Apostolic Kingdom Dominion
by Apostle Thurlow J. Switzer
Mark 1:15 – “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (NKJV).
Introduction: How Shall We Understand the Kingdom of God?
The concept of the Kingdom of God and the question to whom allegiance will be given are ultimate issues of life. Moses represented God’s voice as saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex 20:2-3). When the devil sought to tempt Jesus he “took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me” (Mt 4:8-9). It was from that time on that Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 4:17). At the conclusion of Jesus’ ministry, when the eleven disciples came to the mountain appointed for them to meet with Him, “they worshiped Him,” but also “some doubted” (Mt 28:17).
Our question is what is the Kingdom of God? Over time “kingdom” language had slipped out of the vocabulary of many who claim to preach the Good News, but today many are embracing a fresh emphasis on the Kingdom of God. Many Christians hold the man Jesus central to the Good News, but have omitted his emphasis on the Kingdom of God, or replaced it with enlightenment, liberation, or individualistic themes. The theme of this booklet is that the Kingdom of God is active in the world and advancing day by day toward that ultimate time when God will rule and reign universally over the earth.
A proper interpretation of the biblical perspective about the kingdom begins with asking, “What did Jesus mean by declaring the Kingdom of God is at hand?” George E. Ladd, in The Gospel of the Kingdom, p. 55, answered, “What Jesus meant is this. The Kingdom of God is here, but there is a mystery—a new revelation about the kingdom. The Kingdom of God is here, but instead of destroying human sovereignty, it is attacking the sovereignty of Satan. The Kingdom of God is here; but instead of making changes in the eternal, political order of things, it is making changes in the lives of men and women.”
C. Norman Kraus stated, “The Christian church was born as a mission to the world. This outward directedness makes Christianity a movement to reach the world, not to escape from it, or set up some island of security in it” (The Community of the Spirit, p. 27). The Church-at-large extends God’s rule by its local expressions exercising corporate authority throughout the earth.
Announcing the Kingdom of God was central to Christ’s mission on earth. In the following verses we trace the unfolding of the central idea preached by John the Baptist, by Jesus, by the twelve apostles, and by Paul.
The Kingdom of God is a spiritual dimension that finds expression in the human realm as individuals yield to God’s authority, rule and reign. The Kingdom of God is essentially the rule of God in the lives of people. It is divine sovereignty in action. It is the divine conquest over His enemies. This conquest happens in four stages, that one should observe. There is a parallel between the four stages of salvation on a personal level and the enlarged perspective all over the earth.
Many have sought to understand the various aspects or stages of salvation that have both a personal and a global dimension. The four aspects of salvation experienced by humans are (1) personal regeneration, (2) positional justification, (3) progressive sanctification, and (4) perfected glorification. This booklet pursues a biblical understanding of the Kingdom of God by observing (1) its soteriological (salvation) nature, parallel to the truth of regeneration, (2) its ascension nature, parallel to the truth of justification, (3) its corporate nature, parallel to the truth of sanctification, and (4) its eschatological (end times) nature, parallel to the truth of glorification. We will conclude with a section that identifies seven common-sense apostolic strategies.
Part I: The Soteriological Nature of the Kingdom of God
The nature of the Kingdom of God is to break into or invade earth’s domain. It started with Jesus birth. Jesus’ coming to earth historically inaugurated the New Testament phase of the Kingdom of God that now operates in reality and power among humankind up to this present age. The heavenly Father who rules this kingdom decisively and irrevocably invaded the earth in the incarnation of his Son who was a dynamic manifestation of his Spirit. Even so, the most intimate and personal nature of the Kingdom of God is its breaking into the life and being of the human person.
Our first consideration about the Kingdom of God is the matter of redemption, often called the soteriological doctrine of salvation. The soteriological perspective includes the fact that the experience of regeneration inaugurates the kingdom of God in us. Through regeneration, justification, sanctification, and grace transformation, the believer foretastes the comprehensive rule of Christ at the end of history. Theology calls this “inaugurated or realized eschatology,” what Paul identified as the seal of the Spirit that guarantees the inheritance (Eph 1:13-14). In the Spirit we have the “first fruits” (Rom. 8:23), and we wait the fullness. Just as regeneration initiate the Kingdom of God reality in our personal being, so the Kingdom of God reality expands in the world as regeneration (Gk: polygenesia, Titus 3:5) takes hold in all dimensions of life, society, and culture, what Jesus called the future “regeneration” (Gk: polygenesia) in Matthew 18:28.
Matt 19:28-30 – “So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” NKJV
When Luke told the story of Zacchaeus coming to Jesus, he records Jesus saying, “Today salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost” (Lk 19:10). Immediately after this, Luke records the parable of the nobleman who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and who told his servants to, “Do business till I come.” The citizens in the parable respond by saying, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Lk 19:11-14). Following Christ personally in receiving salvation is the doorway to the Kingdom of God. Biblical students have always understood that the Kingdom of God at its most basic essence taught about the matter of salvation. Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:3).
Conversion is the rite of initiation into the reality of kingdom life. Sanctification is the pilgrimage into the reality of kingdom growth. Christ-like maturity is the reward of experiencing the foretaste and transformation until the glory of heaven is reached. Conversion conveys citizenship, making us subjects of the kingdom of God, releasing us from selfish autonomy into God-centered and other-centered freedom to pursue God’s kingdom, experiencing the fullness of love.
To backtrack for a moment, the original Creation Mandate initiated God’s rule through humankind. God purposed from the beginning to share His rule over the earth with man by creating man in His own image and endowing him with faculties for ruling the earth (Gen 1:26-28). God, in the Creation Mandate, commissioned humans to rule the earth and delegated authority to man to fulfill this commission. Man, by God's design, is the highest created being in the universe because he is the only creature that bears God's image.
Humankind lost its original purity and privilege to rule and reign without guilt because of disobedience to God’s commands. Due to personal sin and bad decisions, the first humans fell into sin and entered into the judgment of death (Rom 5:12-18). However, this did not erase the image of God in mankind, nor eliminate man's responsibility or mandate for exercising dominion under God over the earth; it only corrupted it. All mankind, the righteous and the wicked, are responsible to live in every area of life under the rule of God in grateful obedience to Him as Lord and King.
Allow us to insert the subject of the trinitarian nature of the Kingdom of God here. The Kingdom of God is the reigning of God as Father, Son and Spirit. The triune God reigns sovereignly as king of the universe throughout all time, both before, concurrent with, and after the incarnation. God’s rule will continue to reign eternally. This rule manifests in three great works.
The Work of the Father: CREATION. God made humans in His image designed for fellowship and for enjoying God’s love. “Kingdom” means Divine Order. Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer said, “Your kingdom come, your will be done” (Mt 6:10). “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son” (Jn 3:16). God created all humans and desires their restoration to personal relationship with Him. He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). God desires a new creation people comprised of “new creatures in Christ” (2 Cor 5:17).
The Work of the Son: INCARNATION. Christ made salvation possible and opened the doors of reconciliation and restored fellowship for humankind with their creator. “Kingdom” means Divine Message. Jesus heralded the Kingdom of God in his message (Mt 4:17; 4:28; Luke 4:43). God’s reign is aggressively operating through Jesus. He is reclaiming those lost to the enemy, who have been bound by Satan’s power, but whose house is now being plundered (Mk. 3:27). Jesus thus claims to the representatives of John of the Baptist that he is the Messiah, God’s anointed King by what he does (Lk. 7:22). The kingdom of God is the beginning of Satan’s end and the end of status under judgment. “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matt 2:28). “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31; cf. 16:11).
The Work of the Spirit: REGENERATION. The Holy Spirit makes repentance and faith a life-transforming experience of real empowerment for victorious Christian living. “Kingdom” means New Birth. Jesus was heralded as a King at birth (Mt. 2:2). He becomes our king at our spiritual new birth (John 3:3,5). God is releasing his Holy Spirit in power, opening hearts to his lively presence, healing wounds past and present, breaking compulsive, addictive behavior, and elevating the poor into his presence by expelling our present darkness and recreating our fallen humanity in his own image and likeness. God saves humankind through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and leads those who believe in the God’s rule and reign by preaching the Kingdom of God.
1 Cor 1:21 – “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (KJV).
Eph 1:13-14 – “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (NKJV).
Acts 28:30-31 – “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him” (NKJV).
Matt 9:35 – “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (NKJV cf. Lk 8:1; Mk 1:14, 4:23).
People who repent and believe in Christ’s authority come under God’s rule. The King requires obedience from His subjects and children. Repentance is necessary for citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Genuine repentance is evidenced by a deliberate and continuing choice to submit obediently to the lordship of Christ. No one can rightly claim Christ as Savior who does not submit to Him as Lord and demonstrate grateful obedience to Him as Lord and King.
Although, we will present four aspects of the Kingdom of God, the kingdom emphasis of classical evangelicalism tends to stop with this point about the soteriological nature of the kingdom, which can be summarized as follows. The gospel of salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and His shed blood on the cross. The emphasis is placed upon repentance and conversion of individual souls. The Kingdom of God in this age is spiritual and grows through efforts of evangelism based on teaching the Bible. It is “not of this world” (John 18:36), but a spiritual rule in the hearts of men (Luke 17:20-21). Furthermore, evangelicals tend to affirm that the Kingdom of God is only finally realized upon Christ’s second return to earth, when He Himself establishes His literal and physical reign.
Most evangelicals believe that someday everyone will bow at the name of Jesus and confess His authority, and that even now before Christ's second coming, every knee in every nation on earth should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of this universe and rightful Ruler of all lives. Only those who trust in His grace alone for forgiveness of sins, repent of their sinful rebellion and submit to Christ as Lord are justified and stand accepted at the bar of God's judgment. Nobody, Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever, private person or public official, is exempt from the moral and judicial obligation before God to submit to Christ's lordship over every aspect of his life in thought, word, and deed.
