This week we are coming to a very important yet misunderstood aspect of the church, the kingdom of God. Many people have an incomplete view of what the kingdom of God is, thinking that a kingdom is a realm where a certain ruler (a king or an emperor) can rule over his subjects in a certain territory.
This concept is not wrong, but it is incomplete when we come to the full revelation in the Bible concerning God’s kingdom. Yes, in a general sense, the kingdom of God is God’s rule over everything and everyone in the universe. God is on the throne and He rules and reigns over everyone and every matter in the universe.
The kingdom of God as the realm of the divine life
Related to God’s economy and among us in the Lord’s recovery, the kingdom of God is the realm of the divine life, even the totality of the divine life to us with all its activities. Just as the plant kingdom does not have a great plant ruling over all the plants as the king but rather it is the realm of the plant life, so the kingdom of God is the realm of the divine life with all its activities.
To be part of the plant kingdom, one needs to have to have the plant life, that is, to be a plant; to be part of the kingdom of God, one needs to have the divine life!
When the Lord Jesus came out to preach the gospel, He preached the gospel of the kingdom “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 3:2). The intrinsic essence of the gospel is not for us to go to heaven but for God to have a kingdom of which we are part. The Lord Jesus told us to repent to be part of the kingdom of God.
By repenting and believing into the Lord, we enter the kingdom of God as a realm of life – we receive the divine life and we are in the kingdom of God! The gospel of the kingdom brings the rebellious sinners into the church, and the reality of the church is the kingdom!
God’s intention is to have a kingdom
In the beginning it was only God who was part of the kingdom of God, since only God had the divine life. The angels and all the other creatures were not part of the kingdom of God. In eternity past, the kingdom of God as the realm of the divine life was only God Himself. But God’s intention is to bring His created and redeemed people into His kingdom by regenerating them with His life so that they may become the same as God in species! Now the believers born of God with the divine life and nature live in the kingdom of God as the realm of the divine life!
Where is the kingdom of God today? In one sense the kingdom of God as a realm of life is within us in a spiritual and hidden way, but in a real way the church today is the practicality of the kingdom and the kingdom is the reality of the church!
Apart from the life of the kingdom, there is no reality in a local church – a local church is “a shell”, and the kingdom of God is the content (Rom. 14:17). The life of the kingdom produces the church as the practicality of the kingdom.
Today the church life is the living of the kingdom life in reality, and such a church has the commission of bringing in the kingdom of God in a glorious manifestation!
10 aspects of the kingdom of God as a realm of life
This whole week we will digest these aspects and we will get into them, into the verses they are based on, and – hopefully – into their reality. There are at least ten aspects of the kingdom of God as a realm of life:
- The kingdom of God as a realm of life is a realm where God exercises His authority.
- The kingdom of God as a realm of life is a realm wherein we worship God.
- The kingdom of God as a realm of life is for us to enjoy God under the divine rule.
- The kingdom of God as a realm of life is a realm for God to work out His plan.
- The kingdom of God is where God exercises His authority to accomplish His intention.
- The kingdom of God is a realm for life to move, rule, and govern so that life may accomplish its purpose.
- The kingdom of God as a realm of life is a pleasant realm, a realm of delight
- The kingdom of God as a realm of life is a realm where we are ruled in love with light
- The kingdom of God as a realm of life is the realm of the divine species.
- The kingdom of God as a realm of life is the reality of the church life.
[sharing inspired from the message 6 given in the recent ITERO on The Third Great Pillar—the Church (1) – The Church as the Kingdom of God, as quoted partially in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery. Follow the articles on The Four Great Pillars on this blog ]
Lord, open our eyes and unveil us to really see the intrinsic essence of the gospel. Save us from preaching a low gospel when we have the gospel of the kingdom! O, Lord, may the gospel of the kingdom be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all! Lord, praise You for bringing us into Your kingdom – we have the divine life! By regeneration we are part of the kingdom of God as the realm of the divine life!
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Amen!
Try this new song, based on the sharing above; while the tune may not be well-known, it is easy to follow. Amen!
tune: Oh Jesus Lord, When Thou On Earth/489
Lord, open our eyes and unveil us to–
Really see the intrinsic essence of–
The gospel. Save us from preaching a–
Low gospel when we've the gospel of the kingdom!
O Lord, may the gospel of the kingdom–
Be preached in the whole inhabit'd earth,
O Lord, for a testimony to all!
A testimony unto all the earth.
Try this new song, based on the sharing above; while the tune may not be well-known, it is easy to follow. Amen!
tune: Oh Jesus Lord, When Thou On Earth/489
Lord, open our eyes and unveil us to–
Really see the intrinsic essence of–
The gospel. Save us from preaching a–
Low gospel when we’ve the gospel of the kingdom!
O Lord, may the gospel of the kingdom–
Be preached in the whole inhabit’d earth,
O Lord, for a testimony to all!
A testimony unto all the earth.