In the New Testament we first see the kingdom of God (the Lord came out to preach the gospel of the kingdom, repentance for the kingdom of the heavens) and then we see the church; the presence of the kingdom produces the church.
The direction of the Lord’s move today is threefold: to build up the Body of Christ for His expression, to prepare the Bride of Christ as the Bridegroom, and to bring in the kingdom of God for Him to have a realm to rule on earth.
The kingdom of God, according to the New Testament, is nothing else but Jesus Christ Himself as the seed of life being sown into His believers to grow and develop into a realm in which God can rule and reign in His divine life.
All the genuine believers in Christ are citizens of the kingdom of God, for at the time of their regeneration they have received the kingdom seed in them, and now daily they learn to live and do everything in the kingdom of God.
The Lord Jesus came as the Sower to sow Himself as the seed of life into the soil of our heart; through the preaching of the gospel, the seed of life came in, and as we daily contact the Lord and say Amen to His word, this seed grows in us, develops in us, and brings our whole being into God’s kingdom.
Just as the human kingdom is the totality of the human life, being composed of those who have the human life, so the kingdom of God is the totality of the divine life, being composed of those who have the divine life.
The way to enter the kingdom of God is not by mental understanding or willing and deliberate behavior but by regeneration; we enter the kingdom of God by being regenerated with the divine life. When Christ comes into us as the seed of life, He brings with Himself the kingdom of God, and the throne of God is set up in our being.
The more we contact the Lord and enjoy Him, fellowship with Him, and pray over His word, the more we enthrone the Lord in our being, any rebellion is being cast out, and the kingdom of God is coming within us. We need to daily ask the Lord to grow in us so that His kingdom would increase in us.
On the one hand the kingdom of God today is in His believers, and on the other hand the kingdom of God is within the church today; since His resurrection, Christ has been living again in His believers, and the kingdom of God is in the church life today.
When we as the Lord’s faithful believers live by the divine life, under the leading of the Spirit, and according to the sense of life, we live in the kingdom of God, the reality of the church.
Eventually, this kingdom will be our reward as the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age, and for eternity the kingdom of God will be the New Jerusalem for all of God’s redeemed to enjoy in the new heaven and new earth.
The Kingdom and the Church: the Presence of the Kingdom of God Produces the Church
What is the relationship between the kingdom of God and the church? Is the kingdom of God the church today, or is the church the reality of the kingdom?
We need to be delivered from any religious, old, and even pagan concepts concerning the church and the kingdom of God, and we need to return to the pure revelation in the word of God.
When John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus preached the gospel, they both said, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near (Matt. 3:2). The first proclamation in the New Testament is of the kingdom.
But after a while, when the disciples saw by revelation from the Father that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus revealed the church, “Upon this rock I will build Mu church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens…” (Matt. 16:18-19).
It is almost as if the Lord said, Now that you have the divine revelation that I am the Son of God, the Christ, I go on to tell you that I am the Christ for the purpose of building My church!
The Bible first presents the kingdom and then the church. When the kingdom of heavens comes on earth among men, there is a church built up. A church comes into being where a company of people accept the government of heaven; when sinners repent and believe into the Lord, they receive the divine life and are transferred into the kingdom of God – therefore they become part of the church.
The presence of the kingdom of God produces the church, and whenever the kingdom of God is preached, the church comes into being.
The whole Bible starts with dominion (God created man and gave him dominion over everything) and it ends with a throne (the throne in the middle of the New Jerusalem). In between we have Israel (a type of the people of God, a people through whom God was expressed and who exercised His dominion to a certain extent) and the church (the spiritual people of God who express Christ and represent God on earth).
The consummate item and the goal of all this is that God wants to gain a kingdom on earth; Christ even encouraged us to pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in the heavens.
When we pray for the kingdom of God to come, God is happy, and He advances His kingdom on earth in man.
The church is produced for the sake of the kingdom, and the church exists to bring in the kingdom of God.
The commission of the church is to preach the gospel of the kingdom so that sinners would repent and rebellious people would be brought under the authority of God.
Lord Jesus, we enthrone You in our being: You are our Lord and our King. Thank You for transferring us out of Satan’s kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, and into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, the kingdom of God. Lord, thank You for making us part of the church, where Your kingdom is today. Thank You for regenerating us with Your life to make us kingdom people, citizens of the kingdom of God on earth. We want to cooperate with You by praying for Your kingdom to come and by preaching the gospel of the kingdom so that Your kingdom would advance on earth!
The Gospel brings in the Divine Life, the Kingdom of God, which Produces the Church
The kingdom of God is the life of God; whenever and wherever the life of God is dispensed and grows in man, the kingdom of God is there. The divine life is the kingdom, and this life produces the church (John 3:3, 5; Matt. 7:14, 21; 19:17, 29; 25:46).
