The Lord Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose; through His incarnation He not only accomplished the work of redemption but even more, He brought in the kingdom of God and gained kingdom people, binding Satan and destroying his works. Amen!
In this universe, there are two kingdoms – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.
The kingdom of God is from eternity to eternity, but within the kingdom of God there is a rebellious person, Satan, who has deceived and drawn to himself a large following to become a different kingdom.
God’s kingdom is full of love and light, and in this kingdom, God rules and reigns in order to accomplish His purpose and fulfil His heart’s desire.
The kingdom of Satan, however, is a kingdom of death, darkness, and every negative thing, and the purpose of Satan in his kingdom is to oppose God and destroy God’s kingdom.
If we look at the world situation today it may seem that Satan’s kingdom is prevailing, for he is able to do so much to hinder God from accomplishing His purpose.
Satan was created by God originally as an archangel, but due to his pride, he uplifted himself and violated God’s sovereignty, rebelling against God and becoming God’s adversary.
Not only so, he took with himself a third of the angels, and later after man was created, he deceived man also and caused man to rebel against God. Oh, Lord Jesus!
The rebellion of man against God was gradual, from disobeying God in the garden of Eden to attempting to build a tower at Babel to confront God.
God desires to gain a kingdom, a realm in which He can rule and reign.
So He Himself became a man in the person of the Lord Jesus to bring in the kingdom of God.
This man, Jesus Christ, lived not in rebellion toward God but in absolute obedience and submission to God.
He humbled Himself to the uttermost, obeyed God to the uttermost, and did the will of God to the uttermost.
He Himself was the kingdom of God, and through death and resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit to dispense Himself as God’s kingdom into all those who believe into Him and receive Him. Hallelujah!
Now we can receive the Lord Jesus as the seed of the kingdom of God, and we can be transferred out of darkness into light, out of Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom, and out of death into life!
This is what happened at the time of our regeneration.
Now daily we are learning to submit to God’s throne and let His kingdom come in our being so that our whole being would be in God’s kingdom and His kingdom would spread in us and through us.
The Lord Jesus came to Establish the Kingdom of God for the Fulfillment of God’s Eternal Purpose
One specific reason for the Lord’s incarnation was that He came to establish the kingdom of God for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose (Mark 1:14-15).
A kingdom is a sphere, a realm, where a person accomplishes something.
A certain person has his own kingdom, a realm where he can do what he wants and he can work to reach his goal and fulfill his plan.
The kingdom of God is the realm, the sphere, where God does what He wants to do in order to accomplish His purpose.
The kingdom of God is a realm for God to work out His eternal purpose and accomplish His goal.
What God is after is a realm where He can exercise His authority to work out His plan (Matt. 6:10, 33; Luke 12:32; Col. 1:13).
The reason we are saved is that the kingdom of God would expand and come in.
The Lord came to establish the kingdom of God not only two thousand years ago but even today, in our situation and in our environment, He comes to establish the kingdom of God.
God wants to have a realm in our being, a sphere in which God has the opportunity and free way to manifest Himself and carry out His purpose.
As God incarnated, the Lord Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God; He came to establish a realm in which God can carry out His purpose through the exercise of His authority (John 1:1, 14; 3:3, 5; 18:36).
In order to do this, the Lord Jesus stood as a victorious man, defeating Satan and withstanding all the hardship, opposition, and attack (Mark 1:13; Matt. 4:1-11).
He was tempted by Satan, tested by man, and persecuted by the religious ones in His day, and He stood as a victorious man in order to bring in and establish the kingdom of God for the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose.
The Lord Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom so that rebellious sinners might repent and be saved, qualified, and equipped to enter into the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15; Matt. 4:17).
The Lord Jesus didn’t come to preach love and peace; He came to preach the kingdom of God, that is, to ask all men to repent for the kingdom.
When He preached the gospel, He was shining on those sitting in darkness, and He was delivering them from the usurpation and tyranny of the evil one.
The Lord bound Satan, the strong man, and entered into his house to plunder his goods (Mark 3:27; Eph. 2:19).
On the one hand, the Lord Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom; on the other hand, in an intrinsic way, He bound the strong man and plundered his house.
He caused sinners to be brought into the house of God through regeneration for the kingdom of God.
The disciples were goods in the house of Satan, who had captured them and was holding them captive.
All sinners are “goods” in the house of the enemy, who is a strong man; when the gospel is preached and the kingdom is announced, there is the need for much prayer in order to bind the strong man so that the goods in his house might be released.
This is what the Lord Jesus did. As He was preaching the gospel to establish the kingdom of God, He was binding the strong man and releasing those under his usurpation.
