The Kingdom of God

The KINGDOM OF GOD is the eternal destiny of all who know the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who exists eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All who have been born again by His Spirit and who confess Jesus Christ as Savior and who acknowledge Him as Lord know God as ” ‘Abba,’ Father.” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).

In His Word, the Bible, this one true God, the Creator of all things, reveals His plan to establish His kingdom in a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17, II Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1), where those whom He has chosen, called, regenerated, justified, adopted, sanctified and glorified will live with Him forever…a perfect God living in a perfect world with those whom He has made perfect in Christ!

God’s desire is to have a people who will know the depth of His love for them and who will thus love Him back (Ephesians 3:14-21). In order to accomplish that purpose, God chose some in Christ before He created the world (Ephesians 1:4).  Desiring to reveal His character to those who would be His children, God included in His plan the rebellion and fall of Satan, the temptation and fall of Adam, and thus of the entire human race, and the subsequent establishment of His Covenant of Grace with Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3). All of this pointed ahead to the coming of the Savior, God’s Son, the Messiah, whom He has appointed King, Jesus Christ!

From the Garden of Eden through the history of Israel, God’s chosen people, God revealed His plan to establish His kingdom, to gather for Himself a people, by bringing salvation to a remnant, to those whom He chose to be His. God revealed through Abraham that salvation would come through this Covenant of Grace (Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:13-25). No one could earn their way into God’s kingdom, as God would demonstrate through the Mosaic Covenant of the Law (Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:18-29). Rather, righteousness would be received by grace through faith. Entrance into God’s kingdom was the same in the Old Testament, during the time before Jesus came, as it was afterward and as it is today.  Forgiveness of sins and eternal life must be received as the gift of God through faith in the Savior (Ephesians 2:8-9).In the fullness of time God sent the Christ, the Messiah, Jesus, true God and true man, to fulfill the promises of His covenant with Abraham (Galatians 4:4-7). By His death and resurrection and ascension Jesus paid the debt of sin for those whom God had chosen (Isaiah 53:4-6; Romans 5:6-11) and sent His Holy Spirit to supernaturally and effectually call and regenerate His people (John 1:12-13, 3:3-5), enabling them to believe in Jesus Christ and so to enter His kingdom and then live to proclaim His Name to the world (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus established His reign on the earth in the Church, the “ekklesia,” the “called-out ones” (Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:11-22, 3:20-21). Through the preaching of the Gospel Jesus continues to call His elect from every people, tribe, nation and tongue to enter into His eternal kingdom through the righteousness credited to them by faith (Romans 10:13-17).

As the Church age nears an end, God reveals how His kingdom will finally come to earth through the destruction of Satan and all those who do evil at the return of the King, Jesus Christ (II Thessalonians 2:9-12). He will reign from Jerusalem as the chosen remnant of the Jews put their trust in Him and then, at the end of a thousand years, God will create a new heaven and a new earth where He will dwell with His people forever!! (Revelation 20:1-6,21:1-5).

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In this series of messages from God’s Word we will trace the plan of God from beginning to end by focusing our atttention on the three main themes of Scripture that stretch from Genesis to the end of Revelation: Kingdom, Salvation and Covenant. You will gain an understanding of God, of His plan thoughout the ages, including and especially TODAY, and will realize what it means to be one of God’s “chosen people.”

Living in this world as a believer, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, will never be easy…it was never intended to be, BUT you will find a deeper joy, a greater hope and grace to strengthen you for every trial as you live in God’s kingdom awaiting its fullness at the return of your King! Nothing will change your life more than knowing God and understanding His purpose for you and for all who are His children as we await the fulfillment of His promises in Christ Jesus.

I Peter 2:9-12: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”