In the first preaching of the New Testament gospel people were told to repent because the kingdom of the heavens had drawn near (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7). This meant that the time had come for God to dispense Himself as life into people. The gospel brings God as life, and this life is the kingdom. The kingdom is the realm of life for life to move, work, rule, and govern so that life may accomplish its purpose. The kingdom as the realm of life is actually the life itself. The gospel brings in the divine life, and the divine life has its realm. This is the kingdom. The divine life with its realm produces the church.

Because the kingdom is the reality of the church, according to the New Testament revelation, we cannot live the church life apart from the proper kingdom life. This is why we have emphasized the fact that the gospel preached at the beginning of the New Testament concerns not salvation but the kingdom. To enter the kingdom of God is to be regenerated. We may talk about regeneration without realizing that regeneration is for the entry into the kingdom. We are regenerated into the kingdom. This means that regeneration results in the kingdom, for regeneration issues in an entrance into the kingdom. When God regenerated us, He regenerated us into His kingdom.

Just as the kingdom and the church are interrelated, so the kingdom and God’s salvation also are interrelated. If we do not participate in God’s kingdom, it will be difficult for us to enjoy His salvation. Of course, we cannot realize the kingdom life unless we receive God’s salvation, a salvation that becomes the supply to us for our enjoyment. The enjoyment of this supply is for us to live a kingdom life in the church.

We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the content of the church life. This means that without the reality of the kingdom, the church is empty. The reality of the kingdom is actually Christ Himself as our life. Christ as life is the essence, the substance, for us to live a proper life so that in this life we may be built up with other believers to bring in the real church life, which is a glorious expression of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. Because Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, when Christ is expressed, the entire Triune God is expressed. This expression depends on whether or not the believers live a life that is the reality of the kingdom, a reality that is fully revealed and described in chapters five through seven of the Gospel of Matthew. These chapters are a complete message on the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens, and this constitution is the reality of the kingdom life. This reality is the genuine content of the church life.

In the four Gospels the Lord Jesus mentioned the church twice, both times in the Gospel of Matthew, a book that proclaims the kingdom. Each time the Lord Jesus spoke of the church, He mentioned it in relation to the kingdom. This indicates how intimately the kingdom and the church are related. In Matthew 16:18 He speaks of the church in a universal way, indicating that the universal church is intimately related to the kingdom of the heavens. Then in Matthew 18:17 He speaks of the church in the local sense, indicating that the local church is also related to the kingdom of the heavens. In particular, the local church is related to our life as brothers in the kingdom. This is proved by the fact that Matthew 18 is concerned with the proper relationship between brothers in the kingdom. This relationship involves the local church life.

If we would have the reality of the kingdom as the content of our church life, we need Christ to be our life and our life supply. Through the dispensing of the Triune God into our being, we need to experience and enjoy Christ as our life.
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