Jesus’ pattern for prayer is “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6). This kingdom comes particularly to persons who repent and believe the gospel and come to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified. “And this is life eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Thus the kingdom of God is established on earth, set up in the believer’s heart.
Part II: The Ascension Nature of the Kingdom of God
Our second consideration is that the kingdom of God is understood to be spiritual. Just as by justification the believer is made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and co-reigning with Him (Eph 2:5-6) and has access by faith into grace (Rom 5:2, Col 3:1), so the Kingdom of God in a macro sense is the extension of the reigning authority of Christ Jesus at God’s right hand.
The Kingdom of God is His “rule” and “reign,” the dynamic equivalent of “Jesus is Lord.” Jesus is ruling even now from the throne of heaven. Most evangelicals accept the first truth about the salvation aspect of the Kingdom of God. They also accept the ascension nature of the Kingdom of God. Jesus reigns as ascended Lord at God’s right hand reigning with full authority. As the Son of David and Son of God, Jesus was given all authority in heaven and on earth by God the Father. After His ascension He sat down on the throne at the right hand of God. From this position of absolute authority in the universe He is bringing all things into submission under His feet, exercising His authority ever more widely and fully on earth as the gospel spreads and people are converted to Him. His exercise of that authority will become more fully manifest after His second coming.
Christ’s royal preeminence is basic to the expansion of the kingdom in the world and the transformation of society. The premise of Christ's authority recognizes the continuing patience Christ displays toward earthly powers. Human authority, whether founded in democratic or totalitarian governments, is always sustained uncertainly. Monarchs wear their crowns tentatively; presidents and prime ministers always walk the tight rope over questions of personal ambition, popular sovereignty, and political opposition. King Jesus bears with patient tolerance the rebellion and usurping of power--power originally given by God to those who hold it.
Christ reigns as the Second Adam and believers are co-reigning with Him. Christ, as representative man and last Adam (Rom 5:12-17), by His life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the throne at the right hand of the Father, accomplished redemption and, at the same time, defeated Satan. In Christ was the beginning of the restoration of man's godly dominion over the earth as God's vice-regent. Believers co-reign with Christ as they experience overcoming victory day-by-day. Man’s God-ordained dominion involves Christ's redeeming work as mediator on the Cross, and awaits the physical presence of the returned Christ for its inauguration and expansion.
The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of the Son (Col 1:13). The kingdom is a real relationship to be received (Lk 12:32; 18:17, 24-25, 29-30), a real inheritance to be possessed (Mt 25:23, 21, 23), and a real realm to inhabit (Mt 5:19). We can be the “least” or be “great” in the spiritual reality of the kingdom.
Luke 12:32-34 – “32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (NKJV).
Luke 18:15 – “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it" (NKJV).
Luke 18:29-30 – “29 So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life" (NKJV).
In the redemptive process, salvation is a gift from God, not the results of works to be boasted of (Eph 2:8-9). However, in the on-going process of salvation, each one must work out his or her salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). The purpose is to be conformed increasingly to the image of the Son of God. Which is easier: to give birth to a child or to bring that child forth to full maturity? A kingdom philosophy of life begins when we repent, a decision to turn and go another way. It is established as a kingdom commitment in the waters of baptism, choosing a new way of life and God’s rule and reign as policy for one’s life. It is empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit and participation in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, God’s provision for divine enablement to live in the full potential of the promises of God. In Christ, we transition from the kingdom of darkness to walk in the kingdom of light (Col 1:12-14), that realm that presently reflects the Kingdom of God. One must die to the past (the cross) and rise to the future (resurrection). The cross is an instrument of death. Today we have a kind of cross-less Christianity. Kingdom discipleship is to take up the way of the cross, to deny one’s self, and to lose one’s life for Christ’s sake (Mt 10:38-39).
Jesus talked about heaven and earth: “Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” What is often called “Salvation History” is sacred history (God’s history) joined with profane history (man’s history). God who is Spirit became man in the flesh through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God’s redemption and His empowering presence are realized by believing people submitted to God by that same spirit. Thus, humankind participates in the divine nature and experiences God’s ethical freedom. God’s divine essence is experienced in history through God’s life revealed in humanity. Redeemed man is participating in Christ’s divinity. Indeed, HISTORY is “HIS-story” – Divine Action and Human Agency connected; God’s creative love is expressed in the creative freedom of man.
Several years ago, Bob Mumford lectured about the needs that drive humans. On the one hand, humans perceive their needs for happiness, health, success, job, food, recreation, etc. However, he taught that on a deeper philosophical level, they live their lives out of unperceived needs such as (1) the urge to rule (success); (2) sexuality (male and female); (2) dignity (usefulness, value, a job well done); and (4) belonging (identity). Jesus said, “Take my yoke and learn of me and you will find rest for our souls” (Mt 11:29-31). The yoke is a symbol of the government of God. The government that is carried on His shoulders (Isa 9:6) comes to rest upon our shoulders.
Isa 9:6-7 – “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (NKJV).
In Him, we find adequate governing over the urge to rule, dominate, and control others; the urge of sexuality, sexual drives that injure and destroy self and others; the urge of dignity, excessive attempts to gain attention and respect; and the urge of belonging, driven to belong at any cost.
Kingdom of God reality advances in the shoes of revelation. God is a revealing God. No advance is made without revelation. Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus about his prayer they would have enlightened wisdom and revelation about the nature of Christ’s rule and reign far above principalities and powers.
Eph 1:15-23 – “15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (NKJV).
In kingdom theology, Jesus Christ is seen as the outward revelation of the Father. He came as the express image of the Father, the actual word of the Father’s revelation. We embrace this same indwelling Christ in us today. This is what Paul called, “Christ in you the hope of glory,” the passionate receiving of Christ as the word of God actually into our hearts, and by which we are being transformed (Gk: metamorphose, Rom 12:2), such a caterpillar moves through a cocoon stage and transforms into a beautiful butterfly. We are transformed by the renewing of our mind, from glory to glory, strength to strength, and from grace to grace.
Kingdom theology involves following the King. Jesus said of his sheep, that they “hear his voice” and that “the sheep follow him for they know his voice” (John 10:3-4). Three things are vital here: we hear his voice, listen to his voice, and actually act on his voice. The spiritual mind is based on the ability to perceive revelation; the spiritual mind is born of the Spirit, a mind that thinks, understands, and acts spiritually. This is not just reforming the carnal mind, trying to alter or raise personal consciousness into a higher dimension, which, on the opposite end, is no better than teaching people principles of sin management.
Insight is gained into the revelatory aspect of the kingdom in the words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Matthew 16. When Peter confessed about Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Mt 16:16-17). Here Jesus endorses the concept of revelation from the Father that we also might call spiritual enlightenment. In kingdom theology we hold to the idea that it is the Father who imparts revelatory truth and insight. When this truth is inside of us, it transforms us from one glory to another. The psalmist celebrated, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (Ps 36:9), and “You will light my lamp; the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness” (18:28).
Kingdom theology embraces the idea that the kingdom is now even as the kingdom continues to come. The kingdom comes into our lives as men and women living right here and now on the earth and, as a result, the kingdom unfolds itself more and more upon the earth. Jesus said, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repentance means to turn away, to go in the opposite direction from which one is currently going, a 180-degree turn, a change of mind and thinking; but a change that affects one at the heart level, at the gut level, and at the action level, a change affecting our whole being, spirit, soul, and body. This kingdom originates in heaven, but manifests itself on earth. The kingdom is a domain, a sphere of dominion, the realm of the king, thus a king-dom. This kingdom is divine sovereignty with the manifest rule and command authority of the king residing at the center of the kingdom. It is the realm of spirit in which God as Holy Spirit resides. The kingdom of God is the rule and authority of God by His Spirit on earth, in man, and in His church.
The phrase “Kingdom of God’ involves several significant themes: (1) the universal rule of Christ over all things, both redeemed and non-redeemed; (2) the special, spiritual and saving rule of Christ over people who respond in faith; (3) the life, wisdom, holiness, power, and authority that Christ grants to obedient believers; (4) the rule and reign in the Church as His corporate body, universal and local; and (5) the permeating influence of the Word and Spirit in the world and throughout culture.
Part III: The Corporate Nature of the Kingdom of God
Our third consideration is that the kingdom of God is understood to be corporate in nature. The kingdom demands manifestation and is described as a society on earth. Christ’s Church is comprised of those in whose heart God reigns. The third aspect of salvation is progressive sanctification, the believer growing in holiness and maturity. This takes place in the context of the church and more particularly in the context of the local church, which by nature of reality and necessity can characterized as a community of sinners; saved by grace, yes, but still sinners by need. The local church is the base of Christian activity, an outpost of the kingdom, and the place where discipleship, growth, and accountability takes place.
Begun on earth by Jesus, the ecclesia is designed to be the “kingdom of glory” manifested on earth (Mt 3:2), and, although infected by the “mystery of iniquity” in its ebb and flow, nevertheless, local assemblies are communities of faith. They comprise willing subjects of the kingdom, each congregating of saints serving as a congealed community of the kingdom of God, and at the same time, serving as a base-community for evangelizing the kingdom of heaven. The local assembly is a beach-head from which reforming influence flows to society and state, the church as salt and light in the world.
The church, God’s society on earth, serves as the divine agency for transforming human society, the gradual leavening effect and the growth of the mustard seed into a great tree. Theologians call this progression the “already” and the “not yet” of the kingdom, identical in nature, but progressive in degree, awaiting the final harvest in glory.
The “first fruits” are the early promise anticipating the “full fruits” of the kingdom’s banquet feast. In koinonia relationship, the breaking of bread from house to house is a sign of the kingdom as believers come from east and west to “take their place at the feast of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 8:11). Jesus taught in the parable of the wheat and darnel, that there is a difference between imitation (darnel) that looks like wheat and the authentic (the wheat) both existing simultaneously (Mt 3:23-30). Christ’s ecclesia is the alternative society to the world comprised of redeemed persons enjoying the real presence of the kingdom, people from all types of conditions, experiences, religions, races, and opinions through the regenerating (polygenesia, Titus 3:5) work of the Holy Spirit, even until the final and full regeneration (polygenesis, Matt 19:28) of the whole of society.
