now & Kingdom Not Yet: Living Between the Times
A Kingdom Now ministries theological reflection
The good news Jesus announced at the start of his ministry was both simple and seismic: “The time has come… the kingdom of God is near.” This wasn’t an abstract slogan; it was a theological claim with deep implications. Jesus proclaimed that God’s reign — God’s rule — had begun to break into history in ways that would heal, liberate, and restore creation itself. This is the heart of what theologians call inaugurated eschatology — the “already” and the “not yet” of the Kingdom of God.
What It Means That the Kingdom Is Both “Now” and “Not Yet”
Christian theology — across historic traditions and current scholarship — affirms that in Jesus Christ, God’s promised future has begun. Yet that future is not fully here. In the already of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God’s reign has been inaugurated. The future in which every tear is wiped away and every enemy defeated has begun, but it has not yet reached its final consummation. This is precisely what scholars mean by saying we live between the times.
In practical terms, this means:
1. The Kingdom Now — Jesus lived and taught that God’s rule was breaking into our world now, visible in miracles, healing, deliverance from oppression, forgiveness of sins, and the gathering of a new community of disciples.
2. The Kingdom Not Yet — All suffering, injustice, sickness, and brokenness has not vanished. The full reign of God — when every enemy is defeated and every thing made new — awaits Christ’s return.
This tension explains why Christians can genuinely pray and see signs, wonders, healing, deliverance, and transformation — while also recognizing that not every prayer produces immediate results. The Kingdom now is real, yet the Kingdom’s fullness remains not yet manifested.
The Kingdom of God is at hand, this means we can reach out and touch it.
Derek Morphew: Kingdom Theology as Action
The Vineyard theologian Derek J. Morphew has been especially influential in articulating how this inaugurated Kingdom theology should shape Christian life and ministry. For Morphew, the Kingdom is not just something we believe intellectually — it’s something the church lives out. He argues that the church now lives in an unexpected time of delay: the Kingdom has come, but much of the world’s brokenness continues. In this interim time, followers of Jesus live “hovering between two worlds,” expecting God’s power to break through while also being patient with what does not yet happen.
Importantly, Morphew’s framework includes healing, deliverance, and restoration as integral parts of Kingdom life — not optional extras. He sees the church as continually open to God’s interventions of power, mercy, and liberation, just as Jesus’ ministry did.
Another Vineyard resource affirms that the mission Jesus gave his followers was not just to talk about the Kingdom, but to demonstrate it through healing the sick, proclaiming good news, and inviting the Spirit’s power into community life.
Deliverance as a Kingdom Reality
Scripture repeatedly connects the coming of God’s Kingdom with liberation from evil powers. When Jesus cast out demons and confronted forces of darkness, he was not merely performing dramatic acts — he was announcing and enacting the overthrow of Satan’s rule and the invasion of God’s reign into territory formerly thought lost. Jesus’ miracles — including deliverance — were signs that God’s kingdom was breaking in against the powers that bind and oppress.
Thus, deliverance ministry — confronting spiritual oppression, proclaiming freedom for the captives, and seeing people released from the effects of sin and evil — isn’t peripheral to Kingdom life. It is a core expression of the same power that healed the sick, cast out demons, and freed those bound by the enemy in Jesus’ earthly ministry.
This aligns with the biblical narrative in Luke 4:18-19, where Jesus summarizes his messianic mission as proclaiming freedom for the oppressed — a mission that reflects the Kingdom’s in-breaking power. (This underlying theme in Scripture undergirds classic deliverance praxis and more holistic Kingdom ministry.)
The church in this last epoch has unfortunately majored more on the ‘not yet’ theology of the Kingdom.
Why the Church Sometimes Emphasizes “Not Yet” Too Strongly
Across church history, many traditions have taught the future aspect of the Kingdom so strongly that the present power of God’s reign receives less attention. While a future hope in Christ’s return remains central to Christian faith, an overemphasis on not yet can lead the church to see prayer, healing, deliverance, and the Spirit’s power as optional or un-expected realities.
