The life of God is the kingdom of God, and this life produces the church; the gospel brings in the divine life, which is the kingdom, and this divine life with its realm produces the church, where we live today.
Hallelujah for the church and for the kingdom! This week we come to the topic of, The Kingdom and the Church.
We want to open to the Lord for His shining on us so that we may see not only the difference between the kingdom of the church but also how the kingdom of God and the church are related.
What is the relationship between the kingdom of God and the church?
Oh Lord, may You have a way to shine on us and unveil us to see what is the kingdom of God, what is the church, and what is the relationship between the kingdom and the church!
In Christianity today the general concept is that the kingdom of God and the church are separate.
Many believe that the kingdom is something in the future, while the church is something today.
May we open to the Lord as we come to His word so that He may enlighten us and guide us as the Spirit of reality into all the reality of what the kingdom of God is, what the church is, and what the relationship between the two is.
We cannot separate the kingdom from the church and the church from the kingdom.
These two matters are intimately related, and they cannot exist one without the other.
The kingdom of God cannot exist without the church and the church cannot exist without the kingdom of God.
In fact, if we want to understand and see what the kingdom of God is, we have to realize that the kingdom today is the church.
The kingdom is not just some age that will come in the future, after the age of grace.
When the Lord Jesus came and spoke concerning the kingdom of God, He was not just talking about something in the future.
There is an aspect of the kingdom that will be fulfilled in the future, but for the most part, as far as it relates to us, the kingdom is right now.
The kingdom of God is here; the kingdom of God is intimately related to the church.
In fact, the kingdom of God is the church today.
The church cannot exist without the kingdom, because the reality of the church is the kingdom.
May the Lord shine on us to expose and remove any concepts we may have concerning the kingdom of God in relation to the church.
May we see clearly that the kingdom of God is the church today. The church cannot exist without the kingdom because the reality of the church is the kingdom.
The kingdom is the reality of the church.
Maybe this is something new to us, something even foreign to us, but as the Lord unveils us and He shines on His word regarding this matter, we will see this more clearly.
The Church is Christ’s Increase in Life, the Eternal Kingdom of God is Christ’s Increase in Administration
The church today is the increase of Christ in life. The eternal kingdom of God is the increase of Christ in administration.
In Mark 4:26-29 the Lord Jesus gave the parable of the sower, saying that this is how is the kingdom of God today, as when a man casts seed on earth and this seed grows, sprouts, and increases.
The kingdom of God today is the increase of Christ in the soil of our heart.
Christ needs to increase and we need to decrease (John 3:29-30). He doesn’t need to increase in Himself; He is great, universally great, and He is eternally spacious.
He is so great that He fills the whole universe. He is all and in all, and He needs to increase in us, in you and me. His increase in life in us is the church.
The church today is Christ’s increase in life. When the Lord Jesus increases in us as life, when He grows in us, we become the church.
Christ’s increase in us in life is the church.
There is another aspect of Christ’s increase, which is His increase in administration; this is the eternal kingdom of God.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He always spoke of these two aspects: the aspect of the increase in life and the aspect of the increase in His administration.
What is administration? Administration refers to what God wants to carry out, His plan, His purpose; for this purpose, He has an administration.
When Christ came on the earth two thousand years ago, He lived the life of God on earth as a man, and He also exercised the administration of God to stand for God’s will.
This one individual person, Jesus Christ, lived and expressed God as life and also exercised God’s authority to carry out His administration.
He then went to the cross to die, and on the cross He created the new man, and He was enlarged and expanded to become the Body of Christ.
Today the church exists on the earth as the increase of Christ in His life.
When we believe into the Lord Jesus, we receive His life and become His increase in life, for His life is reproduced in us.
Through the preaching of the gospel, the divine life has been imparted into our being, and we became the increase of the life of Christ to be the church, the Body of Christ.
As His life grows in us, we are being headed up in Christ, we enthrone Him in our being, and we come under His government.
On the one hand, Christ increases in us in the aspect of life, for we grow in life day by day.
On the other hand, Christ increases in us in the aspect of administration, for His kingdom increases in us, and we come under His Lordship and Headship.
Eventually, His kingdom will increase to such an extent that all human kingdoms will be destroyed.
In Dan. 2:34-35 we see Christ as a stone cut without hands who came and struck the great human image at its feet, smashing it and pulverizing it, and this stone – Christ as the kingdom of God – increased and became a great mountain filling the whole earth.
This is Christ increasing in the aspect of His administration.
In life Christ increases to produce the church; in administration, He increases to become the kingdom (John 3:15, 29a, 30a; Dan. 2:34-35, 44).
