For the first 24 years of my Christian life I gave little thought to the subject of the Kingdom of God. My pastors and the Bible teachers that I sat under taught me that the Kingdom of God would come at the second advent of Christ and, therefore, had little practical significance in our lives today.
But my perspective completely changed in 1996 when I was introduced to the writings of George Eldon Ladd, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, especially his book The Presence of the Future. Through Dr. Ladd's teachings I came to believe that the Kingdom of God is, in fact, very relevant to our lives today
As I read Dr. Ladd's books and reread the Gospels, I came to realize that at the very heart of the Gospel lies the teachings concerning the Kingdom of God and that power for evangelism and discipleship relates directly to our understanding and experience of the Kingdom today. This revelation to this very day remains for me the most significant spiritual experience since my conversion in 1972, because thereafter I explored the practical implications of the presence of the Kingdom.
As I read through the gospels, I was surprised at the prevalence of teaching concerning the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God was the center of all the teachings of Jesus. And only in the context of His teachings on the Kingdom can we rightly understand the rest of His teachings.
The New Testament
To see the importance of the teaching of the Kingdom, let's look first at the New Testament introduction to the Kingdom by Jesus' herald John the Baptist. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus by preaching repentance, because in his words, "the Kingdom of heaven was near." Then after John had "prepared the way of the Lord" (Is. 40:3), Jesus began His public ministry by announcing "the kingdom of God is near" and then describing and demonstrating it in detail to His followers.
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
- Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:1-10).
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you (Matthew 12:28).
And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given (Matthew 13:11).
During His earthly ministry and before His ascension, Jesus instructed the Disciples to preach the gospel of the Kingdom.
And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' (Matthew 10:7)
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. (Luke 10:1)
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. (Acts 28:31)
For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:11)
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? (James 2:5)
and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Rev. 1:6)
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, (Hebrews 12:28)
Nowhere in the pages of holy writ do we ever see Jesus, nor His disciples, consigning the Kingdom of God to a future millennium; in fact, to the contrary, we see that Jesus came to usher in the Kingdom now, in our age.
The Old Testament
To help us get a better understanding of the teachings concerning the Kingdom of God, we will now take a look at the background of the concept of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament and how it developed.
The Jews were hoping for a political kingdom, a military and geographic realm from which the Jews, under a descendent of David, would rule. They looked back to the time of Canaan, dated as the golden age in their history, and longed to return to that time with the promised Messiah as King. They thought their Messiah, referred to as the "Son of Man" in Daniel 7:13-14, would usher in an eternal Kingdom on Earth.
In the Old Testament the prophets summarized and expressed this hope under the use of the phrase "the Day of the Lord," a time in which full restoration would occur (Amos 9:14) and in which the nations would be judged (Amos 1). This was the dream of Jewish nationalism. The Jewish concept of the Kingdom of God explains why the Jews tried to make Jesus King by force during the early part of His ministry; they wanted Him to lead them out from under Roman oppression and to establish a political kingdom greater than David's
Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (John 6:15)
Another popular understanding of the Kingdom of God arose among the Jews during the inter-testamental period (approximately 200 B.C. to the New Testament era). This was an adaptation of the Prophets' "Day of the Lord" theory. The Jews, who went through a series of frightful persecutions during this time, lost hope in an earthly kingdom; they came to believe that God had to destroy the evil present in this age before He could establish His Kingdom. They envisioned a new world in which all evil, demons, sickness, and death would be defeated and eradicated. By dividing history into two periods -- evil and good -- they set their hope in the age to come.
But we might then ask, what did Jesus mean when He spoke of the Kingdom? In part, He held to both of these views. He taught that the coming of the Kingdom of God involved a time of judgment of the nations, led by a descendent of David, the "Son of Man" described in Daniel 7. Throughout His ministry Jesus frequently referred to Himself as the "Son of Man," and in so doing His listeners knew He was claiming Messiahship.
And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." (Mark 14:62)
By claiming to be the "Son of Man," Jesus was saying that the Kingdom of God had come to the earthy in His Person. The Divine Invader was going on record: "I'm here. Watch out. I'm going to set everything straight. This is the beginning of the end of satan and evil."
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8b)
The fact that Holy Spirit revealed that Jesus was sent to earth from God, points to the supernatural nature of the Kingdom. Because of the supernatural nature of the Kingdom, we can receive it only if God gives it to us, which is why Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God in parables.
And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." (Mark 4:11-12)
A little bunny trail; many teach that Jesus taught in parables in order to make His teachings easier to comprehend. Actually it is the opposite; He taught in parables so that only those spiritually hungry would seek out and thus be given spiritual understanding.
