Today the kingdom in Jesus is a kingdom of suffering. In Matthew 5:10-12 the Lord Jesus said that His believers suffer persecution for the sake of the kingdom. If we suffer for the sake of righteousness, we are in the kingdom. Suffering persecution for the kingdom proves that we are in the kingdom today. The more we are in the kingdom, the more we shall suffer and be persecuted. Hence, for us to be in the kingdom today is not a matter of glory but a matter of bearing shame and suffering persecution. Although we are joint partakers in the kingdom in Jesus, we are not yet co-kings with Christ. When the Lord Jesus comes back, we shall be His co-kings in the kingdom in Christ. That will be the time for glory. Today, however, is not a reigning day but a suffering day. Now we are not in the reigning kingdom but in the suffering kingdom.
Because the kingdom today is a matter of suffering, of tribulation, in Acts 14:22 Paul and Barnabas told the disciples that “through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” The tribulation mentioned here was mainly the persecution at the hands of the Jewish religion. All believers in Christ undergo persecution from religion. If there were no religion in the world today, we would not suffer as much persecution. Much of the trouble, persecution, and opposition can be traced to one source-religion. While we are suffering today, we are in the kingdom where we are being exercised, trained, prepared, and qualified to reign in Christ’s kingdom as His co-kings.
The kingdom of God was a main subject of the apostles’ preaching in Acts (8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). It is not a material kingdom visible to human sight but a kingdom of the divine life. It is the spreading of Christ as life to His believers to form a realm in which God rules in His life. The kingdom of God is actually Christ Himself (Luke 17:21) as the seed of life sown into His believers (Mark 4:3,26) and developing into a realm in which God may rule as His kingdom in His divine life. To enter into the kingdom of God is to enter into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom.
However, the whole world opposes the entering of God’s people into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom. Throughout the centuries, religion in particular has been used by God’s enemy to keep God’s people from entering into the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the kingdom of God. For this reason, it is through many tribulations that we enter into the kingdom of God.
We should expect opposition and be prepared for it. Through tribulation we must endeavor to enter into the realm of the full enjoyment of the resurrected and ascended Christ as the kingdom of God. When we have the enjoyment of such a Christ, we shall be under the divine rule. Then we shall become the kingdom of God today, and this kingdom is the proper church life. The kingdom of God is the church life, and the church life is a realm of the enjoyment of the resurrected and ascended Christ.
We partake in the kingdom not only in tribulation but also in endurance. In Revelation 1:9 John says that he was a joint partaker in endurance in Jesus. For both tribulation and the kingdom we need endurance. If we do not have endurance, we shall be able to withstand persecution only for a limited time. As we live in Christ, we partake not only of His life and holiness but also of His endurance. When we abide in Christ, we partake of His endurance and have the endurance to bear suffering and opposition. The Lord’s word is even called the word of endurance (Rev. 3:10).
The world is opposing and rejecting the Lord Jesus, but He does not fight back. He simply endures it all. Now as we have fellowship with Him and abide in Him, we partake of His endurance. As His followers, we should follow Him with endurance (Heb. 12:1). In this way we can endure persecution and opposition. This endurance is a strong indication that we are those waiting for the Lord’s coming back. We wait for His coming back by being joint partakers in His kingdom, tribulation, and endurance.
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