The church today is Christ’s increase in life, but the eternal kingdom of God is Christ’s increase in administration.
Christ is not only the church – His increase in the aspect of life, but also the kingdom of God – His increase in the aspect of administration.
Christ is not only the church but also the kingdom of God; both the church and the kingdom of God are His increase (1 Cor. 12:12; Luke 17:21; Mark 4:26-29).
Both are a wonderful person – Jesus Christ, but not just in Himself as an individual, but in Himself being enlarged as a corporate person – in the aspects of the life of God and the kingdom of God.
Lord Jesus, increase in us in the aspect of life so that we may be the church, the increase of God in life! Amen, Lord, grow in us today. We open to You. May the element of God in us increase. May You increase and may we decrease so that we may be the church as the enlargement of God! Hallelujah, we as the church are Christ’s increase in life so that His life may be expressed through us! Amen, Lord, may You grow in us and be expressed through us. May the seed of life grow in the soil of our heart until it bears fruit for God’s glorification! Lord, increase in us in the aspect of administration so that we may be the kingdom of God! Amen, Lord, we enthrone You in our being. Your kingdom come in us. We take You as our Lord and King and we subject ourselves to You. Be on the throne in the center of our being. Hallelujah, Christ is the Lord, and one day He will come as a stone cut without hands to strike the human government, destroy it, and increase to be the kingdom of God filling the whole earth!
The Gospel Brings in the Life of God, the Kingdom of God, which Produces the Church
When the Lord Jesus came as God incarnated to be a man, He came and preached the gospel of the kingdom, proclaiming that all must repent for the kingdom of God has drawn near (Matt. 4:23).
In Matthew 4 we are told that the Lord Jesus went about in all of Galilee proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.
Later, in Matt. 16:18-19, the Lord prophesied that He would build His church; before He could build a church, He had to preach the gospel of the kingdom.
The gospel of the kingdom is the source of the church.
Without the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to sow the seed of the kingdom, there cannot be any believers who constitute the church.
In regards to the gospel, we are all familiar with the gospel of God’s love and grace, but actually, it is not the love and grace of God that is the basic element of the gospel but the kingdom of God.
The New Testament opens with John the Baptist coming and proclaiming the kingdom of God.
He announced that the kingdom of God is drawing near. Then the Lord Jesus followed and repeated the same thing.
Today many Christians think that the gospel is in the realm of love and grace for the forgiveness of sins, so that we repent and go to heaven.
Actually, when you read the New Testament you clearly see that, when the gospel was preached, it was connected to the kingdom of God.
Why? Because the gospel needs to be proclaimed to bring not only sinners but rebellious ones back to God.
Man had become fallen mainly because he had become rebellious; he had fallen from the proper position man had with God.
So man needs to be brought back to be made right to God’s order, to the kingdom.
Matt. 24:14 speaks of the gospel of the kingdom being preached as a testimony to the entire inhabited earth, and then the end will come.
We can say that, in a sense, the gospel of grace and of love has been preached by many missionaries these past few hundred years all over the world, but there still is the need for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth so that sinners may repent and believe, be reconciled to God, and come into the kingdom of God.
The life of God is the kingdom of God; 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).
The kingdom of God is a realm of life; it is not just a realm of administration and ruling but also the realm of the divine life.
The life of God is the kingdom of God. We can enter into the kingdom of God through repentance and faith in Christ; when we repent and believe, we receive the divine life and are born again, born of God (John 3:3, 6).
The life of God and the kingdom of God are synonymous; to enter into the kingdom of God we need to receive the life of God.
The kingdom is the realm of life for us to move, rule, and govern so that life may accomplish its purpose, and this realm is the kingdom.
In order for the life of God to move, operate, and grow, there has to be a proper realm.
The gospel brings in the divine life, and this life has its realm, which is the kingdom; the divine life with its realm produces the church (2 Tim. 1:10).
When we receive the divine life by hearing the gospel, we enter into the kingdom of God; we become citizens of the kingdom of God and we come under the rule of God.
By receiving the divine life, we become part of the kingdom of God. The life of God produces the church.
The church is the product of the life of God; when we receive the life of God, we become the church.
The divine life is the kingdom of God, and this life produces the church. Amen!
The gospel of the kingdom brings forth the church because the kingdom is the life itself, and the church is the issue of life (Matt. 4:23; Acts 8:12). Amen!
The gospel brings in the life of God, the kingdom of God, which produces the church.
The church is the issue of the divine life; the divine life coming into us produces us as the church.
We need to preach the gospel of the kingdom so that many rebellious sinners may repent and believe into the Lord to receive His divine life and be part of the kingdom of God.
