The churches and the kingdom of God go together, for we today in the churches are the propagation and expansion of Christ, and we are enlarging the kingdom of God.
We have entered the kingdom of God through repentance for forgiveness of sins and through being regenerated with the life of God, and now we are in another realm, the realm of the divine life, the realm of God’s ruling.
The kingdom of God is not outwardly but inwardly. In this age the kingdom of God is hidden, spiritual, and non-visible, but in the coming age it will be manifested.
God commands men everywhere to repent and believe into the Lord, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and enter into the enjoyment and experience of the eternal life. Whoever believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, he is saved.
Just as through our birth from our parents we have entered into the realm of the human life, but it takes a lifetime to learn, study, and know the human life, so through our regeneration we have entered into the kingdom of God, and it takes time to know, discover, study, and realise what this realm is.
All the believers in Christ today can share the kingdom of God in the church age, and in the local churches we can all enjoy God in His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
In the church life we enjoy the reality of the kingdom of God, and the local churches are the propagation and expansion of Christ as the kingdom of God.
Today we are all learning to enter into the kingdom, live in the kingdom, and even have the kingdom as a reward, and we in the local churches are enlarging the kingdom of God.
No matter what we go through outwardly, we have an unshakable kingdom within. When we turn to our spirit, exercise our spirit, and live in the mingled spirit, we enjoy Christ as the reality of God’s kingdom, and the kingdom of God is developing in us.
What we see outwardly is not real – what we see of the Lord, enjoy of Him, and experience of Him, this is real.
Through our daily experience of Christ and enjoyment of God as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, we enjoy and participate in the Triune God for the development and enlargement of the kingdom of God on earth.
Hallelujah for the church life today as the reality of the kingdom of God, the practicality of the kingdom of God in this age!
In the church life we are not only being brought under God’s rule by constantly enthroning Him in our being and by calling on His name, but we are also practicing the kingdom life and we are enjoying the Lord for the enlarging of the kingdom of God.
The Churches produced by the Propagation of Christ are the Kingdom of God Today
There is a relationship between the churches and the kingdom of God, for the propagation of Christ produced the churches, and the churches are the kingdom of God in reality and practicality today.
Christ came as God becoming man, and He was enlarged, expanded, and reproduced in His death and resurrection to become many believers, the many sons of God. The kingdom of God is the expansion of the resurrected Christ who propagates Himself in humanity.
In the Gospels we see that Christ came as the Sower to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God, and in the book of Acts we see that the propagation of this seed produced the churches as the kingdom of God (Acts 8:1, 12; 13:1-4).
The churches are the expansion of Christ, who came to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God, as revealed in the Gospels (see Mark 4:3, 26).
The resurrected Christ is propagating Himself in His ascension, by the Spirit, through the disciples, to produce the churches as the reality of the kingdom of God.
A good illustration of the kingdom of God is the kingdom of man, who began with one man, Adam. Then Adam began to expand, to increase, and there was Eve. Now there was a family, who later had children, and their children had children, and so on.
Now the entire human race is part of the kingdom of man, the expansion of one man, Adam.
Similarly, the kingdom of God is the expansion of God, whose embodiment is Christ. The expansion of Christ is the churches on earth today.
In the Gospels we see Christ coming as the seed of the kingdom, and in the book of Acts we see the propagation of this One, the Christ in resurrection and ascension, through the disciples, by the Spirit, for the raising up and producing of the churches, who are the reality and practicality of the kingdom of God on earth.
From one God-man, Jesus Christ, now there are millions of children of God, who are being built up in the church as the Body of Christ, the expansion of Christ, the enlargement of the resurrected Christ.
From the day of His resurrection until now, Christ is still propagating Himself through His believers and by the Spirit, so that He may produce the churches as the kingdom of God.
There’s no “gospel of the church” – there’s the gospel of the kingdom, which releases the life of the kingdom, which is the Triune God Himself as life.
This life produces the church, and the church today is the kingdom of God in reality and practicality, the expansion of Christ.
The constitution of the kingdom – as seen in Matt. 5-7 – is the reality of the church life; the reality of the kingdom is the reality of the church life.
