Living by the Spirit in the Church Life to be in Reality the Kingdom of God Today

The genuine church is the kingdom of God in this age; today the believers live the kingdom life in the church (quote from W. Lee).

The kingdom is the reality of the church and the genuine church is the kingdom of God in this age. God wants to bring in His kingdom into humanity and bring man into His kingdom, and in this age, God’s kingdom is manifested as the church.

When we believed into the Lord Jesus and received Him as our personal Savior and Redeemer, we entered into the kingdom of God. Now we are a part of the church, the kingdom of God today, and we live the kingdom life in the church life.

However, it is possible to be meeting with the brothers and the sisters and to call yourself a Christian and yet not be in reality in the kingdom of God. Only when we walk by the spirit, live by the spirit, and have our whole being in the spirit are we in reality the kingdom of God.

We may live in the general sphere of the church life and we may not do bad things, we may not sin or say bad words, but we may still live in the kingdom of darkness if we don’t live in the spirit. God’s kingdom entered into our spirit through regeneration, and the more time we spend in spirit while doing the daily things of our daily life, the more we live the kingdom life in the church life.

One of the reasons God is mocked and despised today is because many of His children, the believers in Christ, are not living in the spirit and are not developing and growing in the divine life until they reach maturity.

If we don’t live in spirit, if we don’t exercise our spirit in our daily life, we are in reality just like the other people on earth, living in our natural man and even in the flesh. But when we exercise our spirit, enthrone the Lord in the center of our being, and live a daily life in oneness with the Lord in spirit, we live the kingdom life on earth, and we have a foretaste of the New Jerusalem.

Lord, we open to You concerning this. You need a city and a kingdom on earth. You came as the kingdom, You sowed Yourself as the seed of the kingdom, and now You are in our spirit as the kingdom of God. Lord, thank You for putting us in the local church, the kingdom of God. Make us Your kingdom in reality. Lord, do what You need in us in order to produce us as the kingdom people, those who live in the spirit and by the spirit in their daily life!

The Genuine Church is the Kingdom of God Today

Where is the kingdom of God today? God is invisible, a spiritual being, and He is everywhere; but where is His kingdom seen today? In this age, the age of the church, the kingdom of God is the genuine church.

As seen in Matt. 16:18-19 and 18:17-18, the church is very much related to the kingdom, and the terms “church” and “kingdom” are interchangeable. In a chapter speaking about the church, Paul says, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking…” (Rom. 14:17). In Eph. 2:19 we see that we are no longer strangers and sojourners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

On the one hand, through regeneration we have become a member of the household of God, God’s home; here we enjoy God with the other members of His family. On the other hand, through regeneration, we have become citizens of the kingdom of God together with the saints, and we have certain rights and responsibilities, being limited in our living and behaviour by the rules in the kingdom of God.

In the genuine church today on the local ground of oneness in the Body of Christ we experience and enjoy the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in a corporate way as we live in the spirit and by the spirit. In Rev. 1:6 we see that where the church is the kingdom of God is.

If people want to see the kingdom of God today they need to come to the church. The genuine church is the place where God’s kingdom is seen and manifested, and the genuine believers in Christ are the kingdom people who live in the church a life not in their natural man or their self but by the spirit mingled with the divine Spirit.

At the time of our regeneration the kingdom of God has entered into us as a seed, and today by exercising our spirit and opening to the Lord we cooperate with Him to develop the seed of the kingdom into a realm in which God can rule and reign.

We are in the Kingdom of God in Reality Only when we Live in the Spirit

If all the genuine believers in Christ are citizens of the kingdom of God, how comes that today we can’t really see a clear manifestation and expression of the kingdom of God in the church? How come so many genuine believers in Christ, rightfully calling themselves Christians, are still living in such a way that doesn’t express God’s kingdom?

Although the church today is God’s kingdom, we are in the kingdom in reality only when we live and walk in spirit. Whenever we behave according to the old man or live in the flesh or the self, we, in a practical way, are out of God’s kingdom. This means that when we are in the flesh, we are in the old realm of the fallen human nature, which has been fully usurped by Satan to form his kingdom. Therefore, a genuine Christian, if he lives in the flesh instead of in the spirit, may live in a practical way not in the kingdom of God but in the kingdom of Satan. Only when we live, walk, behave, and have our being altogether in our spirit, not in our natural man, are we in the kingdom of God and, in reality, are the kingdom of God. (Witness Lee, The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2236)

2 Peter 1:11 For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to you.

If we live in the spirit, we are in reality living in the kingdom of God; if we live in our natural man, we live in a practical way in the kingdom of Satan. We need to daily enjoy the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity and live in the kingdom of the heavens today.

We need to grow in life unto maturity, developing ourselves in the divine life until the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to us (2 Pet. 1:11).

Through His Word, the Lord gives us both an incentive and a warning concerning living in the kingdom of the heavens today: if we live by the spirit, we will have a rich entrance into the kingdom, but if we don’t, we will suffer a dispensational punishment in the millennial kingdom.

We need to daily be faithful in taking the Lord’s way to diligently grow in life unto maturity by exercising our spirit and living in the spirit. When we live in the spirit and walk by the spirit, we spontaneously enthrone the Lord and live under His rule, and His kingdom is manifested in the church.

When we live in the spirit and have our whole being in the spirit, we have a proper church life as a foretaste of the New Jerusalem, the city of God, the realm of God’s life and the sphere where God can exercise His authority.

Lord Jesus, we want to live in spirit today. May our daily life with all its activities be under Your throne and in the spirit. Save us from shaming Your name by living in our natural man or in the flesh. We choose to live in spirit. We choose to exercise our spirit, touch You, and walk by the spirit. Lord, make us those who live a kingdom life in the church life today so that You may have a kingdom among men. Grant us a foretaste of the New Jerusalem as the city of God, the center of the kingdom of God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament (msgs. 159-160, 209), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem, week 2 / msg 2, The City and the Bride.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # From the beachhead in our spirit / To our mind, emotion, will. / Christ will spread through all our being / And our vessel wholly fill. / He will cast out all rebellion, / Change our darkness into light. / Satan’s kingdom will be swallowed, / And Christ will reign with might. (Hymns #1297)
  # Living in the Body, / Body life is known, / Living by the Spirit / Christ is fully grown; / By organic union / Members cultivate / Body-conscious living, / Age to consummate. (Song on Living by the Spirit)
  # The essence of the Kingdom is / A life that’s under heaven’s rule, / A life whose nature is divine / With Christ experienced in full. (Hymns #944)
  # Lord Jesus, how blest to be those / Who bring in Thy kingdom to earth, / Affording Thee rule over all / And showing to all Thy great worth! (Hymns #1303)