By contrast, a robust Kingdom theology — as found in the Vineyard heritage and broader evangelical scholarship — embraces both:
• The Kingdom is here — in signs, wonders, liberation, transformed lives.
• The Kingdom is coming — in perfect consummation at Christ’s return.
• And in the interim, the church is called to participate in God’s reign by loving mercy, acting for justice, proclaiming good news, healing the sick, and delivering the oppressed, just as Jesus did.
Living as “Kingdom Now” People
At Kingdom Now Ministries, our name reflects this theological conviction: Jesus’ reign is present and breaking into our world today. We believe that Jesus predominantly viewed the world through a Kingdom Now lens or mindset. This is not mere optimism but is grounded in the biblical revelation that God’s future has already begun in Christ. We pray for healing because Christ healed; we proclaim good news because Christ commissioned us to do so; and we engage in deliverance ministry because Jesus confronted and overcame the powers of darkness.
That doesn’t mean every prayer yields an immediate miracle — the not yet remains real — but it does mean we live with expectant faith, ready to see God’s Kingdom manifested now wherever Jesus is acknowledged and obeyed.
In Christ, we are called to proclaim the good news, heal the broken, deliver the oppressed, and steward the in-breaking reign of God — just as Jesus demonstrated and commissioned us to do.
Christ is the head of the Kingdom
Sources and Theological Foundations
Ladd, George Eldon.
The Presence of the Future: The Eschatology of Biblical Realism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.
– Foundational articulation of “inaugurated eschatology” and the “already / not yet” Kingdom framework.
Ladd, George Eldon.
A Theology of the New Testament. Revised ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.
– Explains the Kingdom as both present reality and future consummation in the teaching of Jesus and the early church.
Ridderbos, Herman.
The Coming of the Kingdom. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1962.
– Classic Reformed treatment of the Kingdom in Jesus’ proclamation, emphasizing its present and future dimensions.
Wright, N. T.
Jesus and the Victory of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996.
– Places Jesus’ ministry, miracles, and exorcisms within the framework of Israel’s restoration and the in-breaking reign of God.
Wright, N. T.
How God Became King. New York: HarperOne, 2012.
– Argues that the Gospels present Jesus as already reigning — the Kingdom is not merely future but inaugurated in history.
Morphew, Derek J.
Breakthrough: How to Interpret the Bible for a Change. Cape Town: Vineyard International Publishing, 1991.
– Introduces inaugurated eschatology in accessible language and applies it to healing, mission, and Kingdom practice.
Morphew, Derek J.
The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus. London: Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland (teaching materials and lectures).
– Develops the Vineyard understanding of living “between the times” and expecting Kingdom breakthrough.
Wimber, John.
Power Evangelism. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986.
– Articulates how signs, wonders, healing, and deliverance function as demonstrations of the present Kingdom.
Wimber, John, and Kevin Springer.
Power Healing. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987.
– Connects healing ministry directly to inaugurated Kingdom theology.
Fee, Gordon D.
God’s Empowering Presence. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994.
– Extensive theological study of the Holy Spirit’s role in empowering the church as a present expression of the Kingdom.
Twelftree, Graham H.
Jesus the Exorcist. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1993.
– Scholarly study demonstrating that deliverance ministry was central to Jesus’ understanding of the Kingdom’s arrival.
Pannenberg, Wolfhart.
Jesus—God and Man. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1968.
– Connects resurrection theology to the inauguration of the eschatological age.
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Key Biblical Foundations Referenced
• Mark 1:15 – “The kingdom of God has come near.”
• Matthew 12:28 – “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
• Luke 4:18–19 – Freedom for captives; release for the oppressed.
• Matthew 6:10 – “Your kingdom come…”
• 1 Corinthians 15:24–26 – The final defeat of all enemies.
• Colossians 1:13 – Transfer from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the Son.
• Hebrews 6:5 – Tasting “the powers of the age to come.”