When Jesus came introducing the Kingdom of God, he also established the church as the extension of God’s theocratic authority on earth. The Church consists of the redeemed and manifests in the community of believers. Christ's Kingdom authority is not limited to His Church but extends over all areas of life. The Church is the focal point of Christ's Kingdom work here on earth, the primary instrument of the spread of the gospel and the extension of Christ’s Kingdom.
Each local church is a community of Christ’s disciples under God’s rule and reign. The Church is not to be equated with any single denomination, or Christ’s authority limited to any single group of believers.
The Church is not a religious society or club. It is not an interim missionary society, an exclusive denomination, nor a doctrinal school, but the Kingdom of God among you. The Church is a God-movement, a movement of communities of grace formed under the new covenant. Individuals enter through repentance and maintain a life-long commitment to repentance, always changing their mind when the mind distorts back from the mind of Christ. “Repentance” (metanoia) is more than just expressing sorrow for past mistakes; it is a complete readjustment and reorientation of one’s life.
The gospel preached by the apostles and the early believer’s response to it are prototypes of the progressive purposes of God, bringing back Jesus for the culmination of God’s plan for humanity. The joining together of individuals and the discipling of them to function in the Church is fundamental to the reconciliation of all things in Jesus. The Church is the body and bride of Christ. Jesus is the King, the Church is the bride.
A kingdom of God mentality is an essential mentality for members in a true New Testament community of believers. A local church should be a community of the redeemed, those who are in agreement with and committed to the goals and methods of a biblical God-Movement. The criterion for belonging to and participating in a kingdom-affected congregation is commitment to Christ Jesus. The password for involvement is “Jesus is Lord.” We say, “Christ, you are my Lord, king of my life!”
Involvement in a true, New Testament local church is more than agreement with correct theological formulas, profession of a religious experience, assent to a particular moral code, or the recognition of a vague philosophy of life. Rather, it is the recognition of its mission—to make an impact. This means that God is among us and that he is exercising through us the ministry of reconciliation. Such a community is attractive to people who have lost all ability and motivation to be committed to anything in this drab world. The world is thirsty for a demonstration of a community of people living in the here and now under the rule of God.
The kingdom on earth is realized in the gathered community of faith that, in parallel to the larger community of society, represents and speaks the heart and will of God for all people. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matt 5:13).
The New Testament church is a company "called by the gospel" (Acts 5:11). With regard to kingdom theology, preaching is critical to the expansion of the kingdom. God is already renewing the face of the earth through the preaching of the gospel in the power of the Spirit. The church must be God’s transforming agency in the world. It penetrates the age and produces reform by preaching the Word. A kingdom church speaks to the political, economic, sexual, and social classes of the world. Christianity is social (Matt 5:13-16).
All this requires that local congregations represent the outworking of the Kingdom of God and Christ’s design and purpose for the church, His intended agency of the Kingdom, to fulfill their intended role upon the face of the earth. If Adam and Eve had obeyed, the original commission to them would have resulted in the development of a worldwide extended family of tribes and clans submitted to the Lordship of God Almighty. Likewise, if we are faithful to the fulfillment of Jesus’ Commission, the result will be a worldwide extended family of tribes, clans, and related communities that cover the earth.
Thus we conclude that the kingdom within the hearts of believers is given earthly incarnation in the church, the society of subjects "gathered to God by His Son" (Mt. 3:2). The Church walking and serving in glory is the church triumphant, even as it humbly walks and serves in the model of the Lamb slain (Rev 5:12). The eschatological significance of the kingdom involves both the existing church of Christ under God’s rule and the extended dimensions of the kingdom in it coming consummated glory.
The kingdom is (1) inaugurated in conversion and sanctification leading to holiness and fulfillment, (2) incarnated in and extended through the church, the congealed community, fellowship, society of believing, holy persons, and (3) the anticipated kingdom in glory, the perfection of the kingdom on earth, fully realized at the coming of Christ Jesus.
The kingdom is threefold in nature. (1) Original creation established persons as moral and spiritual beings made in God’s image, but marred by sin and the fall. (2) Restored creation in Christ established the potent reality of regenerated persons as moral and spiritual beings. (3) Progressive new creation potential is released by the presence of God’s Spirit among His people for empowerment and service in the world. The church is the earthly vehicle for God’s divine work.
Jesus’ announcement of the Kingdom of God being at hand was good news. As the anointed One, he preached good news (Luke 4:18-19; Isa 61:1-2). (1) Good News of a historical event taking place in the course of time, having the quality of kairos. (2) Good News for all people; of public interest; for all ages, the whole of human history. (3) Good News about the actual fulfillment of the Old Testament Jewish prophesies (cf. Dt 18). (4) Good News that is unleashed into one’s life by the simple, sincere response of repentance and faith. (5) Good News that is a call for the formation of a New Age, a New Nation, a New Community with a future, the beginning of the coming final age. This Kingdom of Messiah corresponds to themes present in the Kingdom of Yahweh but now initiated in the person, message, and work of Jesus as Christ, the rule and reign of God as a present reality. In Christ, God’s kingdom of dynamic power is made visible through concrete signs confirming Christ Jesus as the Messiah. In Him, a new reality has entered the course of history and it affects all human life: morally, spiritually, physically, psychologically, materially, socially, and redemptively. Inaugurated in the person, message, and works of Jesus, the Kingdom of God is active, discerned by faith (Lk 17:20-21). Therefore, the Kingdom of God is a present reality. The “last days” began in Jesus and in Him was dynamic power that touched the blind, sick, deaf, dead, and spiritually poor in spirit. Demons were cast out by the finger of God (Mt 12:28; Lk 11:22). The Kingdom of God is the backbone of the biblical narrative: (1) it was anticipated by the old covenant prophets; (2) it arrived in Jesus as explained in the gospels; (3) it has active importance with the apostles; (4) its fullness is revealed in the apocalyptic future.
Kingdom theology is rooted in the prophets, apostles, and Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone serving as the foundation of the church (Eph 2:18). Nothing can replace the work of Christ Jesus and the original prophets and apostles, although the spirit and essential nature of that original work is needed today as much as in the first century church. Revelation speaks of the continuing aspect of such images. The designation “prophets” speaks of the Old Testament revelation that foreshadowed the coming of Jesus as the Messiah, whereas the designation “apostles” speaks of the on-going advance of the kingdom from Jesus Christ forward. While Revelation 21:2 speaks of “the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven,” Revelation 21:14, declares that “the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Whether someone truly walks or serves in the capacity of apostleship or in the realm of prophetic ministry, 2,000 years ago or today, it is the kingdom of God manifested in the Spirit. Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God (Rom 8:2).
Part IV: The Eschatological Nature of the Kingdom of God
Our fourth consideration is that the kingdom of God is understood to be eschatological, often called the doctrine of last things. Increasingly, bible scholars understand that eschatology is much broader than only last things; it might better be called the doctrine of the latest things. Eschatology is the transcendent breaking-in of eternity into the realm of time. It is the breaking-in of God’s kingdom rule and reign into the lives of people, cultures, and nations. Eschatology is the progressive advancing, unfolding, and ever-increasing embodiment of the God’s kingdom rule and reign in the lives of people, and therefore in the culture, population, and nations in which they live.
This fourth aspect of the eschatological nature of the Kingdom of God is parallel to the fourth aspect of salvation is glorification; the believer growing in grace (2 Pet 3:18), from faith-to-faith (Rom 1:17), and from glory-to-glory (2 Cor 3:18).
2 Cor 3:18 – “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” NKJV
1 Peter 1:13 – “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” NKJV
Heb 4:16 – “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” NKJV
Heb 12:15 – “Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” NKJV
Heb 12:28-29 – “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire” (NKJV).
The world it seems is on fire. Jesus said, “I have come to kindle fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled” (Luke 12:49). What kind of leadership will it take to advance the Kingdom of God in our days? The same kind it took in Jesus’ day.
Matt 11:12-15 – “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (NKJV).
For too much of the Body a Christ, certain passivity has seized upon professing believers, a Laodicean spirit of lukewarmness. God is restoring the apostolic spirit in these days, the full five-fold ministry, with a spirit of boldness to advance the Kingdom of God.
It is wrong to believe that the Kingdom of God will only be inaugurated on earth in time-space reality and power at a future second coming of Christ. It is present and operative now. The inbreaking occurs usually in times of personal crisis, cultural crisis, or a time of critical dealings with God and before God. In fact, righteousness rejected eventually brings about a righteousness-unrighteousness conflict; the battle between good and evil. Obedience to truth, God’s truth, assumes the yoke of God’s rule with one’s life.
Most people when they hear the word “kingdom” think only of a future coming of the Kingdom of God at Christ’s second coming. Few think of the Kingdom of God as now. Most people expect a one thousand year literal, physical kingdom to transpire before the final end. The viewpoint presented is the present and progressive eschatological nature of the Kingdom of God. This has often been called the “Is-Now-But-Not-Yet” understanding.
Progressive eschatology is the continuously advancing nature and embodiment of the Kingdom of God on earth. The fullest extent of this vision will not be achieved until after Jesus’ second coming; yes, but the Church is supposed to be making progress toward this end goal (telios). Peter called on the crowd to repent, the proper stance until Christ returns, “Whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke…from ancient times” (Acts 3:19-21).
Our primary citizenship is in heaven, but the plane of earth is where we live day-by-day. At the same time, although we are citizens of earthly nations, heaven is our true home and treasure. Heaven is the headquarters of the Kingdom of God, where Jesus rules and reigns at the right hand of the Father. The Bible teaches us to be heavenly-minded and that only heavenly-minded men and women are useful for God on earth. We are seated in the heavenly places to rule in and with Christ. Heaven is the pattern for earth and we are to live in eager expectation of our being with the Lord in heaven and of Christ's second coming in glory, when heaven shall come down to earth in fullness. Heavenly citizenship does not reduce our responsibilities in society or neglect our duties in this world. We live everyday to the glory of God.
