Search
The kingdom of God has many aspects, as revealed in the New Testament by the following different designations:
The kingdom of God (Matt. 12:28) is a general term that refers to God’s reign (Matt. 6:10, 13b; Dan. 6:26b). Its scope is unlimited, comprising eternity past, the patriarchs, the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, the church in the New Testament in this age, the millennial kingdom in the coming age, and the new heaven and new earth in eternity future. The words spoken by the Lord in Matthew 21:43 and the parable preceding it in verses 33-41 show us that the kingdom of God was there with the children of Israel in the Old Testament, but due to their rejection of the Lord, it was given to the church in the New Testament.
The kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 16:19) refers to the ruling of the heavens (Dan. 4:26). It began on the day of Pentecost when Christ poured out the Holy Spirit and established His church (Acts 2), and it will continue until the end of the millennium (Rev. 20:7). Its scope is narrower than that of the kingdom of God, since it includes only the church in this age and the millennial kingdom in the coming age. It is a section within the kingdom of God; hence, it is also called the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15, cf. Matt. 4:17; Mark 4:11, cf. Matt. 13:11). The kingdom of the heavens has three aspects: its reality, its appearance, and its manifestation. Its reality and its appearance are the inward and outward aspects of the church in this age; its manifestation will be in the millennial kingdom in the coming age.
The kingdom of the Son of God’s love (Col. 1:13) is composed of the church in this age, the millennial kingdom in the coming age, and the new heaven and new earth in eternity (cf. 2 Pet. 1:11). The emphasis in Colossians 1:13 is on the kingdom of God’s beloved Son in this age as the reality of the church, into which all the believers have been transferred (John 3:5).
The kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph. 5:5), the kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15), and the eternal kingdom of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:11), all refer to the millennial kingdom in the coming age and to the new heaven and new earth in eternity as His eternal kingdom which will be brought in by Christ’s second coming (Dan. 2:34-35, 44; Heb. 1:8). The overcoming believers in the church in this age, the defeated ones not included, will first enter into the millennial kingdom in the coming age to inherit the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the millennium as their reward; and then they, together with the believers who are defeated in this age but will be perfected in the millennium, will enter into the new heaven and new earth in eternity to enjoy the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth as their eternal portion.
The kingdom of the Father mentioned in Matthew 13:43 and 26:29 refers to the heavenly part of the millennial kingdom in the coming age, which is the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Only the perfected saints in the Old Testament and the overcoming believers in the church in this age will be able to enter into and enjoy this kingdom (Heb. 12:23; 11:39-40; Matt. 8:11; 13:43). The kingdom of the Son of Man (Matt. 13:41) refers to the earthly part of the millennial kingdom in the coming age. It is the kingdom prepared for the nations who will be restored in the coming age as its people (Matt. 25:34). It is also the kingdom in which the restored kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6), that is, all Israel who will be saved in the future, will be the priests (See point III.B.1 in this lesson).
The kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34) is the earthly part of the millennial kingdom, in which the restored nations will dwell as the people (Matt. 25:46b).
Although the kingdom of God was among the people of Israel in the Old Testament, it was taken away from them in the New Testament and given to the New Testament believers (Matt. 21:43). Thus, it had a new beginning and became the church (Matt. 16:18-19).
John the Baptist came out to preach the baptism of repentance as the opening of God’s New Testament economy, asking people to have a turn for the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 3:2). Then Jesus came and continued the preaching of His forerunner John the Baptist, telling people to repent for the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 4:17). This indicates that God’s New Testament economy is focused on His kingdom. We need to repent—have a change in our mind, have a turn in our pursuit of life—and believe in the gospel that our sins may be forgiven and that we may be regenerated by God to have the divine life, which matches the divine nature of the kingdom of God. Thus we may enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5).
In John 3:3 the Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” and in verse 5 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The Lord’s words here reveal that regeneration is the unique entrance into the kingdom of God.
A kingdom is always related to life. The vegetable kingdom is related to the vegetable life, and the animal kingdom is related to the animal life. If you want to share in a certain kingdom, you first need the life of that kingdom. Therefore, in order to enter into the kingdom of God, man needs to be regenerated, that is, to receive God’s life in addition to man’s natural life.
