1. God Reigns over All Things.
Since God is the Creator of everything, He reigns over all things. His role as Creator God establishes His authority over the earth and all of His creation
2. Sin Challenged God’s Authority over His Kingdom.
Scripture speaks of Satan’s rebellion against God, which consequentially led to the institution of the fallen angel’s establishment of a counterfeit kingdom on earth
3. God Promises a Kingdom.
Though sin now permeated mankind, God called out a people for Himself to bless, through Abraham. Through a covenant, God promised that through Abraham, He would reestablish His kingdom authority on earth
4. God Shows His Standard of Holiness (10 Commandments) within His Kingdom.
After Israel escapes from Egypt, God establishes a covenant with His people at Sinai. He reveals His name to Moses as I AM, establishing His character as the All-Sustaining One
5. God Foreshadowed His Kingdom on Earth.
God promised David that someone from his family would always sit on the throne of Israel
The anointed king of Israel was to be a righteous king who set a standard by which the nation was to live. It is through this king that God would express His rule in Israel. Even though Israel’s kings were unfaithful and lost their throne because of their unfaithfulness, God maintained a futuristic messianic promise
6. The Kingdom of God was established on earth when Jesus Christ came into the world.
7. The Kingdom of God is to Be Received. Jesus uses a child to illustrate our dependency by which we are to rely on Christ for our entrance into the kingdom. Philippians 2 illustrates Christ’s exceptional obedience. He traded His every heavenly right for a crown of thorns, so we might freely receive salvation. In exchange, the Risen King was given the right to be called Lord.
8. Entrance into the Kingdom of God Requires Belief and Repentance
Repentance and belief in Christ leads a person to a spiritual birth that guarantees entrance into the kingdom (John 3:3-5). As a believer, the kingdom of God resides within us (Luke 17:21). When Jesus taught that the kingdom was within the believer, His intent was to teach the believer of the new spiritual realm in which the person now lived. The Church is a part of the kingdom of God but is not the totality of His Kingdom.
9. The Kingdom of God is Mysterious.
Jesus teaches on the mysteries of the kingdom of God through parables in the New Testament. Matthew 13 introduces a different form of the kingdom that had not been revealed in the Old Testament. Through these parables, Jesus teaches about a spiritual reign of Christ after He is absent from earth, before His second coming. In this chapter, the hearers learn that this age will encompass those who will believe as well as those who will not (13:11-23).
The second parable shows how there will be a time of judgment that separates believers from non-believers (13:24-30). The parable of the mustard seed describes the kingdom of God as a movement of believers that will start small, but then experience rapid growth. The kingdom of God (the kingdom of heaven) looks the opposite of how the world expects. Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes about the blessings the poor, merciful, hungry, and humble will receive in heaven. Those who suffer on earth will be rewarded in heaven. Even though we may not understand everything about the Kingdom, we trust the Teacher
10. The Kingdom of God has Implications for Believers Today.
As believers of Christ, we are to worship Him as Lord. Acknowledging Christ as Lord is in effect recognizing his reign. We are to live out His teaching and live in anticipation of His return. When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, part of the directive was to pray that God’s kingdom would come into full fruition on earth:
Matthew 6:10: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
While the Kingdom of God has been established on earth, it has not yet been made complete. There is a future coming of the kingdom at the end of the age that has yet to happen. We are to pray for the coming of the fullness of God’s kingdom. As members of God’s kingdom, through Christ, we are ambassadors of God on earth (2 Corinthians 5:20). Our role as ambassadors is to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to others. This is our Great Commission.
Conclusion:
The first is that I realize that I am not the author of my drama. Rather, I am only a small player in God’s great story. This drastic shift in mindset makes me reprioritize my goals and scheduling. Prestige and popularity no longer seem important when I keep in mind God’s Sovereignty and Christ’s redemptive work on the cross.
Also, with a Kingdom mindset, I find that my trust in God is more secure than it once was. I see how God has worked throughout time to guard over the world and to redeem His people. His loving and just character allow me to realize that He will see His plans through. I can trust in His plans for me no matter what.
Finally, understanding the Kingdom of God leaves me with a sense of urgency and a challenge to tell others about Christ. God’s patience with us will not last forever and at some point, Christ will return. His second coming will not be to redeem, but to judge. Because we do not know the day or time, we are to use our time wisely to help others receive the kingdom through faith in Christ.
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