The Kingdom of God is steadily increasing. The Kingdom of God will increase until it is consummated when Jesus delivers it to the Father. At the present time this Kingdom is both already present and not yet consummated; although it will not be realized totally, comprehensively, or perfectly on earth before the return of Christ.
God’s righteous order (dikaios) is expressed through righteous people. Jesus said, “The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mt 13:43 NKJV). At the end of the age (13:49; 25:31), the just (dikaios) will be separated from the unjust like fish in a net (Mt 13:47-52; 25:37-40). God’s new order is based on dikaios, an order that will eventually fill the whole earth. The Kingdom of God advances until such point that God’s fullness fills the earth under the Lordship of Christ. The church is a reflection of that kingdom with a threefold purpose:
1) To fill the whole universe (Eph 1:10, 22,23; 3:19; 4:10)
Eph 1:10 – “That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him” (NKJV).
Eph 1:22-23 – “22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (NKJV).
Eph 3:14-16,19 – “14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you…19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (NKJV).
Eph 4:8 – “He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things” (NKJV).
2) To make known the manifold wisdom of God (Eph 3:10, 11).
Eph 3:10-11 – “10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NKJV).
3) To understand and live out the will of God (Eph 4:17).
Eph 4:17 – “17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind” (NKJV).
God’s Kingdom is all-encompassing. God’s intention is for the growth of His kingdom in all nations and nationalities on the earth during this present age. His intention includes all spheres of life for the obedient application of His stated will in Scripture. His intention includes the increasing manifestation of His rule over individuals, voluntary associations, families, the church, the state, and all spheres of human activity, some of which are law, government, economics, business, occupations, education, sports, medicine, science, technology, arts, and media. God’s rulership involves much more than just the personal transformation of individuals in their private life.
Christ is king to be revealed in full splendor in the consummation. The great theme for which "the apocalypse of Jesus Christ" (Rev 1:1) was written is that the church may resist evil powers in the sure promise that its work in the world will be crowned with grace and, finally, glory. The royalty of Christ means that the Kingdom of God manifested in our hearts and in the ecclesia will be victorious in God's world.
Part V: Apostolic Kingdom Strategies
Eschatology leads to the consideration of kingdom strategies. We consider these from an apostolic perspective.
The first great strategy is EVANGELISM. Jesus promised the twelve apostles, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:14, NKJV). The motive for evangelism and the search for effective evangelistic strategy and tactics are driven by an eschatological demand. Not only will people not saved stand before God in judgment at the Great White Throne, but also the Kingdom of God does not spiritually advance and expand without souls being saved. The Great Commission is a kingdom responsibility. The task of the Church is to herald Christ as King over all the earth and as Judge of all mankind. Christ now commands all men everywhere to repent, and to proclaim the good news of salvation by grace through faith in the atoning blood of Christ. The goal is making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all of God's commands in the Bible that apply to us today.
The Church cannot disregard the Great Commission and still walk in godly obedience. The Great Commission is more than just proclaiming the good news of salvation without the accompanying call to repentance and faithful obedience. Reborn people respond in faith to be God’s duly-appointed agents under assignment to fulfill Jesus’ last words as outlined in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). We are under divine mandate, under divine authority, and under divine obligation. Evangelization is the announcement of good news. Every generation has to learn how to incarnate the gospel in their time. Every generation of Christians has the unique responsibility to share the good news with its generation. John R. Mott’s slogan for the task was: “The evangelization of the world in this generation.”
The second great strategy is DISCIPLESHIP. Obeying Christ and His commands are quite different from obedience to the Law as a means of salvation. Just because believers enjoy freedom from the condemnation of the moral Law, does not exempt them from the obligation to obey it. Kingdom life is doing the will of the Father on earth even as it is done in heaven. Doing the Father’s will on earth as it is in heaven is the same theme in the Great Commission, the Lord's Prayer and the Creation Mandate. These instructions from God call believers to participate by both prayer and action in the expansion of His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven to whatever extent that is possible before Christ's second coming. To extend the Father’s will on earth as it is done in heaven involves increasing numbers of individuals, groups, and civil states growing progressively in obedience to the will of the Father. Believers begin to study God’s laws, subduing their own hearts, lives, and wills to Christ’s Lordship. This is called discipleship. The blessings of God start to flow toward those who are acting in His name and who are living according to godly order.
The third great strategy is INFLUENCE. Jesus taught his disciples about the importance of influence.
Matt 5:13-16 – “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (NKJV).
To have influence is to know the power of truth. If there ever was a day in which truth was essential, it is today. The kingdom task to make disciples is the most basic work of changing the culture by our godly influence. God’s word is the standard for true culture. We hold forth the Bible as God's standard and plumb line by which to measure the justice, morality, and practice of all human endeavors in all jurisdictions: individual, voluntary association, family, church, and civil government. When people, individuals or societies, Christian or non-Christian, generally follow, consciously or unconsciously, the moral, economic, and practical commands of the Bible, they tend to reap earthly blessings as a result. However, when people generally fail to follow the moral, economic, and practical commands of the Bible, they tend to reap earthly judgments as a result. People may not sow to the wind without God’s just principle that they will reap the whirlwind.
Since God is King and his kingdom is here and now for us, we no longer have to be blind subjects of deep-rooted unbelief, carrying guilt for our sensual misadventures, trying to control our lives, other people, our possessions, afraid to let go, thereby facing loneliness in an empty universe. Where the church is growing dramatically, the presence of the God is being manifested by the direct action of the Holy Spirit, signified by the healings, deliverance from demons and other miraculous works of God.
The fourth great strategy is TRIBULATION for the cause of Christ. Suffering and persecution are a normal part of the Christian life. True believers may be called upon to participate with Christ in His sufferings, in selfless service for the advance of the Kingdom. Suffering is not always a sign of God's judgment or displeasure with sin. Suffering does not add to the work of Christ in redemption, but it may be a way that believers and those who observe disciples come into a deeper realization of Christ’s redemption.
Acts 14:21-23 – “And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (NKJV).
The fifth great strategy is UNITY. The Kingdom of God transcends all national, political, and ethnic boundaries, uniting believers in its King, Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is a universal and spiritual reality. An illustration of the Kingdom of God here on earth would be a nation establishing an embassy in a foreign land. The embassy is considered a piece of that country, governed by the home country, but operating in a different country. At this present time, God’s Kingdom here on earth is a spiritual one. He reigns in the hearts and lives of those that have accepted his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and are submitting to his Lordship.
Unity is the expression of the Oneness that comes from Christ Jesus Himself. Apostles lead the way by example and exhortation.
John 17:3-5 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (NKJV).
Eph 4:3-6 – “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (NKJV).
Unity is discovered in the reality of the Name and Word of God communicated by revelation. Apostles impart the truth as much as instruct and inform.
John 17:6-8 – “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me” (NKJV).
Unity is a heart attitude and expression of the Lordship, Headship, and Kingship of Christ Jesus over His church before and unto the Father. Apostles are the extension of Christ’s authority and ministry for today, the 21st Century church.
John 17:20-23 – “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (NKJV).
The sixth great strategy is the POWER OF THE SPIRIT. This is a day in which the church is rediscovering the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Paul described his ministry at Thessalonica, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake” (1 Thess 1:5 NKJV).
Kingdom life involves the full work of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God is guaranteed in the promises of the Father and embodied in the person of Christ, but it can never gain entrance or have full realization in the fabric of human life apart from the agency of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit insures a Kingdom entrance (to be born again), sealing Kingdom membership, prompting Kingdom obedience, building Kingdom character, providing Kingdom gifts, empowering Kingdom outreach, producing Kingdom growth, and securing Kingdom victory.
God is releasing his Holy Spirit in power, opening hearts to his lively presence, healing wounds past and present, breaking compulsive, addictive behavior, and elevating the poor into his presence by expelling our present darkness and recreating our fallen humanity. Character strength, personal charisma, skillful management, creative imagination, evident talents, financial strength, political action, or educational prowess, by themselves cannot build or advance the Kingdom of God. When these actions are prompted by the soul alone, true kingdom life is avoided.
The seventh great strategy is the restoration of the APOSTOLIC. Apostles and the troops they lead are the ambassadors of heaven. We are to take dominion in every area of life: self, marriage, family, church, business, education, arts, media, government, society, and so forth. Jesus is Lord of all and eventually all will submit at his feet (Phil 2:11).
As Christians, we can be likened to those who work at an embassy for their country. We are governed by God, but live in a world that as a whole is in spiritual darkness, where Satan still rules in the hearts and lives of unbelievers. The good news is that Jesus Christ made it possible to escape from Satan’s grasp and to enter the Kingdom of God, by translation at the new birth. As ambassadors, this is the message that we proclaim to the citizens of this lost world. While on earth, Jesus Christ exercised the authority of God’s Kingdom as can be seen in the casting out of demons, healing the sick, raising the dead and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom.
Jesus is reigning and will ultimately rule over all. It is not for us to know the times and the seasons, for these are known only to the Father. It is for us to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and to be a witness to the reality of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:5-8). Eventually, Jesus will deliver the kingdom to God the Father, but until then he will reign till He has put all enemies under His feet (I Cor. 15:24-25). The nations of those who are saved shall walk in the light of the Kingdom of God, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it (Rev 21:24-25). The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:2).
Introduction: How Shall We Understand the Kingdom of God?
The concept of the Kingdom of God and the question to whom allegiance will be given are ultimate issues of life. Moses represented God’s voice as saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex 20:2-3). When the devil sought to tempt Jesus he “took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me” (Mt 4:8-9). It was from that time on that Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 4:17). At the conclusion of Jesus’ ministry, when the eleven disciples came to the mountain appointed for them to meet with Him, “they worshiped Him,” but also “some doubted” (Mt 28:17).