The kingdom of God is not only the reign of God, but also the realm and sphere of the divine life. In order to participate in the reign of God and to be in the divine realm, we need the divine life. Only those who have the divine life can be in the divine realm and share the divine kingdom in which God reigns. Thus, we need to be regenerated that we may have the divine life which enables us to enter into the divine realm and participate in the divine kingdom. Even if we were not fallen or sinful, we would still need to be born again and receive the divine life, because regardless of how good, pure, and clean our human life might be, it cannot qualify us to enter into the divine kingdom. Only the divine life qualifies us to enter into the divine realm. Only the life of God meets the divine requirements of the kingdom of God. Regeneration is the unique entrance into the kingdom of God.
Romans 12 through 16 is concerned with the church life. Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This proves that God’s kingdom life is the church life. The kingdom of God is neither eating nor drinking. The kingdom of God is righteousness toward ourselves, peace toward others, and joy with God in our spirit. These items— righteousness, peace, and joy—are the expressions of Christ. They are the characteristics of the kingdom of God as well as the reality of the church life today. Hence, the kingdom in this age is the church. The book of Acts, which is mainly concerned with the producing, the establishing, and the spreading of the church, stresses both the kingdom of God (1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31) and the church (5:11; 8:1, 3; 9:31; 11:22, 26; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23, 27; 15:3-4, 22, 41; 16:5; 18:22; 20:17, 28). This shows that the church today is the kingdom of God.
First Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, and Ephesians 5:5 all mention that the evil or unrighteous ones cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Those who practice evil things such as fornication, uncleanness, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, angers, faction, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and things like these shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Moreover, such ones must be separated from the church fellowship (1 Cor. 5:11), just as Paul in his spirit judged the brother who committed fornication in the church in Corinth and charged the church there to separate the evil man from among themselves (1 Cor. 5:1-5, 13) in order to keep the purity and unleavened nature of the church life.
Second Peter 1:11 says, “For so shall be richly and bountifully supplied to you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” This kingdom is the millennial kingdom within the kingdom of God in the coming age and the new heaven and new earth in eternity. In this eternal kingdom we shall not be subjects; we shall be kings. But in order to be kings, we need maturity in life. According to the word in the preceding verses, 2 Peter 1:1-10, if we want to grow to maturity, we need to stay in the church life and allow the wonderful like precious faith allotted to us (v. 1) to be developed gradually. This faith is an all-inclusive seed, containing all the riches of the divine life. We must be diligent to develop in our faith virtue; in virtue, knowledge; in knowledge, self-control; in self-control, endurance; in endurance, godliness; in godliness, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, God’s noble love. By developing these virtues we grow, and eventually we shall reach maturity. As a result, we shall be full of Christ, that is, we shall arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Thus, we shall be richly and bountifully supplied with the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which will be the millennial kingdom within the kingdom of God in the coming age and the new heaven and new earth in eternity.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, the kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God has three aspects: the reality, the appearance, and the manifestation. Whereas the reality and the appearance are in this age, the manifestation is in the coming age. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God is the inward contents of the kingdom of the heavens in its heavenly and spiritual nature, as revealed by the Lord on the mountain in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. According to Romans 14:17, the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the proper church life today. Therefore, the spiritual living in the church is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. Matthew 5, 6, and 7 disclose the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, which is the spiritual living and heavenly principles of the kingdom of the heavens. It is composed of seven sections: the nature of the kingdom people (5:1-12), the influence of the kingdom people upon the world (5:13-16), the law of the kingdom people (5:17-48), the righteous deeds of the kingdom people (6:1-18), the dealing of the kingdom people with riches (6:19-34), the principles of the kingdom people in dealing with others (7:1-12), and the ground of the kingdom people’s living and work (7:13-29).
In these seven sections we see that the nature of the kingdom people, which is the very nature of the kingdom of the heavens, exercises an influence upon the world. The kingdom people also have a law, which is the new law of the kingdom of the heavens, not the law in the Old Testament. They are those who perform righteous deeds and who have the proper attitude concerning material riches. While they are still living in human society, they deal with others according to the principles of the kingdom of the heavens. Finally, we see the ground of the daily life and work of the kingdom people. All these aspects of the kingdom people not only depict their behavior or outward living; they also constitute the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. The spiritual living of the church today is the living out of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
The kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God in this age has its appearance, in addition to its reality. Its appearance is its outward state in name, as revealed by the Lord on the seashore in Matthew 13. Today, both the reality and the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens are with the church. In Matthew 5, 6, and 7 everything in the seven sections concerning the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is real, pure, spiritual, and heavenly. But the situation in Matthew 13 concerning the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is altogether different. In this chapter we have the tares (vv. 25-30), a great tree which is no longer according to its kind (vv. 31-32), and the leaven (v. 33). The tares here signify the false believers; the great tree, the abnormal development of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens; and the leaven, the inward corruption of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. All these things found in the appearance of the kingdom cause the appearance of the kingdom to be a mixture.