When others receive God’s life and are part of God’s kingdom, they are produced as the church, the increase of Christ as life. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, thank You for regenerating us with Your divine life so that we may be part of the kingdom of God! Hallelujah, through repentance and faith, we received God’s life and are now citizens of the kingdom of God! Praise the Lord, the gospel brings in the kingdom of God, and the gospel brings forth the church of God! Amen, Lord, we want to live here in the church by enjoying Your life and by allowing Your life to grow in us. We want to be those who preach the gospel of the kingdom so that many rebellious sinners may repent and believe to receive the life of God and be part of the kingdom of God! May many sinners experience the new birth to enter into the kingdom of God, possessing God’s life! Hallelujah, we have the divine life to be in the kingdom of God and we are produced to be the church! Amen, Lord, may we see that the gospel of the kingdom brings forth the church because the kingdom is the life itself and the church is the issue of life!
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 James Lee in the message 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. 121-122, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Kingdom of God (2024 October ITERO), week 3, The Kingdom and the Church.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Speaking to the disciples concerning the kingdom of God, a portion from, Life-Study of Acts, Chapter 4.
– The kingdom of God in the New Testament: a panoramic view, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
– Acts (Program #22) – The Propagation in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria through the Ministry of Peter’s Company (17), via, Bible study radio.
– The building of the church being the growth in life, a portion from, Life Messages, Vol. 1 (#1-41), Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
– Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the World, via, Bibles for America blog.
– Message 7: The Ministry of Christ in His Ascension (1), a video via, LSM Youtube.
– What is the Kingdom of God and How Can You Be in It? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– Our growth in life by the growth of God in us, a portion from, The Experience and Growth in Life, Chapter 27, by Witness Lee.
– The Gospel of the Kingdom and New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– The corporate expression of the pneumatic Christ in the Gospel of John: the kingdom of God, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
– What is the Kingdom? More via, The Hearing of Faith. - Hymns on this topic:
– God’s Kingdom today is a real exercise, / But when Christ comes to reign it will be a great prize; / It is wisdom divine that we now may be trained / That His plan be fulfilled and His justice maintained. / God’s children, we’re born to be kings with His Son, / And we need to be trained that we may overcome / And to know how to rule in His kingdom as kings, / That His kingship thru us be expressed o’er all things. (Hymns #947 stanzas 1-2)
– There’s a church in New York City / 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 stanza 4)
– Jesus the kingdom has come into us, / Reigning and shining He’s all glorious, / Christ as the seed is the King who has come, / Into our spirit His kingdom He’s sown. / O let Him grow, O let Him grow; / His kingdom life be all we know. / Jesus, the kingdom is sown into us; / Jesus, the kingdom, O how glorious! (Hymns #1301 stanza 1 and chorus)
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 121-122
Dear brother, the church today is Christ’s increase in life but the eternal kingdom of God is Christ’s increase in administration.
When we believed into the Lord Jesus, we were born again with the life of God and entered the kingdom of God.
The life of God is the kingdom of God, and this life produces the church.
May we live in the kingdom of God today in the church life.
Amen Lord for the increase of Your kingdom in us today!
Just as Eve was the increase of Adam, the bride is the increase of Christ!! Christ increases to become the eternal Kingdom of God!
Wow, both the church and the Kingdom are Christ’s increase!
Crece Tu Reino en nosotros Señor que no miremos para otro lado sino a Ti ….gracias querido hermano por esta porcion
Amen Lord, mature within us that we would be the bride to match you and reign within us to be Your Kingdom. Amen
Amen Lord Jesus, may you increase and we decrease. Increase both as the Kingdom and the church.
The kingdom is the divine life and the Church is a product of this.
We have been born again to receive the life of God and live in His Kingdom.
As Christ increases on us and we decrease the Kingdom increases.
To enter into the kingdom of God we must possess a life other than our natural life.
We must possess the life of the God that dwells in our spirit.
In order to remain and grow in this kingdom we need to repent and decrease in life, so that Christ may shine more on us.
Amen for the increase of life in the church and for the increase of the administration in His kingdom.
Jesus always preached the gospel of the kingdom, not just the gospel of grace. Why? Christ is not only the church; He is also the kingdom of God.
Both the church and the kingdom are His increase. There is therefore a heavenly kingdom that requires our repentance.
We must repent in order to become partakers of God’s kingdom. The purpose of the new birth is to enable us to enter the kingdom of God.
We must receive the life of God in order to live in His kingdom. The church is the product of this life.
Like Jesus, we must preach the kingdom of God because this gospel brings forth the true church of God. The New Testament never tells us to preach the church because the church is the product of what is preached.
Listen to the audio version of this article via,
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Footnotes from Holy Bible, Recovery Version