The Lord Jesus came and preached repentance unto the kingdom of God – but where is the kingdom of God today? Some people say that “the kingdom has been suspended” and it will come when the Lord Jesus comes back.
But the Bible clearly shows that the believers today live the kingdom life in the church, and the church is the kingdom of God in this age.
When the Lord Jesus mentioned the church, He did so two times – both in Matthew, the gospel of the kingdom, and both in relation to the kingdom of God. The kingdom and the church are intimately related, for the kingdom of God today is the reality of the church.
The kingdom of God today is the church life
There are so many verses here and there in the New Testament which clearly show us that the kingdom of God today in practicality is the genuine church life.
We may love the church life but we need to see that the reality of the church life, the intrinsic essence and the goal of the church life, is the kingdom of God. Here are some of the verses that speak about the kingdom of God being the genuine church life:
Rom. 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
In Rom. 14 Paul speaks of some aspects of the church life (like: receiving the believers, etc), and towards the end he equals the church life with the kingdom of God. Today, the kingdom of God is the church life – the reality of the church life is the kingdom.
1 Cor. 4:20 says, “The kingdom of God is not in speech but in power”. What is the kingdom of God here? Where can we se the power and authority today? “The kingdom of God here refers to the church life, implying that in the sense of authority the church in this age is the kingdom of God” (see note 1).
Col. 4:11 says, “… my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, …” – Paul and his coworkers were doing the gospel work for the establishing and building up of the churches, and this was all for the kingdom of God today! This shows that all our work in the church life, all our work for God, is for the church as the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the reality of the church today.
Rev. 1:6 shows that we were not only redeemed by the blood of Christ or born of God into His kingdom (John 3:5) but we have also been made a kingdom for God’s economy, which is the church (see Matt. 16:18-19 and Rev. 1:6).
We repent for the kingdom and we are being brought into the church life as the kingdom of God – we are even made a kingdom to God, the church!
Rev. 11:15 tells us that God wants to recover His right over the whole earth to make it His kingdom, and with the help of the entire New Testament we see that Christ came and brought God’s kingdom with Him (Luke 17:21; Matt. 12:28).
Today, this kingdom has been enlarged, expanded, to be the church as the reproduction of Christ and the kingdom of God. The church will eventually consummate in and bring in the kingdom of God to the whole earth!
Matt. 16:18 and 18:17 both mention the church in relation to God’s kingdom, either in binding and losing or in defeating the gates of Hades. The church life has a delightful and pleasant aspect, the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, but the reality of the church life is the kingdom of God, which is in direct opposition to Satan and his kingdom.
Being in the kingdom by being in the spirit
Praise the Lord, the church life today has as its reality the kingdom of God, but by simply “being in the genuine church life” we may not necessarily be in the kingdom of God. We are in the kingdom in reality only when we live and walk by the spirit (Gal. 5:25).
If we live, walk, behave, and have our being in ourselves as the old creation, we are not in reality in the kingdom of God even though outwardly we may be in the church life. Only when we live, walk, behave, and have our entire being altogether in our spirit are we in the church as the kingdom of God!
[sharing inspired from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 159-161, and many other footnotes(see references) as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery.]
Thank You Lord for bringing us into the church life. Praise You for Your mercy upon us, Lord. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against the builded church as the Kingdom of God. Lord, we want to be not only in the church life outwardly but in the reality of the church life, the kingdom of God! O, Lord, keep us in our mingled spirit. May we walk in our spirit, live in our spirit, behave in our spirit, and have our entire being in our mingled spirit!
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