Our question is what is the Kingdom of God? Over time “kingdom” language had slipped out of the vocabulary of many who claim to preach the Good News, but today many are embracing a fresh emphasis on the Kingdom of God. Many Christians hold the man Jesus central to the Good News, but have omitted his emphasis on the Kingdom of God, or replaced it with enlightenment, liberation, or individualistic themes. The theme of this booklet is that the Kingdom of God is active in the world and advancing day by day toward that ultimate time when God will rule and reign universally over the earth.
A proper interpretation of the biblical perspective about the kingdom begins with asking, “What did Jesus mean by declaring the Kingdom of God is at hand?” George E. Ladd, in The Gospel of the Kingdom, p. 55, answered, “What Jesus meant is this. The Kingdom of God is here, but there is a mystery—a new revelation about the kingdom. The Kingdom of God is here, but instead of destroying human sovereignty, it is attacking the sovereignty of Satan. The Kingdom of God is here; but instead of making changes in the eternal, political order of things, it is making changes in the lives of men and women.”
C. Norman Kraus stated, “The Christian church was born as a mission to the world. This outward directedness makes Christianity a movement to reach the world, not to escape from it, or set up some island of security in it” (The Community of the Spirit, p. 27). The Church-at-large extends God’s rule by its local expressions exercising corporate authority throughout the earth.
Announcing the Kingdom of God was central to Christ’s mission on earth. In the following verses we trace the unfolding of the central idea preached by John the Baptist, by Jesus, by the twelve apostles, and by Paul.
- John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Mt 3:1-2; 4:17, 23; 9:35; Mark 1:14-15; Lk 4:43; 8:1; 9:11; 16:16).
- Jesus went about proclaiming the good news of God: “The time has come,’ he said, ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news’” (Mark 1:14-15). “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk 1:15). “From that time on Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). Furthermore, Jesus said, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities, because for this purpose I have been sent" (Lk 4:43). “Neither shall they say, Look here! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
- Jesus commissioned his followers to preach the kingdom (Matt 10:7; Luke 9:2, 60; 10:9-11), particularly declaring in Matt 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony (witness) to all nations, and then the end will come.”
- Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection over a period of forty days and spoke about the the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), as did his followers preach in their earliest evangelistic work (Acts 19:8; 20:25; 28:23; 28:31). Philip “preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus” (Acts 8:12). Paul “declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus” (Acts 28:23).
The Kingdom of God is a spiritual dimension that finds expression in the human realm as individuals yield to God’s authority, rule and reign. The Kingdom of God is essentially the rule of God in the lives of people. It is divine sovereignty in action. It is the divine conquest over His enemies. This conquest happens in four stages, that one should observe. There is a parallel between the four stages of salvation on a personal level and the enlarged perspective all over the earth.
Many have sought to understand the various aspects or stages of salvation that have both a personal and a global dimension. The four aspects of salvation experienced by humans are (1) personal regeneration, (2) positional justification, (3) progressive sanctification, and (4) perfected glorification. This booklet pursues a biblical understanding of the Kingdom of God by observing (1) its soteriological (salvation) nature, parallel to the truth of regeneration, (2) its ascension nature, parallel to the truth of justification, (3) its corporate nature, parallel to the truth of sanctification, and (4) its eschatological (end times) nature, parallel to the truth of glorification. We will conclude with a section that identifies seven common-sense apostolic strategies.
Part I: The Soteriological Nature of the Kingdom of God
The nature of the Kingdom of God is to break into or invade earth’s domain. It started with Jesus birth. Jesus’ coming to earth historically inaugurated the New Testament phase of the Kingdom of God that now operates in reality and power among humankind up to this present age. The heavenly Father who rules this kingdom decisively and irrevocably invaded the earth in the incarnation of his Son who was a dynamic manifestation of his Spirit. Even so, the most intimate and personal nature of the Kingdom of God is its breaking into the life and being of the human person.
Our first consideration about the Kingdom of God is the matter of redemption, often called the soteriological doctrine of salvation. The soteriological perspective includes the fact that the experience of regeneration inaugurates the kingdom of God in us. Through regeneration, justification, sanctification, and grace transformation, the believer foretastes the comprehensive rule of Christ at the end of history. Theology calls this “inaugurated or realized eschatology,” what Paul identified as the seal of the Spirit that guarantees the inheritance (Eph 1:13-14). In the Spirit we have the “first fruits” (Rom. 8:23), and we wait the fullness. Just as regeneration initiate the Kingdom of God reality in our personal being, so the Kingdom of God reality expands in the world as regeneration (Gk: polygenesia, Titus 3:5) takes hold in all dimensions of life, society, and culture, what Jesus called the future “regeneration” (Gk: polygenesia) in Matthew 18:28.
Matt 19:28-30 – “So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” NKJV
When Luke told the story of Zacchaeus coming to Jesus, he records Jesus saying, “Today salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost” (Lk 19:10). Immediately after this, Luke records the parable of the nobleman who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and who told his servants to, “Do business till I come.” The citizens in the parable respond by saying, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Lk 19:11-14). Following Christ personally in receiving salvation is the doorway to the Kingdom of God. Biblical students have always understood that the Kingdom of God at its most basic essence taught about the matter of salvation. Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:3).
Conversion is the rite of initiation into the reality of kingdom life. Sanctification is the pilgrimage into the reality of kingdom growth. Christ-like maturity is the reward of experiencing the foretaste and transformation until the glory of heaven is reached. Conversion conveys citizenship, making us subjects of the kingdom of God, releasing us from selfish autonomy into God-centered and other-centered freedom to pursue God’s kingdom, experiencing the fullness of love.
To backtrack for a moment, the original Creation Mandate initiated God’s rule through humankind. God purposed from the beginning to share His rule over the earth with man by creating man in His own image and endowing him with faculties for ruling the earth (Gen 1:26-28). God, in the Creation Mandate, commissioned humans to rule the earth and delegated authority to man to fulfill this commission. Man, by God's design, is the highest created being in the universe because he is the only creature that bears God's image.
Humankind lost its original purity and privilege to rule and reign without guilt because of disobedience to God’s commands. Due to personal sin and bad decisions, the first humans fell into sin and entered into the judgment of death (Rom 5:12-18). However, this did not erase the image of God in mankind, nor eliminate man's responsibility or mandate for exercising dominion under God over the earth; it only corrupted it. All mankind, the righteous and the wicked, are responsible to live in every area of life under the rule of God in grateful obedience to Him as Lord and King.
Allow us to insert the subject of the trinitarian nature of the Kingdom of God here. The Kingdom of God is the reigning of God as Father, Son and Spirit. The triune God reigns sovereignly as king of the universe throughout all time, both before, concurrent with, and after the incarnation. God’s rule will continue to reign eternally. This rule manifests in three great works.
The Work of the Father: CREATION. God made humans in His image designed for fellowship and for enjoying God’s love. “Kingdom” means Divine Order. Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer said, “Your kingdom come, your will be done” (Mt 6:10). “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son” (Jn 3:16). God created all humans and desires their restoration to personal relationship with Him. He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). God desires a new creation people comprised of “new creatures in Christ” (2 Cor 5:17).
The Work of the Son: INCARNATION. Christ made salvation possible and opened the doors of reconciliation and restored fellowship for humankind with their creator. “Kingdom” means Divine Message. Jesus heralded the Kingdom of God in his message (Mt 4:17; 4:28; Luke 4:43). God’s reign is aggressively operating through Jesus. He is reclaiming those lost to the enemy, who have been bound by Satan’s power, but whose house is now being plundered (Mk. 3:27). Jesus thus claims to the representatives of John of the Baptist that he is the Messiah, God’s anointed King by what he does (Lk. 7:22). The kingdom of God is the beginning of Satan’s end and the end of status under judgment. “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matt 2:28). “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31; cf. 16:11).
The Work of the Spirit: REGENERATION. The Holy Spirit makes repentance and faith a life-transforming experience of real empowerment for victorious Christian living. “Kingdom” means New Birth. Jesus was heralded as a King at birth (Mt. 2:2). He becomes our king at our spiritual new birth (John 3:3,5). God is releasing his Holy Spirit in power, opening hearts to his lively presence, healing wounds past and present, breaking compulsive, addictive behavior, and elevating the poor into his presence by expelling our present darkness and recreating our fallen humanity in his own image and likeness. God saves humankind through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and leads those who believe in the God’s rule and reign by preaching the Kingdom of God.
1 Cor 1:21 – “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (KJV).
Eph 1:13-14 – “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (NKJV).
Acts 28:30-31 – “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him” (NKJV).
Matt 9:35 – “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (NKJV cf. Lk 8:1; Mk 1:14, 4:23).
People who repent and believe in Christ’s authority come under God’s rule. The King requires obedience from His subjects and children. Repentance is necessary for citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Genuine repentance is evidenced by a deliberate and continuing choice to submit obediently to the lordship of Christ. No one can rightly claim Christ as Savior who does not submit to Him as Lord and demonstrate grateful obedience to Him as Lord and King.
Although, we will present four aspects of the Kingdom of God, the kingdom emphasis of classical evangelicalism tends to stop with this point about the soteriological nature of the kingdom, which can be summarized as follows. The gospel of salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and His shed blood on the cross. The emphasis is placed upon repentance and conversion of individual souls. The Kingdom of God in this age is spiritual and grows through efforts of evangelism based on teaching the Bible. It is “not of this world” (John 18:36), but a spiritual rule in the hearts of men (Luke 17:20-21). Furthermore, evangelicals tend to affirm that the Kingdom of God is only finally realized upon Christ’s second return to earth, when He Himself establishes His literal and physical reign.