When we receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we entered into life, and we start walking on the constricted way of life after entering through the narrow door that leads to life. The kingdom of God is the life of God, and the church is the product of life; when the kingdom of God comes in, the church is produced.
The gospel doesn’t bring in the church – the gospel brings in the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God produces the church. We are not told to preach the gospel of the church but the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14), for the kingdom of God is the life of God, and when the life of God enters into man, man becomes part of the kingdom of God and the church is produced.
We need to preach the gospel of peace (Eph. 2:17), which peace produces the church. We need to preach forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47) and the gospel of the kingdom for the kingdom of God to come in and be built up in the church.
Peter saw a divine revelation from the Father that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and then the Lord revealed that He is such a One for the building up of the church; then, the Lord said, I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 16:19) – showing us that the reality of the church is the kingdom. In order for us to produce the church and build up the church, we need to have the kingdom of God.
When we submit ourselves to God’s throne and enthrone the Lord in our being, we are in the kingdom of God as the reality of the church. The kingdom of God is the realm of the divine life for this life to move, work, rule, and govern, so that life may accomplish its purpose in the realm of the kingdom.
When the gospel of the kingdom is preached, the divine life is brought in, and this life has its realm, which is the kingdom of God; the divine life with its realm produces the church.
There are many wonderful verses in the gospel that talk about the way that leads to life, us entering into life, and us inheriting eternal life; the springs of water gushing out from our being issue into eternal life (John 7:38-39).
The divine life is a realm – a realm of God and of Christ, and this realm of life is where life itself moves, works, rules, governs, and accomplishes its purpose.
The church is produced out of this realm of the divine life, the church exists in the reality of the realm of the divine life, and the church will usher in the manifestation of the divine life, the manifestation of the kingdom.
Thank You Lord for coming into us as the kingdom of God. Thank You for bringing us into the realm of the divine life where this life can move, work, rule, and govern to accomplish its purpose. Lord, keep us growing in the divine life day by day. May Your life grow in us, spread into every part of our being, and bring in the kingdom of God in all our being. Lord, build us up with the saints in the divine life to be the church, the kingdom of God. Gain the reality of the kingdom in the church life today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Minoru C. for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 43-45, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Direction of the Lord’s Move (2016 Thanksgiving Conference), msg. 5 (week 5), To Bring In the Kingdom of God (1) – The Kingdom of God as the Spreading of the Divine Life for God’s Eternal Administration.
- 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)
# Now on the earth the church we see, / God’s kingdom here expressed, / Where He has full authority / His rule to manifest. / The place where Satan has to flee / Our mighty conquering rod, / The kingdom through the church will be / Brought to the earth for God. (Hymns #1296)
# Cause us to grow in life divine each day / That we may be transformed and built by Thee / Into a body to express Thyself, / That Thou in us Thy Church and Kingdom see. (Hymns #829)
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The opening proclamation of the New Testament is this: “The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 3:2). The New Testament calls immediate attention to the matter of the kingdom. But after a while, when the disciples have come to know Him, the Lord raises the question of the church. The church was a mystery that had been hidden throughout all the generations of the past, and it was not until the Lord Jesus had brought His disciples to the point of recognizing Him as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” that He spoke openly of the church. When Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Lord came in at once with the word: “Upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:16-18). It was as though He was saying: “I am the Son of God, the Christ, for this purpose—the building of My church. (The Kingdom and the Church,” pp. 31-32, by W. Lee)
Amen! We praise You Lord for the process that You have done for us to receive Your life and be part of Your Body through the local churches. The local churches are the organism and expression of the universal church. Lord! cause us daily to experience You more as our life and to be full grown unto maturity and unto New Jerusalem! Hallelujah! For the Body of Christ!
Amen lord Jesus though art truly the Christ the son of the living god
Kaya Kailangan lumago tau sa bushy for the building of the church
“So we need to grow bushy for the building of the church”
Amen,O’ LORD JESUS thank you LORD for everything you’ve done and now you are the living GOD who lived in us and life giving spirit,you’re the water springing within OH LORD JESUS
❤Amen…???
OH LORD JESUS, IT IS YOUR MERCY AND YOUR LOVE
Amin !!! Slavă Domnului.
Hallelujah for the grafted life we have received that spontaneously grows according to it’s Law. Lord, for this we give ourselves completely to you, ceasing completely from our vain efforts. Let your life transform us. Build us up with others to be your glorious expression. Amen
Amen, build us with the saints that you may have your kingdom o. Earth in reality,
Amen. Thank you Lord we are in your kingdom and part of the church.