Today we are in the last chapter of the book of Acts, still propagating Christ for His expansion, propagating Christ as the development of the kingdom of God.
Lord Jesus, we worship You as the resurrected One and the ascended One. We praise You for Your propagation. Thank You Lord, that we are Your propagation today. You are the Head in the heavens, and we are Your Body on earth as Your enlargement, Your duplication, and Your expansion. Lord Jesus, thank You for making us part of Your propagation on earth, Your kingdom, in the local churches. Hallelujah, the churches today are the kingdom of God in reality and practicality on earth!
We in the Churches are the Expansion of Christ and we’re Enlarging the Kingdom of God
The churches produced by the propagation of the resurrected Christ are the kingdom of God on earth today (see Acts 14:22; 20:25). The reality of the kingdom of God is in the church life today, and the local churches are the expansion of Christ on earth.
Where can we find God? Today God is in Christ, who is His embodiment.
Where can we find Christ? Today Christ is in the church, which is His expansion, His enlargement, and His corporate expression.
Where can we see the church? The universal church is expressed in the many local churches as the propagation of the resurrected Christ.
The Lord Jesus is now in the heavens, and this exalted One is propagating Himself on earth through us as His witnesses, His believers, for the producing of the churches, the kingdom of God.
While we are suffering today, we are in the kingdom of God where we’re being trained, exercised, prepared, and qualified to reign in Christ’s kingdom as His co-kings. We need to enter into the kingdom of God in full by entering into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom of God.
The world and especially religion may oppose us, trying to hinder us from entering into the kingdom. Religion in particular has been used by God’s enemy to keep God’s people from entering into the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the kingdom of God.
For this reason, it is through many tribulations and trials that we enter into the kingdom of God.
We in the churches are the propagation of Christ and the expansion of Christ, and we are enlarging the kingdom of God (Rev. 1:9, 11).
The church that is being built up is the church that can bind and loose; in the church we don’t pray in a begging way, but we are one with the ascended Christ to lose on earth what the heavens have already loosed.
We are here for the propagation and expansion of Christ, and we want to enlarge the kingdom of God; therefore, we are joined to the Head to release on earth what He has already released in the heavens.
We are here as the church to release God’s will on earth and spread the Lord’s testimony so that we may bring in the manifestation of the kingdom.
It is our desire and yearning that hundreds and even thousands more will be saved and brought into the kingdom of God all over the world, in all the continents!
We believe we’re about to enter into an era of unprecedented propagation of the firstborn Son of God, Christ, and many churches will be raised up as the development of the kingdom of God!
We in the churches are one with the Lord for the enlargement of the kingdom of God, and we pray that many persons would be saved and baptised to be added to Christ, who is the kingdom of God!
And we not only pray, but we also go out in His name with His authority to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God for the kingdom to be enlarged, for the church as the expansion of Christ to be increased, and for God to have a corporate testimony for His expression and representation on earth.
Lord Jesus, we believe that You desire to be spread and propagated on earth today, so we pray that You save many more hundreds and even thousands of people in all the continents for Your kingdom to be enlarged! Amen, Lord, we praise You for what You will do, we trust in You, and we believe You can do above more than we can ask or think. Lord, do more for Your glory! Shock and shame Your enemy everywhere by expanding Your kingdom all over the earth! Lord, we are one with You to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth for the expansion of Christ as the kingdom of God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Acts, pp. 14-15 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Propagating the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ as the Development of the Kingdom of God (2018 fall ITERO), week 8, The Development of the Kingdom of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Jesus Christ will get His kingdom / Just by growth—the normal way. / Not an instant transformation; / Growth goes on from day to day. / This life-seed is all-inclusive— / Everything we’ll ever need; / Yes, our God’s eternal purpose / Is within this precious seed. (Hymns #1299)
# There’s a church in New York City (can be replaced with the name of the city where there’s a church) / Who the gospel does proclaim, / To the hungry, poor, and weary, / Sick, imprisoned, and the lame. / Now this gospel of the kingdom / Shall be preached until the end; / Till the Lord who with the kingdom / Of the heavens does descend. (Hymns #1263)
# So the Church’s many members / Christ’s enlargement are, / One with Him in life and living, / Spreading Him afar. (Hymns #819)