It is easy to see this mixture in today’s Christendom. Today’s Christendom—the worldly appearance of the church— exactly matches the portrait in Matthew 13 of the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. In Christendom there are millions of tares, a great facade, and corrupting leaven. Whereas everything in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 is real, pure, spiritual, and heavenly, everything shown in Matthew 13 is false, corrupt, mixed, and abnormal.
The kingdom of God was only drawing near during the time when John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus were preaching (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Luke 10:9). Although the descending of the Holy Spirit brought in the reality of the kingdom of God on the day of Pentecost and the church was established (Matt. 16:18-19), the manifestation of the kingdom of God was yet to come. Therefore, the Lord was resurrected from the dead and ascended to the heavens to receive the kingdom (Luke 19:12). At the end of the church age, the Lord will receive the kingdom from God (Dan. 7:13-14) and will come back with the kingdom of God (Luke 19:15). That will occur after the great tribulation when the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15; 12:10). This will also be the manifestation of the kingdom of God, as unveiled by the Lord on the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24 and 25. This manifested kingdom of God is the millennial kingdom in the coming age, comprising the heavenly and earthly parts.
The heavenly part of the millennial kingdom in the coming age, which will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God, is called the kingdom of the Father in Matthew 13:43. All the perfected and overcoming saints of the Old and the New Testaments will be priests of God and of Christ, and will be co-kings with Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4, 6) to reign over the nations, the people in the earthly part of the millennial kingdom (Rev. 2:26-27). Daniel 12:2-3 tells us that after being raised up from among the dead, the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars. This word resembles that in Matthew 13:43, which says that the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. What is mentioned in Daniel refers also to the heavenly part of the millennial kingdom.
The earthly part of the millennial kingdom in the coming age will be the Messianic kingdom, which is called the kingdom of the Son of Man in Matthew 13:41. This will be the restored kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6), the tabernacle of David—the kingdom of David—which the Lord will rebuild (Acts 15:16; Mark 11:10). It will also be the kingdom prepared by God from the foundation of the world for the “sheep” as the people on earth in the coming millennium (Matt. 25:34).
When Christ comes back, the entire house of Israel will repent and be saved (Zech. 12:10-11; Rom. 11:26); then the kingdom of Israel will be restored (Acts 1:6). The saved Israelites will be priests in the earthly part of the coming millennium, teaching the nations as the people to serve God (Zech. 8:20-23). (See point IV.D in Lesson Twenty-four.)
When Christ comes back, He will be the Judge of the living to the Gentiles (Acts 17:31; 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1). All the nations on earth will be gathered before Him to be judged by Him according to God’s eternal gospel (Rev. 14:6-7). The good ones will be counted by Him as the righteous, the “sheep.” They will enter into the earthly part of the millennium to be the people (Matt. 25:31-34). (See point III in Lesson Twenty-four.)
After the millennial kingdom is concluded, the new heaven and new earth will come as the realm of God’s reign, the kingdom of God in eternity. God will reign in it forever and ever (Rev. 11:15), with the New Jerusalem as its center and the restored nations as its surroundings.
In the new heaven and new earth in eternity, the kingdom of God will be composed of two kinds of people: the saints, who are regenerated, as the sons of God (Rev. 21:7), and the nations, who will be restored, as God’s people (Rev. 21:3b). The regenerated saints as the sons of God will constitute the New Jerusalem to be God’s habitation in eternity (Rev. 21:1-3). The throne of God will be in it, from which God will reign to rule over the kingdom in the new heaven and new earth in eternity (Rev. 22:1, 3). All the regenerated saints throughout all the generations, whether perfected earlier or later, will be kings in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:5b) to enjoy the eternal blessings of God’s eternal life to the fullest extent. These blessings include the enjoyment of the illumination of God as the light of life for eternity (Rev. 21:23; 22:5), the enjoyment of the supply of Christ as the tree of life (Rev. 22:2a), and the enjoyment of the saturation of the Spirit as the water of life (Rev. 22:1; 21:6b). Thus, they will enjoy the riches of the processed Triune God to the fullest extent forever and ever.
