In Luke 17 the Pharisees questioned the Lord Jesus as to when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, Look, here! Or, There! For behold, the kingdom of God is among you” (vv. 20-21). Since Jesus was there, God was there; and since God was there, the kingdom of God was there, for the kingdom of God is God Himself. We must know the kingdom of God in a spiritual way. The kingdom of God does not come with the observation of our physical eyes. The very Jesus who was speaking there was the kingdom of God, because He is God.
This section of the kingdom of God was brought in by the gospel of God (Mark 1:14-15; Acts 8:12). Mark 1:14-15 says, “And after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the gospel!” This clearly shows that the kingdom of God was brought in by the gospel. As we preach the gospel, going to visit people by knocking on their doors, we are spreading the kingdom of God. We are bringing the kingdom of God into those homes, because our going is with the purpose of dispensing God into people. Any time we preach the gospel to people, we dispense God into them. Immediately after baptizing a certain one, we are able to declare, “Hallelujah, the kingdom of God is here!”
The kingdom of God was taught by Christ and the apostles for the producing and the establishing of the church (Acts 1:3; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). In the book of Acts, the word kingdom is used as well as the word church. We must not think of the kingdom of God as one thing and the church as something else. These two are actually one thing. On the one hand, the Body formed on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Spirit is the church of God, and on the other hand, this church of God is also the kingdom of God. The church and the kingdom of God are one entity in two aspects. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost did not produce two entities. The outpouring produced one Body as the Body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the new man, the family of God, the temple of God, the church, and the kingdom. These are seven aspects of the one Body.
The Brethren taught that since the Jewish people rejected Jesus when He brought the kingdom of God to them, the kingdom of God has been and still is suspended. Therefore, it could not now be present on the earth. They taught that the church and the kingdom are different, that the church is present but the kingdom is yet to come. This is contrary to what both the Lord Jesus (Acts 1:3) and the Apostle Paul taught. At one time Paul spent three months teaching concerning the kingdom of God (Acts 19:8). In his ministry he went about proclaiming the kingdom (Acts 20:25). In fact, the book of Acts closes with his testifying of the kingdom of God (Acts 28:23) and proclaiming the kingdom of God (Acts 28:31). In actuality, the New Testament section of the kingdom of God is just the church.
The saints of the churches are the citizens of the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 14:33b; Eph. 2:19). Ephesians 2:19 says that we all are fellow citizens of the saints. This means that all the believers, who are the members of the church, are the citizens of the kingdom of God. As citizens of the kingdom of God, we are fellow citizens with the saints.
The life of the kingdom of God is the life of the Body of Christ in the local expressions (Rom. 14:17; Rom. 12—16). The beginning of the book of Romans depicts men as sinners (3:23). In the second part of chapter three, these sinners are redeemed (3:24), and in chapter four, these redeemed sinners are justified (4:2, 25). In chapters five, six, seven, and eight, they are wonderful persons who have the Spirit (8:9). They are those who have their daily life and even their being according to the Spirit (8:4-6, 14). Then in chapter twelve we have the Body (vv. 4-5). The Body life is described in chapters twelve through sixteen. In chapter one there are sinners, but in chapter sixteen there are the local churches. This indicates that through the redemption of Christ and through the justification by God, those who were originally sinners have become saints. In chapter twelve those who have become saints are described as the Body. The remainder of the book of Romans, chapters twelve through sixteen, gives a clear presentation of the life of the Body of Christ. In the middle of these five chapters, there is a verse, Romans 14:17, which says that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This verse is speaking of the Body life, yet this Body life is called the kingdom of God. This indicates that today’s church life is the life of the kingdom of God. In this instance, life means not only the life within but also the living without. The living of the church is the living of the Body of Christ. When we say “the life of the kingdom of God,” we mean the living of the citizens of the kingdom of God. This living of the kingdom of God is the living of the Body of Christ in its local expressions, which are the local churches. Hence, every local church is a part of the New Testament section of the kingdom of God.