It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. (Proverbs 25:2)
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know (Ephesians 1:17-18)
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
The Dynamic Reign of God
What we find is that Jesus overcomes evil by establishing His reign as King. "Kingdom" is translated from the New Testament Greek word basileia, which implies an exercise of kingly rule or reign rather than simply establishing a geographic realm over which a king rules. The Kingdom of God should be thought of as, say, the United Kingdom, whose realm encompasses Great Britain, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and so on.
The Kingdom of God is the dynamic reign or rule of God. So the Kingdom of God isn't just a geographic realm, but instead it is where Jesus' rule and reign is demonstrated and manifested. Jesus has absolute rule in heaven. On Earth, He actively and visibly exercises His rule over His willing subjects and over the forces of evil. Jesus is the reign of God come to claim what is rightfully His. Beloved, a day is coming (the "Day of the Lord") when all of creation, willingly and unwillingly, will acknowledge Jesus' reign.
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." (Revelation 11:15)
But until then, during this age, there remains a mixture of good and evil. Christ's Kingdom is present, but it is present in an evil world (Matthew 13:36-43 – the parable of the wheat and tares).
I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, (John 14:30)
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— (Ephesians 2:2)
George Ladd in A Theology of the New Testament writes:
In brief, this age, which extends from creation to the Day of the Lord... is the age of human existence and weakness in mortality, with evil, sin, and death. In the age to come we'll see the realization of all that the reign of God means, and that will be the age of resurrection into eternal life in the kingdom of God. (Page 48)
We are living between times, as it were, between the inauguration and the consummation of the Kingdom of God. To, again, use an expression of Ladd's, we live in "the presence of the future."
Words and works
In the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ we find the presence of the Kingdom of God, the firstborn of a generation that will one-day rule the whole of God's creation. At the beginning of His ministry He just as easily could have announced, "the age to come is here" as said, "the Kingdom of God is near." The meaning would have been the same to His listeners. God had come to confront and overthrow evil and rescue people from its grip.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, (Colossians 1:13)
Beloved, Jesus conquered, He paid the eternal price for our redemption, He rose from the dead, He ascended to Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Still, evil forces seek to destroy His rule; they haven't given up on their dream of world dominion. The mere presence of God's Kingdom has created a violent confrontation between the old order of evil and the new order of righteousness. The confrontation is necessary for the change of power, and today it is still in progress. Everywhere in the New Testament, one sees the great conflict between the forces of God and of good, on the one hand, and those of evil led by satan, on the other.
This explains why Jesus did more than announce the Kingdom was near; He demonstrated it by casting out demons, healing the sick, and raising the dead -- all of which convinced many of His listeners that He was the presence of the Kingdom, the Anointed One sent from His heavenly Father.
Jesus taught with authority
And they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!" (Luke 4:36)
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. (Matthew 4:23-24)
By combining demonstration and proclamation Jesus left no doubt that He was the promised and foretold Messiah come to rescue people from the clutches of sin.
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matthew 12:28)
Spiritual Warfare
Jesus' miracles were a foreshadowing and promise of the coming universal redemption and the fullness of the Kingdom of God. By far, His greatest miracle was salvation -- the forgiveness of souls and the entrance into the benefits of the Kingdom of God. We can never over emphasize the significance of His redemptive work. But four other categories of Jesus' miracles also demonstrated conclusively that satan's power had been broken and that, consequently, the Kingdom of God had broken into this age.
Demons
The fact that Jesus and His followers cast out demons signaled God's invasion of the realm of satan and foretold and guaranteed satan's final destruction
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. (Matthew 12:28-29)
After studying what the Scriptures reveal concerning Jesus and His encounters with realm of darkness, it is safe to say that Jesus never met a demon that He liked!
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. ( John 3:8)
Throughout the gospel accounts we notice that demonic assaults continued throughout all of Jesus' ministry, and Jesus won every confrontation.
Disease
When Jesus healed the sick He witnessed to a time when all suffering would cease. In the New Jerusalem, another descriptive term of the future Kingdom:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4)
About 15% of the verses in the Gospels involves some form of healing, underlying the significance of divine healing in Christ's ministry. In fact even a casual reading fo the Gospel accounts reveals that everywhere that Jesus was, he was healing the sick, had just come from healing the sick or was on the way to heal the sick! As a result of Jesus' attitude towards sickness and His ministry towards those who were suffering from sickness and disease, the Christians in the first century shared Jesus' view and saw disease as a work of satan, a weapon of his demons, and a way in which evil attempts to rule the world.
Whenever Jesus healed disease, whether demonically or physically caused, He pushed back the kingdom of Satan. What the devil did, Jesus undid!
It is important that we understand that not all sickness is demonically inspired, but some is! But Jesus' attitude towards sickness, whether natural or caused by evil supernaturalism, He was against it.
