The document discusses the Kingdom of God from a biblical perspective. It provides the following key points: 1) The Kingdom of God refers to God's spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who submit to his authority through faith in Jesus Christ. 2) It will also be manifested literally during Christ's future millennial reign on earth after his second coming. 3) The Kingdom of God has several aspects - it involves repentance and the new birth now for salvation, God's universal sovereignty, and will be fully realized in heaven.

1. The KingdomofGod – 21st
May 2017
“The time has come,” he said.“The kingdomofGod hascome near. Turn awayfrom your sinsand
believe the goodnews!”(Mark1:15).
The kingdomof God is referencedofteninthe gospelsaswe can note in Mark 1:15; 10:15; 15:43; Luke
17:20 and otherplacesinthe NewTestamentsuchas Acts 28:31; Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians15:50).
The kingdomof God is synonymouswiththe kingdomofheaven.The conceptof the kingdomof God
takeson variousshadesof meaningindifferentpassagesof Scripture.
Broadlyspeaking,the kingdomof Godisthe rule of an eternal, sovereignGodoverthe entire universe.
Several passagesof Scripture showthatGodis the undeniableMonarchof all creation: “The LORD has
establishedhisthrone in heaven,and hiskingdomrules over all” (Psalm103:19). And,as declared in
Daniel 4:3, “His signsare great. His wonders are mighty. His kingdomwill lastforever. His rule will
never end.” The bible alsotellsusthateveryauthoritythatexistshasbeenestablishedbyGod aswe can
learnfromRomans 13:1, “All of youmust obey those whorule over you.There are no authorities
except the ones God haschosen. Those whonow rule have been chosen by God.”
The kingdomof God is a spiritual rule overthe heartsandlivesof those whowillinglysubmittoGod’s
authority.Those whodefyGod’sauthorityandrefuse tosubmittoHimare not part of the kingdomof
God; incontrast, those whoacknowledgethe lordshipof ChristandgladlysurrendertoGod’srule in
theirheartsare part of the kingdomof God. In thissense,the kingdomof Godisspiritual.We canlearn
where JesussaidHiskingdomwasnot of thisworld as we can readin John 18:36,“ Jesussaid,“My
kingdomisnot from thisworld. If it were, those who serve me wouldfight.They would try to keep the
Jewishleaders from arrestingme. My kingdomisfrom another place.” He preachedthat repentance is
necessarytobe a part of the kingdomof God as we can readfrom Matthew4:17,“Fromthattime
on Jesusbegan to preach. “Turn awayfrom your sins!” hesaid. “Thekingdomof heaven hascome
near.”
The kingdomof God can be equatedwiththe sphere of salvation because we canunderstandwhen
Jesussaysthe kingdomof God mustbe enteredintobybeingbornagain.We can learn thisfromJohn
3:5–7, “ Jesusanswered, “WhatI’mabout to tell youis true. No one can enter God’skingdomunless
they are bornwith water andthe Holy Spirit. 6
Peoplegive birthto people.But the Spiritgives birthto
spirit.7
Youshouldnot be surprised whenI say,‘Youmust all be bornagain.” We have to believe in
JesusChristas one’ssaviour,repentforoursinand thus seeksalvationandthisisthe onlyway.When
one receivessalvation,itisthiswaythatwe can receive redemptionandthusbe eligible toapproachthe
KingdomorGod. We geta deepunderstandingwhenthe apostle Paul statesin 1 Corinthians6:9,
“ Don’t you knowthat people who dowrong will not receive God’skingdom?Don’tbe fooled.Those
who commitsexual sinswill notreceive the kingdom.Neither will those who worshipstatuesof gods
or commit adultery.Neither will men who sleep withother men.”
There isanotheraspectin whichthe kingdomof God isusedinScripture: Itis inreference to the literal
rule of Christon the earth duringthe millennium- inthe secondcomingof Jesus. Atthe secondcoming,
God's people willbe takentoheaven whichwe know isthe “kingdomof God.”We can readin I
Thessalonians4:16-17, " The Lord himselfwill come downfrom heaven. We will hear a loudcommand.
We will hear the voice of the leader of the angels.We will hear a blast fromGod’strumpet. Many who
believe inChrist will have diedalready. They will rise first. 17
After that,we who are still aliveand are

2. left will be caught uptogether withthem. We will be taken up inthe clouds.Wewill meet the Lord in
the air. And we will be withhim forever." We can learnfrom Daniel 2:44,“In the time of thosekings,
the God ofheaven will set up a kingdom.It will never be destroyed. And noother nationwill ever take
it over. It will crushall those other kingdoms.It will bringthem to an end. But it will last forever.” We
can alsoread fromthe bible where manyof the otherprophetspredictedthe same thing inObadiah
1:21; Habakkuk 2:14; Micah 4:2; Zechariah 14:9.
Some theologiansrefertothe future, the openmanifestationof the Kingdomof Godas the “kingdomof
glory”and the present, andthe hiddenmanifestationof the Kingdomof Godas the “kingdomof grace.”
But bothmanifestationsare connected;ChristhassetupHis spiritual reigninthe churchonearth,and
He will one day inthe future withHissecondcoming Hisphysical reign.
HoweverasChristianswe needtounderstandthatthe Kingdomof Godhas several aspects.The Lordis
the Sovereignof the universe,andsointhat sense His Kingdomisuniversalaswe can learnfrom 1
Timothy6:15, “Godwill bringJesus backat a time that pleaseshim.God isthe blessedandonly Ruler.
He isthe greatest King ofall. He is the most powerful Lord of all.” Atthe same time, we needtobearin
mindthat the kingdomof God involvesrepentance of sinandthe new birth,asGod rulesinthe heartsof
His childreninthisworldinpreparationfor those whowill come tothe Kingdomof God. The work
begunonearth will finditsconsummationinheaven:“Godbeganagoodwork in you.And I am sure
that he will carry it onuntil it is completed. That will be on the day ChristJesus returns.”(Philippians
1:6).