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We have covered the different aspects of the kingdom. In this message and in the messages following, we shall consider the kingdom in its reality, its nature, its expression, its relation to God’s glory, and its unshakableness.
The reality of the kingdom is Christ as the seed of life. Christ, the One who is life, has sown Himself as the seed of life into God’s chosen ones, who are the soil for growing Him (Mark 4:3, 26). The Lord Jesus came to sow Himself as the seed of life into men’s hearts, that He might grow in them and live in them and be expressed from within them. The seed of the kingdom is not a matter of power or authority but of the divine life embodied in Christ. Hence, the seed of the kingdom is a seed of life. This seed of life, which is Christ Himself, is the basic element of the reality of the kingdom.
In Mark 4 we see that the Lord Jesus establishes the kingdom by sowing Himself as the seed of life into God’s chosen people, the believers, so that the kingdom may grow. This indicates that the establishment of the kingdom is absolutely a matter of growth in life. To establish the kingdom, therefore, is to grow the kingdom. The kingdom is not established by outward working but by inward growing. If we do not realize this, we may think that the kingdom is established by our work. The kingdom, however, can be established only by Christ’s being sown as the seed of life into humanity. Hence, the kingdom is not brought into being by teaching or working; on the contrary, the kingdom is brought into being by Christ’s being sown as the kingdom seed into the believers. The seed will grow, and the life within it will produce the kingdom in its reality. We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that the kingdom of God is wholly a matter of life — Christ Himself as the seed of life, the seed of the kingdom, sown into our being.
In order to make this matter clear, we may use the biological term “gene” and apply it to Christ as the seed of life, which is the kingdom in its reality. The Christ who has been sown into our being is the gene of the kingdom. We know that without human genes it is impossible to have human life. Our birth, being, and existence all came from a gene. The principle is the same with the kingdom in its reality. Christ has been sown into us to be the gene of the kingdom. Eventually, the kingdom will issue from this gene. It is crucial for us to see that the Christ who has been sown into our hearts is the gene of the kingdom. Christ has been sown into us as a gene, as a seed of life, to grow, develop, and issue in the kingdom.
In Mark 4:26-29 the Lord Jesus tells the parable of the kingdom seed. “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth, and sleep and rise night and day, and the seed sprouts and lengthens — how, he does not know. The earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then an ear, then full grain in the ear” (vv. 26-28). The man is the Lord Jesus as the sower. The seed is Christ Himself as the seed of life sown into us. This parable reveals that the kingdom of God is a matter of life, the life of God, which sprouts, grows, bears fruit, matures, and produces a harvest. The kingdom is not a matter of lifeless organization through man’s wisdom and ability. The kingdom in its reality is a matter of Christ as the seed of life sown into us and growing in us unto maturity.
The kingdom’s reality is also seen in Christ’s expansion as the enlargement. Christ’s expansion is His growth within us, and His expansion is His enlargement.
Revelation 1:6 tells us that we have been made the kingdom of God. Christ loosed us from our sins by His blood (v. 5) and made us a kingdom. The believers redeemed by the blood of Christ have not only been born of God into His kingdom (John 3:5) but have also been made a kingdom for God’s economy, which is the church (Matt. 16:18-19). John, the writer of the book of Revelation, was in the kingdom (Rev. 1:9), and all redeemed and reborn believers are also part of this kingdom (Rom. 14:17).
We are God’s kingdom because we are the expansion of Christ, His enlargement. Luke 17:20-21 confirms this. “Being questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God comes, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, Look, here! Or, There! For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” What does it mean to say that the kingdom of God does not come with observation? It means that the kingdom is invisible. The kingdom is something that cannot be observed by our natural ability. In particular, the kingdom cannot be observed by our natural thinking, which is completely useless in apprehending the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not material but spiritual. As a spiritual reality it can be realized only by the Spirit in our regenerated spirit.
