The Kingdom of God
Benny Goodman is called "the king of Swing". Michael Jackson is the king of Pop. Elvis Presley has been called "the king of Rock and Roll". Bob Marley is the king of Reggae. B.B. King is the king of the Blues. You may or may not be familiar with their music, but you have probably heard their names. These kings of Swing, Pop, Jazz, Reggae, and Rock and Roll have entertained millions and most of them have made millions--millions of dollars--from their recordings. These so-called "kings" are extremely popular. Real-life kings, however, have not always been popular. Many real-life kings have been very unpopular. In fact, a number of kings were so unpopular that they were executed. For example Charles I who was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland was executed in 1649. Another king, Louis XVI was king of France until he was executed in 1792. Maximilian I who was crowned Emperor of Mexico was executed in 1867. Nicholas II was Tzar of Russia, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland, but Nicholas II and his entire family were executed by the communists in 1918. Other kings were not executed but were forced from their thrones. Some of these ruling monarchs were forced from their throne because of their involvement in World War One. Kaiser Wilhelm II, for example, was forced to abdicate his throne as King of Prussia, and Emperor Charles I of Austria was forced from his throne. Sometimes a king looses power, but rather than give up their power, they go into exile. One of the most famous of these kings in exile was King Zog of Albania. King Zog was forced out of Albania when Mussolini invaded Albania. After going into exile King Zog lived a life of luxury at the Ritz in London and then in the French Riviera. The Bible tells us about another king in exile--David king of Israel. King David was crowned King of Israel but was forced to rule from outside of the capital of Jerusalem. David's exile from Jerusalem happened not once but twice. David was the legitimate king but he was kept off the throne and had to rule while in exile. In a similar way, Jesus, who is a descendant of King David, is the rightful King of Israel. But today, Jesus is not ruling from his throne in Jerusalem. Today Jesus is ruling from heaven. If you doubt if Jesus really is a king, all we need to do is to read through the New Testament. Remember that during Jesus' lifetime he was called "the King of Israel". At Jesus' birth the wise men came seeking "he that is born King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2)."1 At the beginning of Jesus' ministry Nathaniel, one of his first disciples, said to Jesus: "Rabbi, You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel (John 1:49)." When Jesus rode into Jerusalem at his Triumphal Entry, the people shouted: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord (Luke 19:38)." And when Pontus Pilate asked Jesus: "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus did not deny it and answered him saying, "You say correctly that I am a king (Mark 15:2; John 18:37)." Finally, in the book of Revelation Jesus is called "King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14; 19:16)." If, therefore, Jesus is King, where is his kingdom and who are his subjects? Jesus' kingdom is called "the kingdom of God" and his subjects are all those who have surrendered their life to him. The Kingdom of God is God's rule over mankind. God's Kingdom is not a geographical place. You can't get on a bus and go to God's Kingdom. You can't purchase tickets and get on a plane and fly to God's Kingdom. God's Kingdom is a spiritual reality. God's Kingdom is a spiritual reality or spiritual dimension where God rules over men and women who have entered his Kingdom by faith and obedience. In God's Kingdom we experience God's presence. In God's Kingdom we experience God's blessings. Over this spiritual reality--this spiritual dimension called the "Kingdom of God", Jesus rules as King. In order to better understand God's Kingdom we need to look at three different eras or time periods. The first time period is called "the Mosaic Covenant". God made a covenant or contract with the people of Israel through Moses. The second time period is called "the Messianic Covenant". This is the covenant or contract that God made with the people of Israel through Jesus. The third time period is called "the new heaven and new earth". The new heaven and new earth will take place sometime in the future. First, let's look at the time that the Bible calls: "God's covenant with Moses". The Bible says that "Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words (Exodus 24:8)." And in Exodus chapter thirty-four we read: "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." (Exodus 34:27)" What is a covenant? A covenant is like a contract. A covenant is a formal agreement that specifies the kind of relationship God will have with his people. A marriage contract is a covenant between a man and a woman that formally and legally binds the man and woman together in a marriage relationship. God's covenant with Israel was a formal, binding agreement that if Israel would follow and obey God, God would take care of Israel. Although there are other covenants that God made with Israel such as God's covenant with Noah, God's covenant with Abraham, and God's covenant with David; the covenant that is most frequently spoken about in the Bible is God's covenant with Moses. When God called Israel out of slavery in Egypt and established them in the Promised Land, he made a covenant with his people Israel that profoundly shaped the people of God into a distinct people and set into motion events that have shaped the world as we know it today. An important aspect of the Kingdom of God under the Mosaic covenant is that God's promises and commandments were for Israel. Take, for example, the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day was one of the Ten Commandments. But listen to how God describes the Sabbath day commandment. God says that "[The Sabbath] is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed (Exodus 31:17)." God also gave many promises to Israel. For example, God promised Moses and the people of Israel that he would help them in their war against the idolatrous nations in Palestine. God promised: "For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them (Exodus 23:23)." God promised to fight for the nation of Israel, but God does not promise that he will help us U.S. in our wars. We cannot claim the promises that God made only with Israel. From God's commandments and promises to Israel we may be able to find biblical principles that have application to our lives today, but we should remember to always keep these promises and commandments in their original context. We must always keep in mind that during the Mosaic Covenant God worked primarily in and through national Israel. The Bible tells us that it is the people of Israel who are the ones "to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises (Romans 9:4)." The Bible says that those who are not part of the nation of Israel are "separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12)." The clear teaching of the Bible is that God's Kingdom during the Covenant of Moses was primarily concerned with God's rule over Israel. The Kingdom of God can be explained by looking at the Mosaic covenant, but to fully understand God's Kingdom we must also look at the Messianic covenant. God said through the prophet Jeremiah: "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah (Jeremiah 31:31)." If God is making a new covenant what