The Kingdom of God is the family of God ruling as the government of God. It is a future world ruling government to be set up on earth by Christ at His return, with Jesus as King and the resurrected spirit-composed saints in positions of corulership with Him. The Kingdom of God referred to as a "mystery" in the New Testament—was first preached and explained by Christ, then by His Church; it shall be established on earth for a thousand years following Christ's return; and shall be completely fulfilled when New Jerusalem and God the Father come down out of heaven to dwell on the new earth.
The Kingdom of God is, in its most narrow sense, the immediate family of God, composed now of only two persons (the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ). But in a prophetic sense, the meaning of God's Kingdom is much more specific. It is the world-ruling government of God to be set up on earth at Jesus Christ's return. Christ, together with the resurrected saints, shall rule over all nations and peoples. Even more specifically, the strictly spiritual Kingdom of God shall be comprise only the spiritual members of this world government—died, born again, spirit-composed sons of God who rules with Christ as members of His family over the physical earth during the thousand year period and eventually over the entire universe. This spiritual Kingdom of God is the goal of all true Christians.
The story of the Bible, in a very real sense, is the record of God's working with man so that he might learn to understand and obey and, as a result, qualify to enter God's Kingdom and family. The Bible begins with the story of one man and his family, Abraham. See the majority of the book of Genesis. The family became a nation, Israel. God’s religion and laws and Messiah were given through that nation. Abraham and other Patriarchs were promised a great kingdom and inheritance. The Old Testament prophets spoke at great length concerning that Kingdom (Is. 2: 11; Mic.4; Zech. 14).
"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Is. 2:2-4).
Likewise, the patriarchs envisioned it and waited for it as "strangers and pilgrims" (Heb. 11:13) on this earth, since they knew God's government would replace man's. They sought this Kingdom just as many men might seek a land—country or homeland—of promise (Heb, 11: 14-15).
"These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city" (Heb. 11:13-16).
Jesus Christ was a member of God's family, of the Godhead, and hence of God's Kingdom, from eternity. But He divested Himself of His Godhead and ruler ship to become human, in order that He might announce the coming Kingdom of God and qualify as its chief executive officer, as both King and Lord. Jesus—as the primary messenger of the coming Kingdom and the heir to its throne—was in a sense the personification and embodiment of that Kingdom on earth during His physical lifetime and ministry. This is why He stated, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mk. 1:15). The Kingdom of God was indeed "at hand" because Jesus Christ, as its King and Lord, was right there.
The message of "good news" or gospel which Jesus brought to this world has, as its focal point, the announcement of the coming Kingdom of God, the description of how it shall be established on earth and the explanation of how mankind might enter it as sons of God. Christ through His death and resurrection became the "firstborn" member of this prophetic spiritual Kingdom.
Christians who follow in the footsteps of His life will likewise follow in the reality of His resurrection. They shall be raised from death to rule with Him in His Kingdom. Through this process God shall increase or build His Divine family and spiritual Kingdom from the present two members to multiple billions (and perhaps, ultimately, even more).
Since "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable" (I Cor. 15:50); this must wait until the resurrection when "the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality" (v. 54). Paul is thus just reiterating what Jesus Himself had told Nicodemus. "Jesus answered him truly truly I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered truly truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (Jn. 3:3-7).
Much confusion has arisen about the Kingdom of God because of human reluctance to take the term "kingdom" literally. The prophet Daniel was very clear in his statements to Nebuchadnezzar that the Kingdom which God would eventually set up would be an actual kingdom on earth in the same sense as the previously world-ruling kingdoms had been. "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to other people. It shall break in pieces these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever" (Dan. 2:44).
Scripture reveals that God's Kingdom on earth is indeed to be a kingdom in every sense—having territory, laws, subjects and rulers. At Christ's return the saints shall be changed from physical flesh or be resurrected from the dead to spirit bodies.
"But we would not have you ignorant brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord" (I Thess. 4:13-17).
The resurrected saints shall sit with Christ on His throne (Rev. 3:21), and rule under Christ on earth with power over the physical nations. "…and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth" (Rev. 5: 10). "He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations" (Rev. 2:26).
It shall be a government under which all human beings can lead a happy, healthy, prosperous life. All persons alive at that time shall have an opportunity to be saved and to have God's Spirit living in them. God shall make a new covenant with His people through which He shall change mankind's very nature by writing His law in man's heart.
"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer. 31:31-34).
In God's Kingdom, WARFARE shall finally be eradicated and the implements of war shall be turned into farm tools because "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9). "It shall come to pass in the latter days ... He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his. Fig-tree and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken" (Mic. 4:1, 3-4).
Christ shall judge with "righteousness" and "decide with equity for the meek of the earth"—indeed the whole earth shall be dramatically altered by the rulership of Jesus Christ—even the nature of wild animals shall be changed.
'There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of His roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide by what His ears hear; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth, and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the girdle of His waist, and faithfulness the girdle of His loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; Him shall the nations seek, and His dwellings shall be glorious" (Is.11:1-10).