Nature
There were several times that Jesus stilling storms which pointed to the complete victory over the evil powers using nature to threaten the Earth. Demonic forces can exert their power to influence nature by causing it to run amok. In Mark chapter 4 Jesus calmed a furious squall on the Sea of Galilee, asserting His reign over nature itself. He saw this instance of nature's attack as the work of Satan, the desire to kill Him and the disciples and thwart the advance of the Kingdom of God.
Death
In raising the dead, Jesus demonstrated His absolute authority over death, and that one day it would be done away with altogether.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:26)
Unlike delivering people from evil spirits, which Christ appeared to do it every time He encountered a willing person, and healing, which He did with great frequency, resuscitation from the dead appeared to be more infrequent. But the miracles of resuscitation – restoring life to the dead -- has enormous significance. Perhaps more than any other kind of miracle, they were a foretaste of the age to come, clear signals to satan that his world was being invaded and overpowered by Jesus.
The Gospels record three specific and one general account of Jesus raising the dead (Matthew 9:18; 27:52; Luke 7:11-17; John 11:1-12). These miracles struck Satan at his greatest point of strength and signaled that his reign was, and is, broken by Christ.
Already, not yet
The Apostle Paul makes much of the fact that Christ is seated "at his [the Father's] right hand"
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:20-23)
Christ is now in a place of absolute authority over all other authorities He is the only King of kings and Lord of Lords
which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 1 Timothy 6:15)
Yet -- and this is the tension all Christians feel -- evil has not been eradicated in this world. For a time, until the Day of the Lord is completed at the second coming, we must live under two kingdom's: the kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God.
Oscar Cullmann, in Christ and Time, compares our situation to that of the days in World War II after D-Day. The decisive battle of the war was fought and won by the Allies on D-Day, June 6, 1944. After that Allied victory no one on either side doubted that the outcome of the war was sure. But the war continued and was not over until V-E Day, May 8, 1945 -- 11 months later! More American lives were lost between D-Day and V-E Day than any other time during the war. So it is with Jesus; our D-Day is Easter Sunday, and our V-E Day is the second coming. But between the two, the war wages on.
There are many battles in our war, and -- like the allies in World War II -- we will when most of them - and ultimately there is no doubt that we will stand victorious with Jesus on that great day. But the Kingdom of God still comes intermediately, according to the Father's will. Our job is to know the will of the Father and cooperate with His work here on Earth. He has a strategy, though we may not always (if ever) discern it. Our part is to pray, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." Then trust and obey. If we die trusting Him, then our death contributes to fulfilling His purposes.
The kingdom is both future and present, it has been fulfilled in Christ's first coming and will be consummated in His second coming. To quote again from Ladd, we live between the "already and the not yet" -- between the Cross' victory over sin and satan in the age to come and Christ's second coming. We have the assurance of eternal life now, and we experience the benefits of the Kingdom, though only in part -- in this age.
The Lord's Prayer
Even though the prayer given by the Lord Jesus is referred to as the Lord's prayer, it would be more accurate to call it as the model prayer. Let's look at the model prayer for a moment:
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1)
Jesus intended that this be a model for daily prayer, not merely a ritual prayer.
The Lord's model prayer says that we should pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10)
Clearly Jesus is teaching us to ask the Father to establish His reign (His Kingdom) on Earth, to bring the authority of heaven down-to-earth, and in so doing to finally defeat satan on Earth. There are two senses in which we are to pray for the Kingdom to come.
First, we are to pray for the return of Christ, the time in which He will completely eradicate evil and establish the fullness of the Kingdom of God, the climax of all things, the consummation of the Kingdom of God (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10) Secondly, the prayer for the Kingdom to come is not to be confined to the second coming of Christ; it also has a present application. "Father," we ask, "show us Your heavenly will so we can represent You here on earth, so Your reign and authority in our lives can advance the overcoming of satan now." God’s Kingdom comes as we hear His voice, obey Him, and actively advance His cause to defeat evil and bring people to Christ.
In the Greek the verbs in this verse come first. This petition is literally translated: "let it come, the Kingdom of You; let it come about, the will of You, as in heaven also on Earth." Jesus is instructing us to be aggressive in seeking the dynamic reign and will of God.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
We seek the Kingdom first by seeking the Father's will in prayer. This might seem obvious, but for God to reign through us He must first reign in us. Seeking the Kingdom first means praying that He may be first in our heart and life. And as His Kingdom reigns in us, He then uses us to establish His Kingdom in those around us: our families, churches, workplaces, community, and nation.
"Abba, Let Your Kingdom come, Your dynamic rule and reign. Let Your will be done in us as it is done in Heaven. Whatever it takes, remove the things that hinder Your love's work in our hearts and lives. Whatever it takes, Lord come. For the glory of the fame of the name of Your Beloved Son, our Bridegroom, King and Judge. Amen!