As the Slave-Savior, He bound Satan, the strong man, and entered into his house to plunder his goods so that the sinners might be brought into the house of God (Eph. 2:19) for the kingdom of God (John 3:5).
Hallelujah, we were all in the great house of Satan but were delivered from his kingdom of darkness and were brought into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love! Praise the Lord!
The Lord Jesus had the power of the Spirit and preached the gospel to destroy the kingdom of Satan and establish the kingdom of God on the earth.
He cast out demons not in and by Himself but by the Holy Spirit so that the kingdom of God would come in. On the negative side, He bound Satan and plundered his house.
On the positive side, He redeemed and regenerated those who were under Satan’s usurpation to make them kingdom people, citizens of the kingdom of God.
In Matt. 12:28 we see that, when the Lord Jesus was destroying Satan’s kingdom by preaching the gospel, He was bringing in the kingdom of God.
He was there with the Spirit of God in power, and the demons had no ground.
The Lord Jesus came and was manifested to destroy the works of the devil and establish the kingdom of God for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.
Praise You, Lord Jesus, for coming as the King of the heavenly kingdom to establish the kingdom of God for the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose! Amen, Lord, thank You for delivering us out of the authority of Satan and bringing us into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love! We love You, Lord, and we love being here, in Your kingdom, enjoying You as love and light. Thank You for bringing us into the kingdom of God where God can exercise His authority to work out His plan. Amen, Lord, we open to You and we give You more ground in our being so that Your kingdom may expand in us. We praise You for standing as a victorious man who defeated Satan and withstood all hardship, opposition, and attack. Amen, Lord, we stand one with You today to preach the gospel of the kingdom so that rebellious sinners might repent and be saved, qualified, and equipped to enter into the kingdom of God! Amen, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done!
Being one with the Lord for His Kingdom to Come and Expand in Us and be Propagated through us
When we read the Gospels we see the wonderful pattern of the Lord Jesus as the Slave-Savior, the King-Savior, the God-Savior, and the Man-Savior coming to save man, care for man, heal man, and lay HIs life down for man.
Even more, He came to preach the gospel of the kingdom so that He may establish the kingdom of God on earth for the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose.
Today we as kingdom people, those who have been shown mercy by the Lord to believe into Him and be regenerated to be part of God’s kingdom, need to cooperate with the Lord and be one with Him for His kingdom to come and expand in us, and also to propagate the Lord’s kingdom on earth.
The kingdom of God is not something outward or visible; it is in our heart, in the heart of man.
The Lord asked us to pray that His kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is in the heavens (Matt. 6:10), and He told us to seek first the kingdom of God (v. 33).
We need to pray for the kingdom of God to come in us and around us.
We need to open to the Lord and allow Him to expand His kingdom in our being so that He may have a realm to rule and reign in us for the purpose of carrying out what is in His heart.
When His kingdom comes in us, when His kingdom expands in us, we can also cooperate with Him and be one with Him to propagate His kingdom on the earth.
As we live in the last days, the days at the consummation of the age, we realize that the Lord needs to establish His testimony in Europe before the Antichrist comes in this land.
There is a fierce battle, however, regarding the Lord’s testimony in Europe, for the enemy fights with all his might in order to blind man, hinder man, and keep man occupied with many other things, not being open to receive the gospel.
So there’s the need for some saints to be one with the Lord and bind the strong man and thoroughly plunder his house (Mark 3:27; Eph. 2:19).
There is the need for a group of people who allow the Lord to make their home in their heart and expand His kingdom in them, a group of people who are built together and utter the prayers of binding the strong man and releasing those under his usurpation.
We are one with the Lord in spirit and we are one with one another in the Lord; we stand here on earth for God and His kingdom, and we bind the strong man with the Lord’s authority in order to release those whom he keeps under his usurpation.
We want to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth so that rebellious sinners might be saved and regenerated to become part of the kingdom of God.
May we be those who are one with the Lord to establish the kingdom of God on earth today by first allowing Him to be the King and Lord in us, expanding His kingdom in us, and then cooperating with Him to bring in His kingdom on the earth.
The Lord needs many vital groups around the world who are joined to Him in prayer and are in one accord to bind the strong man and release those under his usurpation.
Satan has control of so many dear ones in our family and even of some who used to meet with us in the church life.
We may pray and pray and pray for them, and nothing may happen; there is the need for some to be vitalized together and pray with authority to bind the strong man and release those in captivity.
We pray for the enemy to be bound and for those who are kept under his usurpation to be released.
