What is the Kingdom of God?

     

It was H.G. Wells who wrote: 

    
“The doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was the main teaching

of Jesus, and which plays so small a part in the Christian creeds, is certainly

one of the most revolutionary doctrines that ever stirred and changed

human thought….For the doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven as Jesus

seemed to have preached it, was no less than a bold and uncompromising

demand for a complete change and cleansing of the life of our struggling

race, an utter cleansing without and within.”[1]

1.  The Most Important Theme

-    The message about the kingdom of God was the most important theme in the teaching of Jesus.  Matthew 4:23 says that “Jesus went throughout Galilee….preaching the good news of the kingdom.”

-    Howard Snyder has written, “Jesus mission was to tell the good news of the Kingdom, show what the Kingdom was like, demonstrate its works, tell how to enter it, and establish the Messianic community (the church) in embryonic form.”[2]

     Consider the following verses of Scripture:

·    Matthew 4:17 says, “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’”

·    Mark 1:15 says, “’The time has come,’ he said.  ‘The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!’”

·    Luke 4:43 says, “But he said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’”

The instruction of Jesus was clear:  “But seek first his kingdom….” (Mt. 6:33, NIV), or “make the Kingdom of God your primary concern” (NLT).

2.  The Kingdom of God Defined

-    Philip Yancey has written that “God’s kingdom has no geographical borders, no capital city, no parliament buildings, no royal trappings that you can see.”[3]

-    When teaching His disciples how to pray, Jesus instructed them to say:  “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10).

-    The phrase “your kingdom come” is explained by the second part of verse 10, which points to the fact that the kingdom is God’s rule coming from heaven to be embraced by (or expressed by) the people of God here on earth.

-     We get our English word “kingdom” from the word “king.”  This leads to the following points:

·    We might ask, what does a king do?  Simply stated, a king rules.  Therefore, a kingdom is the expression of the king’s rule.

·    This means that to be a citizen of a kingdom is to live under the king’s rule, or government.

·    The kingdom of God is:  The rule of God in action!

We can say that the kingdom is God’s active rule or reign in the lives of His people.  It is the government of God coming into our lives, which ultimately is for our good.

-    There are two aspects of the kingdom that are important for us to understand.  The kingdom of God is:

·    Within You!
      
      Luke 17:20, 21 says, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful            observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the                  kingdom of God is within you."

·    A Realm which you Enter!

  

John 3:5 says, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

Colossians 1:13 says, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son….”

Jesus demonstrated what it means to live in the kingdom, for He embodied its characteristics and lifestyle perfectly.

-     As E. Stanley Jones has written, “He was the illustration of what the Kingdom is.”[4]

-    For this reason, we look for the Lord Jesus Christ to be formed in each believer (see Gal. 4:19; Phi. 3:12-16).  This is why we encourage people to press on to reach their full redemptive potential in Christ.

-    As Fyodor Dostoevsky has said, “To love a person means to see him as God intended him to be.”

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[1] H.G. Wells, The Outline of History (New York: The MacMillan Co., 1921), pp. 499, 500.

[2] Howard Snyder, The Community of the King (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1977), p. 14.

[3] Philip Yancey, “The Stealth Kingdom,” in Discipleship Journal, November and December 1998, p. 57.

[4] E. Stanley Jones, The Unshakeable Kingdom and Unchanging Person (New York: Abingdon Press, 1972), p. 39.