In the new heaven and new earth, the restored nations will be around the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24) as the peoples in God’s kingdom for eternity (Rev. 21:3). Thus, the New Jerusalem will be God’s tabernacle among them. From it God will be their God and He will be with them. The saints, the sons of God, as the constituents of the New Jerusalem, will be kings to rule over them.
In the church in this age the believers receive God’s eternal life (John 3:15) and enjoy the blessing of the eternal life in the initial stage. In the heavenly part of the millennial kingdom in the coming age, the overcoming believers will inherit God’s eternal life (Matt. 19:29) and will enjoy the full blessing of the eternal life of God in a fuller way. In the New Jerusalem, the center of the new heaven and new earth in eternity, all the perfected saints will fully enter into the eternal life of God and enjoy the eternal blessing of God’s eternal life to the fullest extent for eternity. All three stages are the enjoyment of the eternal life of the processed Triune God in the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God, like the church, is not an organization. It is an organism constituted with God’s divine life as the realm of life for His ruling, in which He reigns by His divine life and expresses Himself as the divine Trinity in the divine life. It began with the Old Testament saints and is realized in the church in this age. It will be completed in the New Jerusalem in the millennium and ultimately consummated in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth. God’s divine life, which is Christ Himself, is the seed of the realm of the divine life that develops into the kingdom for His ruling. As revealed in Luke 17:21, the kingdom of God is Christ Himself.
Christ, as the first seed of life of the kingdom of God, sowed Himself into His believers (Mark 4:3, 26) that He might grow and live in them and be developed from within them to bring forth many grains (Mark 4:20).
The believers, who receive Christ as the seed of the kingdom of God, also become seeds of life (Matt. 13:38), since they have Christ in them as their life. They grow and bring forth many grains by taking Christ as life; thus the kingdom of God is further developed. Such propagation and development will continue until the manifestation of the kingdom of God.
When Christ came out to preach the kingdom of God as the gospel (Mark 1:14-15), He was the unique seed of the kingdom of God. After passing through death and resurrection, He released God’s life and dispensed it into His believers, thus bringing forth many grains (John 12:24). At the beginning of the Acts, there were many grains (Acts 1:15) as the spreading of the kingdom of God. Through them the kingdom of God spread again and again (Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31) into thousands of believers (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 21:20), making them constituents of the kingdom of God.
Daniel 2:34-35 says that a stone was cut out without hands to smite the great image, signifying that Christ will come down from the heavens to smite the Gentile nations. The stone will then become a great mountain and fill the whole earth. The mountain denotes the kingdom. This means that Christ will be enlarged to become the kingdom of Himself and of God which will fill the whole earth (Rev. 11:15). Then in Daniel 2:44 we are told that this is the kingdom which the God of heaven will set up and which will never be destroyed but will stand forever. This kingdom is the enlargement of Christ, which will spread over the whole earth, signified by the stone smiting the nations and growing into a great mountain. In Himself, Christ is the King; in His enlargement, Christ becomes His great and glorious kingdom that spreads throughout the whole earth.
To inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10; Gal. 5:21) is to inherit the eternal life as an enjoyment (Matt. 19:29). It is different from the receiving of the eternal life as our life. The former is a matter of reward in the coming age; the latter is a matter of being saved in this age. To receive the eternal life is to receive God’s life that we may be regenerated (John 3:5). It is the central part of God’s salvation (John 10:10). Anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus receives this life (John 3:16, 36). To inherit the kingdom of God is to obtain the enjoyment of God’s eternal life in the millennial kingdom through our experiences in His eternal life. Through God’s eternal life we are born into the kingdom of God in this age. We live in the kingdom of God by the eternal life, experiencing and enjoying the eternal life in this age, so that we may inherit the kingdom of God in the coming age, that is, we may inherit the full enjoyment of God’s eternal life as a reward. To receive the eternal life and enter into the kingdom of God, and to live according to the eternal life and inherit the kingdom of God, are both a matter of life. First Peter 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3-11 show us that we have the life of God through regeneration and have become partakers of the divine nature. Therefore, we should be diligent to pursue the growth and the development of this life until we are richly and bountifully supplied the entrance into the eternal kingdom of God, the kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God in the coming age, to enjoy the reward which the Lord has promised to us for our enjoyment (Luke 12:21; James 2:5). To the believers, the kingdom of God is an exercise in this age (Matt. 5:3, 10; 11:12; Luke 9:62; Acts 14:22; Rev. 1:9) and a reward in the coming age (James 2:5; 1 Thes. 2:12; 2 Tim. 4:8, 18). This reward is an incentive to those who respect the Lord’s faithful word and diligently exercise themselves through the grace of the life of God (2 Tim. 4:1b). Since there is a reward, there is also a punishment (Matt. 16:27-28; Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10). This punishment is a warning to the saints who would disregard the faithful word of the Lord and neglect the grace of the life of God, and who would not diligently exercise themselves (Matt. 5:20; 7:21).
The New Testament uses different designations, such as the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the heavens, the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, the kingdom of Christ and of God, the kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ, the eternal kingdom of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the kingdom of the Father, the kingdom of the Son of Man, and the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, to reveal various aspects of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is God’s reign, comprising eternity past, the patriarchs and the kingdom of Israel in the Old Testament, the church in the New Testament in this age, the millennial kingdom in the coming age, and the new heaven and new earth in eternity future. The kingdom of the heavens is the ruling of the heavens. It is a part of the kingdom of God, including the church in this age and the millennial kingdom in the coming age. The kingdom of Christ and of God, the kingdom of the Lord (God) and of His Christ, and the eternal kingdom of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all refer to the millennial kingdom in the coming age and the new heaven and new earth in eternity. The kingdom of the Father refers to the heavenly part of the millennial kingdom, whereas the kingdom of the Son of Man refers to the earthly part of the millennial kingdom.
The kingdom of God is the church in this age. Man enters into it through regeneration. It is also the reality of the church life. The spiritual living of the church is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens in the kingdom of God. The worldly appearance of the church is the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God. In the coming age the kingdom of God is the millennial kingdom, composed of two parts, the heavenly and the earthly. The heavenly part is the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God, in which the perfected and overcoming saints of both the Old and New Testaments will be priests of God and of Christ and co-kings with Christ for a thousand years. The earthly part is the Messianic kingdom, which is also the restored kingdom of Israel; the saved Israelites in the future will be priests in it, and the restored nations in the future will be the people. The kingdom in eternity is the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem as its center. In the new heaven and new earth in eternity, the kingdom of God is composed of two kinds of people: the regenerated saints as the sons of God and the restored nations as the people of God. The former constitute the New Jerusalem as the habitation of God in eternity. All the regenerated saints, whether they are perfected earlier or later, will be kings in it. They will enjoy the eternal blessing of the eternal life of the processed Triune God to the fullest extent. The latter are around the New Jerusalem to be the peoples of God in eternity, and they will be under the ruling of the former as the kings.
The kingdom of God is an organism constituted with His divine life, and this kingdom becomes the realm of life for His ruling. He reigns in it by His divine life and expresses Himself in His divine life. It began with the Old Testament saints and is realized in the church in this age. It will be completed in the New Jerusalem in the millennium and ultimately consummated in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth. God’s divine life, which is Christ Himself, is the seed of the realm of the divine life that develops into the kingdom for His ruling. This kingdom of God is just Christ Himself. Christ, as the first seed of life of the kingdom of God, was sown into His believers and developed from within them to bring forth many grains. The believers also become seeds producing many more grains; thus the kingdom of God becomes further developed. Such propagation and development will continue until the kingdom of God will fill the whole earth as a great mountain. To inherit God’s glorious kingdom in the coming age and obtain the full enjoyment of the eternal life of God is different from the receiving of eternal life as our life in this age. The former is to receive a reward in the coming age; the latter is to receive salvation in this age. To the believers, the kingdom is an exercise in this age and a reward in the coming age. This reward is an incentive to the believers who would exercise faithfully. Since there is a reward, there is also a punishment. This punishment is a warning to the believers who would not exercise faithfully in this age.