We can pray in this way one with the saints so that those we care for would be released.
As we preach the gospel of the kingdom, we realize we are in a warfare to establish the kingdom of God.
Even our prayer meeting is a warfare, for the enemy can use the good intentions and even the spiritual burdens of someone to quench the spirit and stop the flow in the prayer.
May we learn to cooperate with the Lord today in prayer for His kingdom to come and expand in us and for the kingdom of God to be propagated to us on the earth.
Lord Jesus, may Your kingdom come in us. We open to You. Expand Your kingdom in us. Spread in our mind, emotion, and will, and have a realm in our soul for You to rule and reign. May You have a way to fulfill Your purpose and carry out Your desire in our being. We fully open to You and we want to cooperate with You. Amen, Lord, may You grow in us! May the seed of the kingdom grow and increase in us. We give You more ground in our mind with all our thinking, in our emotion with our feelings, and in our will with all our decisions. Amen, Lord, we are one with You for Your kingdom to be established in us and to spread through us! May Your kingdom come on the earth. We stand one with You and one with the saints to bind the strong man and thoroughly plunder his house. Amen, may so many sinners be brought into God’s kingdom as the enemy is bound and they are released, regenerated, and made citizens of God’s kingdom!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Mark, pp. 107-115, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2024 July Semiannual Training), week 4, The Kingdom as the Subduing of Rebellion and as the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The parables of the kingdom, a portion from, Life-Study of Mark, Chapter 13.
– Fulfilling God’s eternal purpose, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
– God desires that the church be the kingdom of God, a portion from, Authority and Submission, Chapter 6, by Watchman Nee.
– God’s government and God’s grace, article via, Shepherding Words.
– Why We Witness for Christ and 6 Practical Points on How to Do It, via, Bibles for America blog.
– The kingdom of God, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee.
– What is the kingdom of God? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– Three desires concerning God, a portion from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 22: The Assembly Life & The Prayer Ministry of the Church, Chapter 10, by Watchman Nee.
– God’s Heart’s Desire, testimony via, The Church in Anaheim.
– The Fulfillment of God’s Eternal Purpose, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– The eternal purpose of God as revealed in Ephesians 1, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique. - Hymns on this topic:
– God’s kingdom is God’s reigning, / His glory to maintain; / It is His sovereign ruling, / His order to sustain. / He exercises fully / His own authority / Within His kingdom ever / And to eternity. (Hymns #941 stanza 1)
– O Lord, we’ve seen Your purpose to bring the many sons / To share in Your full glory and see Your kingdom come. / We praise You, Lord, this glory is You, Yourself within, / Spread out in all Your people to shine in all of them. (Hymns #1290 stanza 1)
– Teach us to pray that we may cause / The enemy to flee, / That we his evil pow’r may bind, / His prisoners to free. / Teach us to pray and firmly stand / Upon the battleground, / To fight and break the stronghold down, / The enemy confound. (Hymns #767 stanzas 1-2)
Life-study of Mark, 2nd ed., pp. 114-115, by Witness Lee
The Lord Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God for Him to have a realm to rule and reign to fulfill His purpose.
Today we need to let Him enlarge His kingdom in us and cooperate with Him to expand His kingdom on the earth.
Amen, we are one with the Lord in the Body to bind the strong man and release those under Satan’s usurpation!
(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 22: The Assembly Life & The Prayer Ministry of the Church, Chapter 10, by Watchman Nee)
Aaaaameeen!
It is enlightening to see the Lord when preaching the gospel and destroying the kingdom of Satan would not do anything by His own power, strength or energy.
He did everything by the Holy Spirit, where the Spirit of God is in power, there the Kingdom of God is! and there the demons have no ground!
The Lord came to establish the kingdom of God and carry out Gods purpose to exercise His authority.
All sinners are captives of Satan but by the power of the Holy Spirit through preaching, the Lord plundered satans house.
There are no grounds for demons to run where there is the power of the Spirit of God in power and the kingdom of God
For the Kingdom of God to come – for God to have a realm to exercise His authority and work out His eternal purpose – we need to pray to bind the strong man (Satan) to cast out the demons and thoroughly plunder his house for the preaching of the gospel to release sinners held captive, for them to enter God’s House, His Kingdom.
We were created to express God and to rule over all created things.
However, we cannot fulfill this purpose by our own power, strength/energy.
Our gospel service is a warfare to destroy Satan and His kingdom of darkness, to plunder his house and release his captives.
All this can only be achieved by the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit we bring in the kingdom of God.
Praise the Lord! 🙌🙋🏼
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