Throughout this time, many humans shall be qualifying to enter God's spiritual Kingdom and family. Using Israel as the example, God's spiritual laws for worshipping Him shall be taught to, and followed by, all nations. "From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord" (Is. 66:23).
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles" (Zech. 14:16-19).
God's laws are universal in scope and shall be applied to, and shall strengthen, all peoples in all cultures in all environments. Travel and cultural exchange shall exist, with the primary intent—at least initially—of teaching all nations to follow the example of God's people, Israel. To accomplish this, all nations shall send representatives to Israel to learn of God's ways and laws (Is.66:18-21, 23; Zech. 14:16-19), and Israel shall send teachers to all countries to help them apply these new concepts and put them into practice in their daily lives.
All through the thousand-year rule of Christ, God shall continue to add to the number of those eventually to be in His kingdom. At the end of the Millennium all who have ever lived and died without having a full, first chance for salvation shall be resurrected as physical beings to live in God's perfect society (Rev. 20:12, Isa. 65:20). EVERY HUMAN BEING WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO BE IN GOD’S FAMILY. Those who qualify for salvation shall be inducted into God's spiritual Kingdom while those of this and previous eras that WILL not follow God's way shall burn in the lake of fire until they are ashes. Obviously the vast majority of mankind will make it into the Kingdom of God once they exposed to the truth. Immediately thereafter, the physical aspect of God's Kingdom on earth shall disappear and be entirely replaced by the spiritual Kingdom whose population shall have increased into the billions by this time. Thus, we find God's Kingdom expanding in steps and growing dramatically from only two beings to an innumerable multitude through the process begun and made possible by and through Jesus Christ and His resurrection.
Ultimately, following the thousand-year rule of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment, God shall replace the old earth with a "new heaven and new earth" (Rev. 21:1). This reformation of heaven and earth is part of the "restitution of all things" spoken of by Peter (Acts 3:21). The Father shall come to this earth to rule with Christ who shall then be second in command at His Father's side (I Cor. 15:27-28), and God's entire family shall rule the entire universe. (Christ shall deliver the Kingdom to His Father, I Cor. 15:24.)
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from throne saying, Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them; He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. And He who sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Also He said, Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true. And He said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son" (Rev. 21:1-7).
The scope of God's family shall literally be "all things"—that includes the whole universe. "Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we see not yet all things put under Him" (Heb. 2:8).
The incredible majesty of God's Kingdom—the fact that man is to become part of God's family and rule the entire universe—is called a mystery in the New Testament. Jesus called it the "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" in Matthew 13:11, and "the mystery of the kingdom of God in Mark 4:11 and Eph. 5:32. But the most important aspect of the mystery of the Kingdom of God is the fact that man has literally become God (I Cor. 15:51 ff). This mystery, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27), is ordained for "our glorification" (I Cor. 2:7) and shall be fulfilled at the resurrection when the seventh trumpet, sounds (Rev. 10:7).
In another sense, all that is required is a word-by-word reading—without interpretation—of Genesis 1:26. Here God succinctly gives the purpose of human life: Whereas animals reproduce after the animal kind, man reproduces after the God kind! Or, more properly phrased, human beings are the instruments through which God is reproducing Himself.
These two original beings in the God family shall always remain in overall command. Their absolute authority will never be questioned—although they will delight in sharing progressively more of their responsibilities with their offspring as the God family continues to expand throughout space and time.
PLEASE READ THESE SCRIPTURES IN YOUR OWN BIBLE.
- The book of Genesis has 50 chapters. Abraham is introduced in Chapter 11 and the remainder of the book revolves around him and his descendants. Please read Gen 12:1-3, Heb 2:14-16
- ...Whoever is born of the flesh is flesh and whoever is born of spirit is composed of spirit. Please read John 3:3-7. Therefore anyone who is a normal flesh and blood person cannot be born (again) of the spirit but can be begotten of the spirit.
- The last trump as described in book of Revelation will be the time when the true believers will be changed into spirit and join the Kingdom of God as ruling members. Please read I Thess 4:13-17 and Rev 2:26-27.
Please answer the following questions before proceeding to Lesson Three.
- The Bible begins with the history and story of one man whose family becomes a nation. Who is the man and the nation? (Abraham & Israel)
- Who was the first person resurrected into the Kingdom of God? (Christ)
- Christ told Nicodemus in John 3:3-7 that whoever is born of the flesh is flesh and whoever is born of the Spirit is Spirit, true or false? (true)
- Therefore can a flesh and blood person be truly born anew or born again as the expression is meant by Christ, Yes or No? (No)
- The kingdom of God is an expression that does not mean a literal government with territory and laws and subjects, true or false? (false)
- What verses talks of the last trump of God sounding and the true baptized members of the church being changed at Christ return to spirit sons? (I Thess. 4:13-17)
- Will every human being who has ever lived be given a chance to qualify for God’s Family, Yes or No? (Yes)
- Will the vast majority of mankind make the Kingdom of God, yes or No? (yes)