Most evangelicals believe that someday everyone will bow at the name of Jesus and confess His authority, and that even now before Christ's second coming, every knee in every nation on earth should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of this universe and rightful Ruler of all lives. Only those who trust in His grace alone for forgiveness of sins, repent of their sinful rebellion and submit to Christ as Lord are justified and stand accepted at the bar of God's judgment. Nobody, Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever, private person or public official, is exempt from the moral and judicial obligation before God to submit to Christ's lordship over every aspect of his life in thought, word, and deed.
Jesus’ pattern for prayer is “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6). This kingdom comes particularly to persons who repent and believe the gospel and come to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified. “And this is life eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Thus the kingdom of God is established on earth, set up in the believer’s heart.
Part II: The Ascension Nature of the Kingdom of God
Our second consideration is that the kingdom of God is understood to be spiritual. Just as by justification the believer is made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and co-reigning with Him (Eph 2:5-6) and has access by faith into grace (Rom 5:2, Col 3:1), so the Kingdom of God in a macro sense is the extension of the reigning authority of Christ Jesus at God’s right hand.
The Kingdom of God is His “rule” and “reign,” the dynamic equivalent of “Jesus is Lord.” Jesus is ruling even now from the throne of heaven. Most evangelicals accept the first truth about the salvation aspect of the Kingdom of God. They also accept the ascension nature of the Kingdom of God. Jesus reigns as ascended Lord at God’s right hand reigning with full authority. As the Son of David and Son of God, Jesus was given all authority in heaven and on earth by God the Father. After His ascension He sat down on the throne at the right hand of God. From this position of absolute authority in the universe He is bringing all things into submission under His feet, exercising His authority ever more widely and fully on earth as the gospel spreads and people are converted to Him. His exercise of that authority will become more fully manifest after His second coming.
Christ’s royal preeminence is basic to the expansion of the kingdom in the world and the transformation of society. The premise of Christ's authority recognizes the continuing patience Christ displays toward earthly powers. Human authority, whether founded in democratic or totalitarian governments, is always sustained uncertainly. Monarchs wear their crowns tentatively; presidents and prime ministers always walk the tight rope over questions of personal ambition, popular sovereignty, and political opposition. King Jesus bears with patient tolerance the rebellion and usurping of power--power originally given by God to those who hold it.
Christ reigns as the Second Adam and believers are co-reigning with Him. Christ, as representative man and last Adam (Rom 5:12-17), by His life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the throne at the right hand of the Father, accomplished redemption and, at the same time, defeated Satan. In Christ was the beginning of the restoration of man's godly dominion over the earth as God's vice-regent. Believers co-reign with Christ as they experience overcoming victory day-by-day. Man’s God-ordained dominion involves Christ's redeeming work as mediator on the Cross, and awaits the physical presence of the returned Christ for its inauguration and expansion.
The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of the Son (Col 1:13). The kingdom is a real relationship to be received (Lk 12:32; 18:17, 24-25, 29-30), a real inheritance to be possessed (Mt 25:23, 21, 23), and a real realm to inhabit (Mt 5:19). We can be the “least” or be “great” in the spiritual reality of the kingdom.
Luke 12:32-34 – “32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (NKJV).
Luke 18:15 – “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it" (NKJV).
Luke 18:29-30 – “29 So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life" (NKJV).
In the redemptive process, salvation is a gift from God, not the results of works to be boasted of (Eph 2:8-9). However, in the on-going process of salvation, each one must work out his or her salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). The purpose is to be conformed increasingly to the image of the Son of God. Which is easier: to give birth to a child or to bring that child forth to full maturity? A kingdom philosophy of life begins when we repent, a decision to turn and go another way. It is established as a kingdom commitment in the waters of baptism, choosing a new way of life and God’s rule and reign as policy for one’s life. It is empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit and participation in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, God’s provision for divine enablement to live in the full potential of the promises of God. In Christ, we transition from the kingdom of darkness to walk in the kingdom of light (Col 1:12-14), that realm that presently reflects the Kingdom of God. One must die to the past (the cross) and rise to the future (resurrection). The cross is an instrument of death. Today we have a kind of cross-less Christianity. Kingdom discipleship is to take up the way of the cross, to deny one’s self, and to lose one’s life for Christ’s sake (Mt 10:38-39).
Jesus talked about heaven and earth: “Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” What is often called “Salvation History” is sacred history (God’s history) joined with profane history (man’s history). God who is Spirit became man in the flesh through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God’s redemption and His empowering presence are realized by believing people submitted to God by that same spirit. Thus, humankind participates in the divine nature and experiences God’s ethical freedom. God’s divine essence is experienced in history through God’s life revealed in humanity. Redeemed man is participating in Christ’s divinity. Indeed, HISTORY is “HIS-story” – Divine Action and Human Agency connected; God’s creative love is expressed in the creative freedom of man.
Several years ago, Bob Mumford lectured about the needs that drive humans. On the one hand, humans perceive their needs for happiness, health, success, job, food, recreation, etc. However, he taught that on a deeper philosophical level, they live their lives out of unperceived needs such as (1) the urge to rule (success); (2) sexuality (male and female); (2) dignity (usefulness, value, a job well done); and (4) belonging (identity). Jesus said, “Take my yoke and learn of me and you will find rest for our souls” (Mt 11:29-31). The yoke is a symbol of the government of God. The government that is carried on His shoulders (Isa 9:6) comes to rest upon our shoulders.
Isa 9:6-7 – “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (NKJV).
In Him, we find adequate governing over the urge to rule, dominate, and control others; the urge of sexuality, sexual drives that injure and destroy self and others; the urge of dignity, excessive attempts to gain attention and respect; and the urge of belonging, driven to belong at any cost.
Kingdom of God reality advances in the shoes of revelation. God is a revealing God. No advance is made without revelation. Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus about his prayer they would have enlightened wisdom and revelation about the nature of Christ’s rule and reign far above principalities and powers.
Eph 1:15-23 – “15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (NKJV).
In kingdom theology, Jesus Christ is seen as the outward revelation of the Father. He came as the express image of the Father, the actual word of the Father’s revelation. We embrace this same indwelling Christ in us today. This is what Paul called, “Christ in you the hope of glory,” the passionate receiving of Christ as the word of God actually into our hearts, and by which we are being transformed (Gk: metamorphose, Rom 12:2), such a caterpillar moves through a cocoon stage and transforms into a beautiful butterfly. We are transformed by the renewing of our mind, from glory to glory, strength to strength, and from grace to grace.
Kingdom theology involves following the King. Jesus said of his sheep, that they “hear his voice” and that “the sheep follow him for they know his voice” (John 10:3-4). Three things are vital here: we hear his voice, listen to his voice, and actually act on his voice. The spiritual mind is based on the ability to perceive revelation; the spiritual mind is born of the Spirit, a mind that thinks, understands, and acts spiritually. This is not just reforming the carnal mind, trying to alter or raise personal consciousness into a higher dimension, which, on the opposite end, is no better than teaching people principles of sin management.
Insight is gained into the revelatory aspect of the kingdom in the words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Matthew 16. When Peter confessed about Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Mt 16:16-17). Here Jesus endorses the concept of revelation from the Father that we also might call spiritual enlightenment. In kingdom theology we hold to the idea that it is the Father who imparts revelatory truth and insight. When this truth is inside of us, it transforms us from one glory to another. The psalmist celebrated, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (Ps 36:9), and “You will light my lamp; the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness” (18:28).
Kingdom theology embraces the idea that the kingdom is now even as the kingdom continues to come. The kingdom comes into our lives as men and women living right here and now on the earth and, as a result, the kingdom unfolds itself more and more upon the earth. Jesus said, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repentance means to turn away, to go in the opposite direction from which one is currently going, a 180-degree turn, a change of mind and thinking; but a change that affects one at the heart level, at the gut level, and at the action level, a change affecting our whole being, spirit, soul, and body. This kingdom originates in heaven, but manifests itself on earth. The kingdom is a domain, a sphere of dominion, the realm of the king, thus a king-dom. This kingdom is divine sovereignty with the manifest rule and command authority of the king residing at the center of the kingdom. It is the realm of spirit in which God as Holy Spirit resides. The kingdom of God is the rule and authority of God by His Spirit on earth, in man, and in His church.
The phrase “Kingdom of God’ involves several significant themes: (1) the universal rule of Christ over all things, both redeemed and non-redeemed; (2) the special, spiritual and saving rule of Christ over people who respond in faith; (3) the life, wisdom, holiness, power, and authority that Christ grants to obedient believers; (4) the rule and reign in the Church as His corporate body, universal and local; and (5) the permeating influence of the Word and Spirit in the world and throughout culture.
Part III: The Corporate Nature of the Kingdom of God
Our third consideration is that the kingdom of God is understood to be corporate in nature. The kingdom demands manifestation and is described as a society on earth. Christ’s Church is comprised of those in whose heart God reigns. The third aspect of salvation is progressive sanctification, the believer growing in holiness and maturity. This takes place in the context of the church and more particularly in the context of the local church, which by nature of reality and necessity can characterized as a community of sinners; saved by grace, yes, but still sinners by need. The local church is the base of Christian activity, an outpost of the kingdom, and the place where discipleship, growth, and accountability takes place.
Begun on earth by Jesus, the ecclesia is designed to be the “kingdom of glory” manifested on earth (Mt 3:2), and, although infected by the “mystery of iniquity” in its ebb and flow, nevertheless, local assemblies are communities of faith. They comprise willing subjects of the kingdom, each congregating of saints serving as a congealed community of the kingdom of God, and at the same time, serving as a base-community for evangelizing the kingdom of heaven. The local assembly is a beach-head from which reforming influence flows to society and state, the church as salt and light in the world.
The church, God’s society on earth, serves as the divine agency for transforming human society, the gradual leavening effect and the growth of the mustard seed into a great tree. Theologians call this progression the “already” and the “not yet” of the kingdom, identical in nature, but progressive in degree, awaiting the final harvest in glory.