The kingdom in its reality today is the Lord Jesus as the Spirit. In Matthew 12:28 the Lord says, “If I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.” This indicates that the kingdom is the reality of the Spirit of God, which is the reality of Christ. The Spirit is the reality of the Lord Jesus, for the Spirit is His person, and His person is His reality. The kingdom, therefore, is the spiritual realization of the Lord Jesus. When we realize Him spiritually, we have the kingdom in its reality.
In Luke 17:20-21 the Lord reveals that He Himself is the kingdom. As the One who is Himself the kingdom, He enters into His believers and grows in them to have an expansion, an enlargement, and this enlargement is the kingdom in its reality. Therefore, both the seed of the kingdom and the expansion of the kingdom are the reality of the kingdom.
The kingdom of God is the Lord Jesus as the seed of life sown into His believers, God’s chosen people, and developing into a realm which God may rule as His kingdom in His divine life. Its entrance is regeneration (John 3:5), and its development is the believers’ growth in the divine life (2 Pet. 1:3-11). It is the church today, in which the faithful believers live (Rom. 14:17), and it will develop into the coming kingdom as an inheritance reward (Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5) to the overcoming saints in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6). Eventually, it will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God’s eternal life for all God’s redeemed to enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5).
In eternity the New Jerusalem will be the totality of all the believers shining forth the processed Triune God. The new earth will be a realm in which God will rule over the nations. This ruling realm will be formed by the shining of the New Jerusalem. Hence, the shining of the New Jerusalem will produce a realm for God’s ruling. This is the kingdom of God.
Now we come to the nature of the kingdom. We shall use six adjectives to describe the kingdom in its nature: divine, heavenly, spiritual, human, pure, and eternal.
In its nature the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15) is divine, having the divine attributes. The word “divine” means being of God, having the nature of God, or being transcendent and distinct from all others. Only God has the nature of God, and only God is transcendent and distinct from everything else. Therefore, only God is divine.
The nature of the kingdom is divine because it is the kingdom of God with the divine attributes. Because the kingdom is the kingdom of God, its nature will be the nature of God. Since God is holy, surely His kingdom also will be holy. Likewise, since God is righteous, His kingdom will be righteous as well. God is divine, and the kingdom, being the kingdom of God, will also be divine.
The kingdom is also heavenly in nature, for it is the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 3:2), with the transcendency of the heavens. The church today should also be transcendent; there should be a certain transcendency in the church life. As members of the church, we are not low but have the heavenly nature with the transcendency of the heavens.
The kingdom is spiritual in nature because it is of the Holy Spirit in the regenerated human spirit. Romans 14:17 tells us that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” From these verses we can see that the kingdom is a matter of the Holy Spirit in our spirit. Therefore, the kingdom in its nature is spiritual.
In Philippians 1:19 Paul speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This is the Spirit mentioned by the Lord Jesus in John 7:39. This is not merely the Spirit of God before the Lord’s incarnation but the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit with divinity, after the Lord’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Such a Spirit has a bountiful supply. Since the Spirit has a bountiful supply, the kingdom, which is of the Spirit in our spirit, is full of the bountiful supply.
In nature the kingdom is also human, for it is the kingdom of the Son of Man. After man was seduced by Satan to follow him, God became a man to undo the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8) and destroy him (Heb. 2:14), so that He might reclaim the earth to be His kingdom. In the coming kingdom, which Christ will bring in (Dan. 7:13-14; Luke 19:12-15), He will be the Son of Man as a sign both of His victory and glory and of Satan’s defeat and shame.
Because the kingdom is human in its nature, having the human virtues, the Lord charged us not to cancel any commandment related to morality (Matt. 5:17-48). On the contrary, we should keep all commandments related to morality in order to have the human virtues to match the divine attributes.
God’s kingdom is pure. It is the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13), with the killing power of the death of Christ (2 Cor. 4:10a, 12a; Phil. 3:10b). In Matthew 5:13 the Lord Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” By nature, salt is an element that kills the germs of corruption and eliminates them. In the kingdom of God there is a nature which is as pure as the salt of the earth. This nature has the killing power of the death of Christ to kill the germs of corruption.
Finally, in its nature the kingdom is eternal. It is the eternal kingdom (2 Pet. 1:11), with its unlimitedness.