happened to the old covenant? The Bible says in the letter to the Hebrews:But now [Jesus] has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. . . When [God] said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:6-7, 13).God cancelled the Mosaic Covenant and made a new covenant through his son Jesus. In this new covenant--this new agreement or contract--God commands us to put our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. According to this new agreement, God promises that everyone who puts his or her faith in Jesus will enter into a special covenantal relationship with God. God established the new covenant through Jesus and makes the covenant with those who believe in Jesus. Jesus himself spoke of the inauguration of the new covenant when on the night he was betrayed, during the Passover meal Jesus took a cup of wine and said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25)." To understand the Messianic Covenant, we need to look at how this covenant with Jesus works. The time we are living in today is often called the "Church Age." During the Church Age Jesus rules over his people, but he rules from heaven through his Spirit. To be able to understand the Church Age we must keep one point absolutely clear: The Church is not Israel nor does it replace Israel. We must never confuse the Church with the people of Israel. The Church is made up of people who have believed in Jesus. Some of these believers are Jews and some of these believers are Gentiles. The Bible explains the formation of believing Jew and Gentile into one new group called "the Church" by saying:
Remember that formerly you, the Gentiles . . . were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For [Jesus] Himself is our peace, who made both groups [Jew and Gentile] into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both [Jew and Gentile] in one body to God through the cross. . . for through [Jesus] we both [Jew and Gentile] have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household (Ephesians 2:11-19).The Church is not Israel and the Church is also not the Kingdom of God. The Church is not the Kingdom of God because the Kingdom of God also includes those who live in heaven. The Bible says:
You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. . . Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:22-24, 28).God's Kingdom during the Church Age includes the Church and it also includes those who live in heaven. Another important feature of the Church Age is that the vast majority of Jews are not part of the Church and are outside of God's Kingdom. The Bible says that Jesus "came unto his own but his own received him not (John 1:11)." The vast majority of the Jewish people have not believed in Jesus as their Messiah. As Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians: "Their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). Paul explains the difficulty that Jewish people have in turning to the Lord in Romans chapter eleven. Paul writes,
God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew there [is] at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. . . What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those [Jews] who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened. . . if the root is holy, the branches are too. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree. . . And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. . . For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS (Romans 11:1-27).Jesus explained this partial hardening in a parable. Jesus was having a meal with some of the leading Pharisees and during the meal one of them said, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" In response, Jesus gave a parable:
A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.' And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.' (Luke 14:15-24).The invitation to enter God's Kingdom went first to the Jew, but because most of them did not accept Jesus as their Messiah, the invitation went out to the Gentiles. Although the Church Age is a time when mostly Gentiles are coming into God's Kingdom, a time is coming when God's people Israel will come to him. This time is called "the Millennium". The Millennium will come after the Church Age. After Jesus rose from the dead his disciples asked him: "Will you at this time restore the kingdom unto Israel? (Acts 1:6)." Jesus' disciples knew that God had promised King David that David and his sons would rule over Israel in a glorious kingdom. God promised David saying, "I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. . . I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). So after Jesus' resurrection his apostles asked him, "Will you at this time restore the kingdom unto Israel?" This restoration will take place someday in the future when Jesus will return from heaven. Someday, maybe someday soon, Jesus will return. Jesus predicted his return by saying: "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne (Matthew 25:31)." The book of revelation tells us how this will happen:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great." And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years (Revelation 19:11-20:4).During the Millennium Jesus will come to earth to set up his earthly throne and will rule over the earth for a thousand years.
Thus far we have examined the Kingdom of God during the Mosaic covenant and during the Messianic covenant. Now we must also look at one more time period--the future time when God creates a new heaven and a new earth. To fully understand God's Kingdom we must understand what will happen when God recreates the universe into what the Bible calls the new heaven and the new earth. Perhaps the best explanation of the new heaven and new earth is found in 2 Peter where we read:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:10-13).The Apostle Peter is not the only one to write about the new heaven and new earth. The Apostle John writes in his Revelation of Jesus Christ:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new " And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." (Revelation 21:1-5).We have looked at God's Kingdom during the Covenant with Moses. We've looked at God's Kingdom during the Covenant with Jesus, and we've seen that God's Kingdom will extend even into the future new heaven and new earth. What, then, should be our response? How should we respond to the Bible's teaching about God's Kingdom? First, we must ask ourselves are we in God's Kingdom? Are we in God's Kingdom or are we outside of God's Kingdom? Jesus says: "Unless a person is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)." If we want to experience the joys and blessings of God's Kingdom then we must turn away from sin and put our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Perhaps you can say "Yes, I know that I am in God's Kingdom." If you have already entered into God's Kingdom then listen again to the Apostle Peter: "Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God." As we anticipate Jesus' return we need to be living a life of holiness. We also need to be living for Jesus. We must always remember, Jesus is King and we are his servants. My hope and prayer for you is that you will be found to be a faithful servant when Jesus returns so that you will hear the voice of the Master say to you: "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master (Matthew 25:23)."
Footnotes
1 Matthew 2:2, NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all references to the Bible will be from the NASB.
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