THE KINGDOM OF GOD (1)

The term 'The Kingdom of God' has appeared in many commercial mass media including Hollywood movies either with the same title or in some other pseudonyms. But what exactly does this term mean which is used frequently in the Gospel of Mark 1:14, 4:11, 4:26, 4:30; Gospel of Luke 4:43, 6:20, 8:1,8:10,9:11, 14:15, 17:21; Gospel of John 3:3, 3:5, Acts1:3, 8:12, 14:22, 19:8, 20:25, 28:23, 28:31 and many more besides?

Many Christians think that it refers to the 'gospel of salvation', some thinks it refers to the 'Holy Spirit within the hearts of believers of the here and now'. Yet others believe it refers to the 'universal church' of Jesus Christ. But is this what it is in the biblical sense of the word? Let us find out the truth from Scripture, for only the truth shall set us free (John 8:32).

While on earth, the Lord Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God wherever He went. In fact, it is also the subject of most of His parables. He commissioned His twelve apostles to preach the Kingdom of God, to heal the sick and cast out demons (Luke 9:1-2). Subsequently, He instructed the seventy disciples to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 10:1-9).
As Jesus had not walked the road to calvary then, He could not have preached the gospel of salvation since He had not yet died and not yet resurrected. Hence, the message of the Kingdom of God cannot be the 'Gospel of Salvation' as many claimed.

There are others who believed that it refers to the Holy Spirit within the hearts of believers of the here and now. The often cited verse is Luke 17:21b 'the Kingdom of God is within you' in support of this view. However, this is quoted out of context. The Lord Jesus was answering the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come. Could Christ have meant that His Kingdom was within the Pharisees -people whom the Lord called 'hypocrites, blind guides, whitewashed tombs (Matt 23:23-27)? The answer is obviously NO!

A careful study shows the phrase 'within you' is a mistranslation. My New King James bible shows in the margin 'in your midst', the Revised Standard Version says 'in the midst of you' and the New English Bible reads 'is among you'. Basically, the Lord Jesus Christ was referring to Himself, for He represented God's Kingdom. He was born to become King, to rule in the coming Millennial Kingdom of God as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16)!

Jesus is the Messenger sent by God the Father to proclaim the coming Government of God on planet earth. It will be the supergovernment headed by Christ with David and His twelve apostles ruling under the Kingship of Jesus Christ. The term 'Kingdom' and 'Kingdom of God' are found scores of times in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Matthew, it is referred to as 'The Kingdom of Heaven', it means the same thing. God's purpose for the Kingdom of one thousand years (Rev 11:15, 20: 4 & 6) is to restore all things that are lost to Satan due to disobedience of mankind to the laws of God (Acts 3:19-21).

In Acts 3:19-21. the Apostle Peter stated that heaven must receive Christ until the times of restoration of all things. This means that the times of restitution is NOT YET (hence the word 'until'), but it will happen after the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to planet earth. For prior to Satan's rebellion, God's government was present on earth.

Let's take a look of what the prophets of the Old Testament prophesied about this coming Kingdom of God (Acts 3:21). Jude 14-15 records the preaching of Enoch -Noah's great-grandfather - about the coming of Christ with His saints to judge the earth. Mind you, this was before the Flood! Like Enoch, Daniel also understood that the Kingdom of God was a literal kingdom (see Daniel 2:28-44). It will be a Kingdom where ALL 'peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him' (Daniel 7:14). If the Kingdom is the here and now or the 'universal church' as some believed, can this happen? Looking at the conditions of the world now, it can never be as the conditions are deteriorating rapidly - heading towards Armageddon!

In Isaiah 9:6-7, the prophet prophesied that Christ will rule with the Government of God upon His shoulder. He will be the Prince of Peace, sitting upon the throne of David whom God promised David through prophet Nathan ( The Davidic Covenant, see 2 Samuel 7:8-17 , 1 Chronicles 17: 11-14 and Psalm 89:27-29, 34-37). Further down in Isaiah 11:6-9, it describes the time in the Kingdom when the leopard will lie with the young goat, the cow and the bear shall graze together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox'. There will be no more enmity even among animals!

The phrase in Daniel 2:39 states unequivocably 'which shall rule OVER ALL THE EARTH' cannot refer to some vague idea of the Kingdom 'ruling in the hearts of men'. Take heart folks, the coming Kingdom is the blessed hope that will eventually save mankind currently heading towards destruction. A far better world awaits all true believers of the Kingdom of God.