The Kingdom of God

"The Law and the prophets were until John [the Baptist]; since then, the kingdom of God is preached" (Lk. 16:16). In saying that the Law and the prophets were until John, Jesus was including John with the Law and the prophets rather than with those in the kingdom of God. We know this, for Jesus said in another place that even though John was as great a man as had ever been born, "the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" (Matt. 11:11).

No, John was not in the kingdom of God, for "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost" (Rom.14:17); and, the holy Ghost was not given to men until Jesus offered himself to the Father for our sins. As John the Apostle explained, "the holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified" (Jn. 7:39).

John the Baptist desired to be in the kingdom of God. When Jesus came to the Jordan to be bap tized, John at first refused to baptize him; instead, he pleaded with Jesus to baptize him! "I have need to be baptized by you," he said, "and you come to me?" (Matt. 3:14). John the Baptist didn't understand that Jesus had to suffer, die, and then return to his Father in heaven in order for the baptism of the Spirit to be given.

In being ignorant of the kind of kingdom Jesus would bring, John was like the other Old Testament prophets. All of them spoke of the coming king dom, but none of them understood their own prophecies, "for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost" (2Pet. 1:21). What was different about John's message was that he prophesied that the long-awaited kingdom was very near. He cried, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

Jesus, too, preached this message. He "came into Galilee," we are told, "preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying `The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe the gospel!'" (Mk. 1:14-15). Jesus emphasized the nearness of the kingdom when he said, "Verily, I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power" (Mk. 9:1).

Jesus encouraged his disciples to desire above all things to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33). He also warned them that there were conditions which would have to be met before they would be accounted worthy to enter the kingdom; at the same time, though, he assured them that it was the Father's "good pleasure" for them to enter in (Luke 12:32).

Jesus himself, of course, was in the kingdom of God, because he had received the Spirit when coming up from the River Jordan (Jn. 1:29-34), but no one else on earth was in God's kingdom at that time, nor would anyone else be allowed to enter the kingdom until Jesus paid the awful price for the Spirit to come.

Jesus taught his disciples that they should pray for the kingdom to come (Mt. 6:9-13), saying: "After this manner pray ye, `Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.'"

This prayer is often called "the Lord's prayer", but that is not the case. It is the disciples' prayer. Moreover, it is a prayer which was for them alone. Only they, being Jews under the first covenant, could at that time call God their Father, and only before the Spirit came could they pray that His kingdom would come. When Jesus told them to pray, "thy kingdom come", he was telling them to ask their heavenly Father to pour out the holy Spirit from on high.

No one but Jesus understood the nature of God's kingdom before it came on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2); nevertheless, it is what every righteous person in Israel was waiting for (Mk. 15:43). Men everywhere in Israel expected the Messiah to deliver the Jews from their Roman rulers and to set up an earthly kingdom, but Jesus explained that the kingdom of God would come "without observation"; that is, it would be a spiritual kingdom (Lk. 17:20-21). God's kingdom is a kingdom unlike kingdoms of men. Jesus told Pontius Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world" (Jn. 18:36).

Jesus told the disciples that he would dine with them in a new way, after the kingdom of God came (Mt.26: 29; Lk. 22:15-16). This was a prophecy of spiritual communion, which the coming of the holy Spirit made possible. Paul wrote (1Cor. 12:13), "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, bond or free, we have all been made to drink of that one Spirit." In Revelation 3:20, Jesus exhorted every believer to open his heart to him, that he might "come in to him and sup with him, and he with me."

The prophecies concerning the kingdom of God will, of course, have their ultimate fulfillment in the establishing of Christ's kingdom, when all wicked ness will have been completely and forever swept away. The ancient prophet Nahum promised that "affliction shall not rise up the second time" (1:9). This eternal peace will be given only to those who have the faith and humility to submit to the present rule of God and are "translated into the kingdom of His dear Son" by receiving His holy Spirit. Remember, "God gives the holy Ghost to every one who obeys Him" (Acts 5:32).

The kingdom of God on earth is called the church, and there is but one way to enter into it: the baptism of the holy Ghost. God's church is not a club; it cannot be joined. It is a family into which we must be born by the Spirit of God. If you have not yet received this "promise of the Father", let me encourage you to obey God and trust in Jesus today. Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened unto him" (Mt. 7:7-8).

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