We have seen that God’s kingdom is first His reign in a general way. In this way God rules His creation by authority and power. The kingdom of God is also God’s reign in a particular way in the sense of life. God’s reign in this way is by Himself as life. God’s reign in this particular way does not involve that much exercise of authority and power.
In Adam’s paradise the kingdom of God was there, ruling over Adam. However, with Adam in paradise we cannot see the kingdom of God in life. The same is true of the patriarchs and of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. The kingdom of God was present with them but not in the sense of life. However, with the coming of the New Testament dispensation, the kingdom of God turns from God’s reign in a general way to His reign in a particular way in the sense of life. Actually, this aspect of the kingdom of God is God Himself in Christ as life.
The Lord’s word to Nicodemus in John 3 reveals God’s reign in the sense of life. In verse 3 the Lord says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” To be born anew, to be regenerated, is to have a new birth that brings in a new life. Regeneration is simply to have a life other than the life we already have. We have received the human life from our parents; now we need to receive the divine life from God. Therefore, regeneration means to have the divine life, the life of God, in addition to the human life which we already possess. Regeneration, then, requires another birth in order to possess another life.
Every kingdom has a particular kind of life. The plants in the plant kingdom have the plant life, and the animals in the animal kingdom have the animal life. In the same principle, human beings in the human kingdom have a human life. From the Lord’s word to Nicodemus we can see that, if we would know the things of the divine kingdom, we need another life, the divine life, God’s life.
The kingdom of God as the reign of God is a divine realm to be entered into, a realm which requires the divine life. Only the divine life can realize the divine things. This was the reason the Lord said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (v. 5). Hence, to see, or to enter into, the kingdom of God requires regeneration with the divine life.
The fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark reveals that the kingdom of God in the sense of life is with Christ as the seed of life. Verse 3 says, “Behold, the sower went out to sow.” The sower here signifies the Lord Jesus (Matt. 13:37), who was the Son of God coming to sow Himself as the seed of life (Mark 4:26) in His word (v. 14) into men’s hearts that He might grow and live in them and be expressed from within them. The kingdom of God is actually the God-man, Jesus Christ, sown as the seed of life into His believers. After this seed has been sown into them, it will grow in them and eventually develop into a kingdom.
During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus sowed the seed of the kingdom into the human heart. In Mark 4 and Matthew 1—3 the human heart is likened to soil. Our heart is the field, the soil, into which the Lord Jesus has sown Himself as the seed of life. In the parable of the sower, the Lord Jesus is both the Sower and the seed sown. As the Sower, the Lord sows Himself as the seed of life through His word.
Jesus Christ is the seed of the kingdom of God, and this seed has been sown into those who believe in Him. Now this seed is growing and developing within the believers. Eventually, this growth and development will have an issue, and the issue will be the kingdom.
In the parable of the seed in Mark 4:26-29 we see the development of the kingdom seed. In verse 26 the Lord says, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth.” The “man” here is the Lord Jesus as the Sower, and the “seed” is the seed of the divine life (1 John 3:9; 1 Pet. 1:23) sown into the believers of Christ, indicating that the kingdom of God is a matter of life, the life of God, which sprouts, grows, bears fruit, matures, and produces a harvest.
In verse 27 the Lord continues, “And sleep and rise night and day, and the seed sprouts and lengthens—how, he does not know.” This illustrates the spontaneity of the growth of the seed.
In verses 28 and 29 the Lord goes on to say, “The earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then an ear, then full grain in the ear. But when the fruit permits, immediately he sends forth the sickle, because the harvest has come.” The “earth” is the good earth (v. 8), signifying the good heart created by God for His divine life to grow in man. Such a good heart works together with the seed of the divine life sown into it to grow and bear fruit spontaneously for the expression of God.
Mark 4:26-29 reveals that the kingdom of God in the sense of life is a seed that is sown into the earth and grows until it reaches maturity, at which time it is harvested. The seed is Christ, and we are the soil into which He as the seed has been sown. The seed grows and eventually will produce the harvest, the full manifestation of the kingdom. Therefore, the kingdom is the Lord Jesus as the seed of life who has been sown into us and who grows in us until He reaches maturity at the time of harvest. When the crop is ripe, there will be the harvest, the full manifestation of the kingdom.
The growth of Christ as the seed of life within us is the process of the kingdom. On the one hand, we are in the kingdom; on the other hand, we are in the process of the kingdom. We may use the growth of wheat as an illustration. In a wheat field seeds are sown into the soil. The seed then grows until the tender young sprouts appear. The growth continues until the sprouts bring forth ears, fruit, and eventually are fully ripened. Then there is the harvest of the field. This is a picture of the process and manifestation of the kingdom. Now we are in the process of the kingdom, for today we have Christ as the seed of life growing within us. Eventually, this growth will bring us to the harvest, and that harvest will be the full manifestation of the kingdom.
The kingdom of God as God’s reign in a particular way in the sense of life is with Christ as its reality in life. This is revealed in Luke 17.
In Luke 17:21 the Lord said to the Pharisees, “Behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” The word “you” here refers to the questioning Pharisees. The Lord Jesus as the reality of the kingdom in life was not within them but only among them.
In the Lord’s answer to the Pharisees, there is the strong indication that the kingdom of God is actually Christ Himself. The Lord was actually telling the Pharisees that they could not see the kingdom of God, even though it was among them. Although the kingdom of God was present, they did not have the spiritual perception to see it. We need spiritual eyes to see the kingdom of God, which is actually the wonderful person of Christ Himself. The spiritual reality of Christ is actually the kingdom of God in the sense of life.
“Being questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God comes, He answered them and said, 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). The Lord’s word that the kingdom of God “does not come with observation” indicates that the kingdom of God is not material but spiritual. Verses 22 through 24 prove that the kingdom of God is Christ Himself, who was among the Pharisees when He was asked by them regarding the kingdom. Wherever the Savior is, there is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is with Him, and He brings it to His disciples (v. 22). He is the seed of the kingdom of God sown into God’s people and developing in them into God’s ruling realm. Since His resurrection, He is within His believers (John 14:20; Rom. 8:10). Hence, the kingdom of God with Christ as its reality in life is within the church today (Rom. 14:17).