The “first fruits” are the early promise anticipating the “full fruits” of the kingdom’s banquet feast. In koinonia relationship, the breaking of bread from house to house is a sign of the kingdom as believers come from east and west to “take their place at the feast of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 8:11). Jesus taught in the parable of the wheat and darnel, that there is a difference between imitation (darnel) that looks like wheat and the authentic (the wheat) both existing simultaneously (Mt 3:23-30). Christ’s ecclesia is the alternative society to the world comprised of redeemed persons enjoying the real presence of the kingdom, people from all types of conditions, experiences, religions, races, and opinions through the regenerating (polygenesia, Titus 3:5) work of the Holy Spirit, even until the final and full regeneration (polygenesis, Matt 19:28) of the whole of society.
When Jesus came introducing the Kingdom of God, he also established the church as the extension of God’s theocratic authority on earth. The Church consists of the redeemed and manifests in the community of believers. Christ's Kingdom authority is not limited to His Church but extends over all areas of life. The Church is the focal point of Christ's Kingdom work here on earth, the primary instrument of the spread of the gospel and the extension of Christ’s Kingdom.
Each local church is a community of Christ’s disciples under God’s rule and reign. The Church is not to be equated with any single denomination, or Christ’s authority limited to any single group of believers.
The Church is not a religious society or club. It is not an interim missionary society, an exclusive denomination, nor a doctrinal school, but the Kingdom of God among you. The Church is a God-movement, a movement of communities of grace formed under the new covenant. Individuals enter through repentance and maintain a life-long commitment to repentance, always changing their mind when the mind distorts back from the mind of Christ. “Repentance” (metanoia) is more than just expressing sorrow for past mistakes; it is a complete readjustment and reorientation of one’s life.
The gospel preached by the apostles and the early believer’s response to it are prototypes of the progressive purposes of God, bringing back Jesus for the culmination of God’s plan for humanity. The joining together of individuals and the discipling of them to function in the Church is fundamental to the reconciliation of all things in Jesus. The Church is the body and bride of Christ. Jesus is the King, the Church is the bride.
A kingdom of God mentality is an essential mentality for members in a true New Testament community of believers. A local church should be a community of the redeemed, those who are in agreement with and committed to the goals and methods of a biblical God-Movement. The criterion for belonging to and participating in a kingdom-affected congregation is commitment to Christ Jesus. The password for involvement is “Jesus is Lord.” We say, “Christ, you are my Lord, king of my life!”
Involvement in a true, New Testament local church is more than agreement with correct theological formulas, profession of a religious experience, assent to a particular moral code, or the recognition of a vague philosophy of life. Rather, it is the recognition of its mission—to make an impact. This means that God is among us and that he is exercising through us the ministry of reconciliation. Such a community is attractive to people who have lost all ability and motivation to be committed to anything in this drab world. The world is thirsty for a demonstration of a community of people living in the here and now under the rule of God.
The kingdom on earth is realized in the gathered community of faith that, in parallel to the larger community of society, represents and speaks the heart and will of God for all people. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matt 5:13).
The New Testament church is a company "called by the gospel" (Acts 5:11). With regard to kingdom theology, preaching is critical to the expansion of the kingdom. God is already renewing the face of the earth through the preaching of the gospel in the power of the Spirit. The church must be God’s transforming agency in the world. It penetrates the age and produces reform by preaching the Word. A kingdom church speaks to the political, economic, sexual, and social classes of the world. Christianity is social (Matt 5:13-16).
All this requires that local congregations represent the outworking of the Kingdom of God and Christ’s design and purpose for the church, His intended agency of the Kingdom, to fulfill their intended role upon the face of the earth. If Adam and Eve had obeyed, the original commission to them would have resulted in the development of a worldwide extended family of tribes and clans submitted to the Lordship of God Almighty. Likewise, if we are faithful to the fulfillment of Jesus’ Commission, the result will be a worldwide extended family of tribes, clans, and related communities that cover the earth.
Thus we conclude that the kingdom within the hearts of believers is given earthly incarnation in the church, the society of subjects "gathered to God by His Son" (Mt. 3:2). The Church walking and serving in glory is the church triumphant, even as it humbly walks and serves in the model of the Lamb slain (Rev 5:12). The eschatological significance of the kingdom involves both the existing church of Christ under God’s rule and the extended dimensions of the kingdom in it coming consummated glory.
The kingdom is (1) inaugurated in conversion and sanctification leading to holiness and fulfillment, (2) incarnated in and extended through the church, the congealed community, fellowship, society of believing, holy persons, and (3) the anticipated kingdom in glory, the perfection of the kingdom on earth, fully realized at the coming of Christ Jesus.
The kingdom is threefold in nature. (1) Original creation established persons as moral and spiritual beings made in God’s image, but marred by sin and the fall. (2) Restored creation in Christ established the potent reality of regenerated persons as moral and spiritual beings. (3) Progressive new creation potential is released by the presence of God’s Spirit among His people for empowerment and service in the world. The church is the earthly vehicle for God’s divine work.
Jesus’ announcement of the Kingdom of God being at hand was good news. As the anointed One, he preached good news (Luke 4:18-19; Isa 61:1-2). (1) Good News of a historical event taking place in the course of time, having the quality of kairos. (2) Good News for all people; of public interest; for all ages, the whole of human history. (3) Good News about the actual fulfillment of the Old Testament Jewish prophesies (cf. Dt 18). (4) Good News that is unleashed into one’s life by the simple, sincere response of repentance and faith. (5) Good News that is a call for the formation of a New Age, a New Nation, a New Community with a future, the beginning of the coming final age. This Kingdom of Messiah corresponds to themes present in the Kingdom of Yahweh but now initiated in the person, message, and work of Jesus as Christ, the rule and reign of God as a present reality. In Christ, God’s kingdom of dynamic power is made visible through concrete signs confirming Christ Jesus as the Messiah. In Him, a new reality has entered the course of history and it affects all human life: morally, spiritually, physically, psychologically, materially, socially, and redemptively. Inaugurated in the person, message, and works of Jesus, the Kingdom of God is active, discerned by faith (Lk 17:20-21). Therefore, the Kingdom of God is a present reality. The “last days” began in Jesus and in Him was dynamic power that touched the blind, sick, deaf, dead, and spiritually poor in spirit. Demons were cast out by the finger of God (Mt 12:28; Lk 11:22). The Kingdom of God is the backbone of the biblical narrative: (1) it was anticipated by the old covenant prophets; (2) it arrived in Jesus as explained in the gospels; (3) it has active importance with the apostles; (4) its fullness is revealed in the apocalyptic future.
Kingdom theology is rooted in the prophets, apostles, and Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone serving as the foundation of the church (Eph 2:18). Nothing can replace the work of Christ Jesus and the original prophets and apostles, although the spirit and essential nature of that original work is needed today as much as in the first century church. Revelation speaks of the continuing aspect of such images. The designation “prophets” speaks of the Old Testament revelation that foreshadowed the coming of Jesus as the Messiah, whereas the designation “apostles” speaks of the on-going advance of the kingdom from Jesus Christ forward. While Revelation 21:2 speaks of “the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven,” Revelation 21:14, declares that “the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Whether someone truly walks or serves in the capacity of apostleship or in the realm of prophetic ministry, 2,000 years ago or today, it is the kingdom of God manifested in the Spirit. Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God (Rom 8:2).
Part IV: The Eschatological Nature of the Kingdom of God
Our fourth consideration is that the kingdom of God is understood to be eschatological, often called the doctrine of last things. Increasingly, bible scholars understand that eschatology is much broader than only last things; it might better be called the doctrine of the latest things. Eschatology is the transcendent breaking-in of eternity into the realm of time. It is the breaking-in of God’s kingdom rule and reign into the lives of people, cultures, and nations. Eschatology is the progressive advancing, unfolding, and ever-increasing embodiment of the God’s kingdom rule and reign in the lives of people, and therefore in the culture, population, and nations in which they live.
This fourth aspect of the eschatological nature of the Kingdom of God is parallel to the fourth aspect of salvation is glorification; the believer growing in grace (2 Pet 3:18), from faith-to-faith (Rom 1:17), and from glory-to-glory (2 Cor 3:18).
2 Cor 3:18 – “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” NKJV
1 Peter 1:13 – “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” NKJV
Heb 4:16 – “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” NKJV
Heb 12:15 – “Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” NKJV
Heb 12:28-29 – “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire” (NKJV).
The world it seems is on fire. Jesus said, “I have come to kindle fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled” (Luke 12:49). What kind of leadership will it take to advance the Kingdom of God in our days? The same kind it took in Jesus’ day.
Matt 11:12-15 – “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (NKJV).
For too much of the Body a Christ, certain passivity has seized upon professing believers, a Laodicean spirit of lukewarmness. God is restoring the apostolic spirit in these days, the full five-fold ministry, with a spirit of boldness to advance the Kingdom of God.
It is wrong to believe that the Kingdom of God will only be inaugurated on earth in time-space reality and power at a future second coming of Christ. It is present and operative now. The inbreaking occurs usually in times of personal crisis, cultural crisis, or a time of critical dealings with God and before God. In fact, righteousness rejected eventually brings about a righteousness-unrighteousness conflict; the battle between good and evil. Obedience to truth, God’s truth, assumes the yoke of God’s rule with one’s life.
Most people when they hear the word “kingdom” think only of a future coming of the Kingdom of God at Christ’s second coming. Few think of the Kingdom of God as now. Most people expect a one thousand year literal, physical kingdom to transpire before the final end. The viewpoint presented is the present and progressive eschatological nature of the Kingdom of God. This has often been called the “Is-Now-But-Not-Yet” understanding.
Progressive eschatology is the continuously advancing nature and embodiment of the Kingdom of God on earth. The fullest extent of this vision will not be achieved until after Jesus’ second coming; yes, but the Church is supposed to be making progress toward this end goal (telios). Peter called on the crowd to repent, the proper stance until Christ returns, “Whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke…from ancient times” (Acts 3:19-21).
Our primary citizenship is in heaven, but the plane of earth is where we live day-by-day. At the same time, although we are citizens of earthly nations, heaven is our true home and treasure. Heaven is the headquarters of the Kingdom of God, where Jesus rules and reigns at the right hand of the Father. The Bible teaches us to be heavenly-minded and that only heavenly-minded men and women are useful for God on earth. We are seated in the heavenly places to rule in and with Christ. Heaven is the pattern for earth and we are to live in eager expectation of our being with the Lord in heaven and of Christ's second coming in glory, when heaven shall come down to earth in fullness. Heavenly citizenship does not reduce our responsibilities in society or neglect our duties in this world. We live everyday to the glory of God.
The Kingdom of God is steadily increasing. The Kingdom of God will increase until it is consummated when Jesus delivers it to the Father. At the present time this Kingdom is both already present and not yet consummated; although it will not be realized totally, comprehensively, or perfectly on earth before the return of Christ.
God’s righteous order (dikaios) is expressed through righteous people. Jesus said, “The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mt 13:43 NKJV). At the end of the age (13:49; 25:31), the just (dikaios) will be separated from the unjust like fish in a net (Mt 13:47-52; 25:37-40). God’s new order is based on dikaios, an order that will eventually fill the whole earth. The Kingdom of God advances until such point that God’s fullness fills the earth under the Lordship of Christ. The church is a reflection of that kingdom with a threefold purpose:
1) To fill the whole universe (Eph 1:10, 22,23; 3:19; 4:10)
Eph 1:10 – “That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him” (NKJV).
Eph 1:22-23 – “22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (NKJV).
Eph 3:14-16,19 – “14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you…19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (NKJV).
Eph 4:8 – “He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things” (NKJV).
2) To make known the manifold wisdom of God (Eph 3:10, 11).
Eph 3:10-11 – “10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NKJV).
3) To understand and live out the will of God (Eph 4:17).
Eph 4:17 – “17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind” (NKJV).
God’s Kingdom is all-encompassing. God’s intention is for the growth of His kingdom in all nations and nationalities on the earth during this present age. His intention includes all spheres of life for the obedient application of His stated will in Scripture. His intention includes the increasing manifestation of His rule over individuals, voluntary associations, families, the church, the state, and all spheres of human activity, some of which are law, government, economics, business, occupations, education, sports, medicine, science, technology, arts, and media. God’s rulership involves much more than just the personal transformation of individuals in their private life.
Christ is king to be revealed in full splendor in the consummation. The great theme for which "the apocalypse of Jesus Christ" (Rev 1:1) was written is that the church may resist evil powers in the sure promise that its work in the world will be crowned with grace and, finally, glory. The royalty of Christ means that the Kingdom of God manifested in our hearts and in the ecclesia will be victorious in God's world.
Part V: Apostolic Kingdom Strategies
Eschatology leads to the consideration of kingdom strategies. We consider these from an apostolic perspective.
The first great strategy is EVANGELISM. Jesus promised the twelve apostles, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:14, NKJV). The motive for evangelism and the search for effective evangelistic strategy and tactics are driven by an eschatological demand. Not only will people not saved stand before God in judgment at the Great White Throne, but also the Kingdom of God does not spiritually advance and expand without souls being saved. The Great Commission is a kingdom responsibility. The task of the Church is to herald Christ as King over all the earth and as Judge of all mankind. Christ now commands all men everywhere to repent, and to proclaim the good news of salvation by grace through faith in the atoning blood of Christ. The goal is making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all of God's commands in the Bible that apply to us today.
The Church cannot disregard the Great Commission and still walk in godly obedience. The Great Commission is more than just proclaiming the good news of salvation without the accompanying call to repentance and faithful obedience. Reborn people respond in faith to be God’s duly-appointed agents under assignment to fulfill Jesus’ last words as outlined in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). We are under divine mandate, under divine authority, and under divine obligation. Evangelization is the announcement of good news. Every generation has to learn how to incarnate the gospel in their time. Every generation of Christians has the unique responsibility to share the good news with its generation. John R. Mott’s slogan for the task was: “The evangelization of the world in this generation.”
The second great strategy is DISCIPLESHIP. Obeying Christ and His commands are quite different from obedience to the Law as a means of salvation. Just because believers enjoy freedom from the condemnation of the moral Law, does not exempt them from the obligation to obey it. Kingdom life is doing the will of the Father on earth even as it is done in heaven. Doing the Father’s will on earth as it is in heaven is the same theme in the Great Commission, the Lord's Prayer and the Creation Mandate. These instructions from God call believers to participate by both prayer and action in the expansion of His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven to whatever extent that is possible before Christ's second coming. To extend the Father’s will on earth as it is done in heaven involves increasing numbers of individuals, groups, and civil states growing progressively in obedience to the will of the Father. Believers begin to study God’s laws, subduing their own hearts, lives, and wills to Christ’s Lordship. This is called discipleship. The blessings of God start to flow toward those who are acting in His name and who are living according to godly order.
The third great strategy is INFLUENCE. Jesus taught his disciples about the importance of influence.
Matt 5:13-16 – “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (NKJV).
To have influence is to know the power of truth. If there ever was a day in which truth was essential, it is today. The kingdom task to make disciples is the most basic work of changing the culture by our godly influence. God’s word is the standard for true culture. We hold forth the Bible as God's standard and plumb line by which to measure the justice, morality, and practice of all human endeavors in all jurisdictions: individual, voluntary association, family, church, and civil government. When people, individuals or societies, Christian or non-Christian, generally follow, consciously or unconsciously, the moral, economic, and practical commands of the Bible, they tend to reap earthly blessings as a result. However, when people generally fail to follow the moral, economic, and practical commands of the Bible, they tend to reap earthly judgments as a result. People may not sow to the wind without God’s just principle that they will reap the whirlwind.
Since God is King and his kingdom is here and now for us, we no longer have to be blind subjects of deep-rooted unbelief, carrying guilt for our sensual misadventures, trying to control our lives, other people, our possessions, afraid to let go, thereby facing loneliness in an empty universe. Where the church is growing dramatically, the presence of the God is being manifested by the direct action of the Holy Spirit, signified by the healings, deliverance from demons and other miraculous works of God.
The fourth great strategy is TRIBULATION for the cause of Christ. Suffering and persecution are a normal part of the Christian life. True believers may be called upon to participate with Christ in His sufferings, in selfless service for the advance of the Kingdom. Suffering is not always a sign of God's judgment or displeasure with sin. Suffering does not add to the work of Christ in redemption, but it may be a way that believers and those who observe disciples come into a deeper realization of Christ’s redemption.
Acts 14:21-23 – “And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (NKJV).
The fifth great strategy is UNITY. The Kingdom of God transcends all national, political, and ethnic boundaries, uniting believers in its King, Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is a universal and spiritual reality. An illustration of the Kingdom of God here on earth would be a nation establishing an embassy in a foreign land. The embassy is considered a piece of that country, governed by the home country, but operating in a different country. At this present time, God’s Kingdom here on earth is a spiritual one. He reigns in the hearts and lives of those that have accepted his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and are submitting to his Lordship.
Unity is the expression of the Oneness that comes from Christ Jesus Himself. Apostles lead the way by example and exhortation.
John 17:3-5 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (NKJV).
Eph 4:3-6 – “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (NKJV).
Unity is discovered in the reality of the Name and Word of God communicated by revelation. Apostles impart the truth as much as instruct and inform.
John 17:6-8 – “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me” (NKJV).
Unity is a heart attitude and expression of the Lordship, Headship, and Kingship of Christ Jesus over His church before and unto the Father. Apostles are the extension of Christ’s authority and ministry for today, the 21st Century church.
John 17:20-23 – “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (NKJV).
The sixth great strategy is the POWER OF THE SPIRIT. This is a day in which the church is rediscovering the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Paul described his ministry at Thessalonica, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake” (1 Thess 1:5 NKJV).
Kingdom life involves the full work of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God is guaranteed in the promises of the Father and embodied in the person of Christ, but it can never gain entrance or have full realization in the fabric of human life apart from the agency of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit insures a Kingdom entrance (to be born again), sealing Kingdom membership, prompting Kingdom obedience, building Kingdom character, providing Kingdom gifts, empowering Kingdom outreach, producing Kingdom growth, and securing Kingdom victory.
God is releasing his Holy Spirit in power, opening hearts to his lively presence, healing wounds past and present, breaking compulsive, addictive behavior, and elevating the poor into his presence by expelling our present darkness and recreating our fallen humanity. Character strength, personal charisma, skillful management, creative imagination, evident talents, financial strength, political action, or educational prowess, by themselves cannot build or advance the Kingdom of God. When these actions are prompted by the soul alone, true kingdom life is avoided.
The seventh great strategy is the restoration of the APOSTOLIC. Apostles and the troops they lead are the ambassadors of heaven. We are to take dominion in every area of life: self, marriage, family, church, business, education, arts, media, government, society, and so forth. Jesus is Lord of all and eventually all will submit at his feet (Phil 2:11).
As Christians, we can be likened to those who work at an embassy for their country. We are governed by God, but live in a world that as a whole is in spiritual darkness, where Satan still rules in the hearts and lives of unbelievers. The good news is that Jesus Christ made it possible to escape from Satan’s grasp and to enter the Kingdom of God, by translation at the new birth. As ambassadors, this is the message that we proclaim to the citizens of this lost world. While on earth, Jesus Christ exercised the authority of God’s Kingdom as can be seen in the casting out of demons, healing the sick, raising the dead and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom.
Jesus is reigning and will ultimately rule over all. It is not for us to know the times and the seasons, for these are known only to the Father. It is for us to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and to be a witness to the reality of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:5-8). Eventually, Jesus will deliver the kingdom to God the Father, but until then he will reign till He has put all enemies under His feet (I Cor. 15:24-25). The nations of those who are saved shall walk in the light of the Kingdom of God, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it (Rev 21:24-25). The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:2).
