The kingdom of God in the sense of life is the reality of the church life. Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This verse is a strong proof that the church in the present age is the kingdom of God, because the context here is dealing with the church life in the present age. In this verse Paul does not say that the kingdom of God shall be; he uses the present tense and says that the kingdom of God is. According to the context of Romans 14, which speaks of receiving the believers, the kingdom is today’s church life. The reality of the church life is the kingdom. Romans 12 speaks of the Body life, and Romans 14 speaks of the kingdom life. This indicates that, according to the book of Romans, the kingdom life is the reality of the Body life— the church life.
In 14:17 we see that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. When we live in the reality of God’s kingdom, righteousness, peace, and joy will characterize our daily life. We shall be righteous toward ourselves, we shall have peace toward others, and we shall have joy with God.
As we live the kingdom life in the church, we live righteously toward ourselves. This means that we are strict with ourselves and make no excuses for ourselves in anything we do.
To live the kingdom life in the church also means that we live peacefully toward others. This indicates that our relationship with others must be characterized by peace. Toward others we must endeavor to pursue peace, continually seeking to be at peace with them. We must be careful to maintain peace with everyone related to us. Such a peace is always related to righteousness. If we do not have righteousness, we cannot have peace. Righteousness must come first, and then peace will follow. If we are righteous toward ourselves, we shall be at peace with others.
Living the kingdom life in the church requires that we live joyfully to God in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of joy. Therefore, if we are truly living the kingdom life, we shall be joyful with God, praising Him. The more we live righteously toward ourselves, peacefully toward others, and joyfully to God in the Holy Spirit, the more the kingdom will be manifested in our daily living in the church life. This is the kingdom in the sense of life being the reality of the church life.
As believers, we have been regenerated into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5). This means that our regeneration was the initial entrance into God’s kingdom. To be regenerated, therefore, is to enter into the kingdom of God. All believers in Christ have entered the kingdom of God by being regenerated into it. This is the reason the Lord Jesus said in John 3:3, “Unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” In verse 5 He goes on to say, “Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” These verses are a clear revelation of the fact that regeneration is the unique entrance into the kingdom of God. In order to enter into the kingdom of God, we need to be born again. There is no other way for us to enter into the kingdom of God.
A kingdom is always related to life. The vegetable kingdom is related to the vegetable life, and the animal kingdom is related to the animal life. In order to share in a certain kingdom, we first need the life of that kingdom. If we did not have human life, we could not have entered the human kingdom. Only human beings can participate in the human kingdom because only they have a human life. Likewise, if we did not have the divine life, the life of God, we could not enter the kingdom of God. In order to enter the divine kingdom, we must have the divine life. Because through regeneration we received the divine life, regeneration was our initial entrance into the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is not only the reign of God but also the divine realm or sphere. In order to participate in the reign of God and to be in the divine realm, we need the divine life. Only those who have the divine life can be in the divine realm and share the divine kingdom. We need to be regenerated that we may have the divine life, the life which enables us to enter into the divine realm and participate in the divine kingdom. No matter how good, clean, and pure our human life may be, it is not able to realize the things of the divine realm, and it is not qualified to enter into the divine kingdom. Only the divine life is qualified to be in the divine realm.
We all were born into the human kingdom. No one has ever been naturalized into the kingdom of man. The principle is the same with the kingdom of God. The divine life brings us into the kingdom of God. This is the reason the Lord Jesus says that we must be born into the kingdom of God. We cannot enter into the kingdom of God by learning or by being naturalized. We enter the kingdom of God only by regeneration. When we believed in the Lord Jesus and called on His name, the divine Spirit came into us, regenerated us, and caused us to be born into the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God as God’s reign in the sense of life is a present incentive to the believers to suffer the tribulation with endurance in Jesus. This is indicated by John’s word in Revelation 1:9a: “I John, your brother and joint partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus.” Although John was on the isle of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 1:9b), he was there living the kingdom life. That kingdom life was the incentive that encouraged him to suffer persecution and tribulation with all endurance. Therefore, he could still be happy and work for the Lord, for within him he had the kingdom of God in life as an incentive.
We partake of the kingdom both in tribulation and in endurance. If we do not have endurance, we shall be able to withstand tribulation only for a limited time. As we live in Christ, we partake not only of His life but also of His endurance. When we abide in Christ, we partake of His endurance and have the endurance to bear suffering and opposition. We suffer tribulation with endurance in Jesus with God’s kingdom in life as our incentive.
In Acts 14:22 we see that Paul and Barnabas told the disciples that “through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” The entrance here is not the initial entrance but the ultimate entrance. Instead of being frustrations, the tribulations are the way that ushers us into the kingdom. Today we are on the way to enter into the kingdom of God as our destination. Actually, our going on in the way to enter into the final entrance of the kingdom of God is the developing of the kingdom of God. The more we go on, the more the kingdom of God is developed among us.
The kingdom of God in the sense of life is actually Christ Himself (Luke 17:21) as the seed of life sown into His believers, God’s chosen people (Mark 4:3, 26), and developing into a realm in which God may rule as His kingdom in His divine life. Its entrance is regeneration (John 3:5), and its development is the believers’ growth in the divine life (2 Pet. 1:3-11). It is the church life today in which the faithful believers live (Rom. 14:17), and it will develop into the coming kingdom as an inheritance reward (Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5) to the overcoming saints in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6). Eventually, it will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God’s eternal life for all God’s redeemed to enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5, 14).
The kingdom of God in the sense of life is also a blessing for the believers to inherit. Eventually, if we live in the reality of the kingdom, we shall inherit the kingdom of God. Inheriting the kingdom of God is different from entering into the kingdom of God through regeneration. Having entered into the kingdom of God by being regenerated, we need to grow and develop in the divine life. Then, as a result of this growth and development, we shall inherit the kingdom of God as a blessing.
In 1 Corinthians 6:10 Paul speaks of inheriting the kingdom of God. The word “inherit” here implies enjoyment. Thus, to inherit the coming kingdom means to enjoy the kingdom. The coming kingdom will be a joyful inheritance to the overcomers. According to Matthew, the manifestation of the kingdom will be a reward to the overcoming saints as their enjoyment with the Lord. To inherit the kingdom, therefore, is not simply to enter the kingdom but to receive the kingdom as a reward, as a blessing, for our enjoyment.
In Galatians 5:21 Paul again speaks of inheriting the kingdom of God. Once again, the inheritance of the kingdom of God refers to the enjoyment of the coming kingdom as a reward. This is not related to a believer’s salvation. Those believers who practice the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:19-21 are saved, but they will not inherit the coming kingdom as a reward.
In Luke 12:31 and 32 the Lord Jesus says, “Seek His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.” Here the Lord is referring to the kingdom of God as a blessing for the believers to receive from the Father.
Another verse that speaks of the kingdom as a blessing for the believers to inherit is James 2:5. “Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him?” The kingdom here is the kingdom of God and also the kingdom of Christ (Eph. 5:5), which will be inherited by the overcoming believers as a reward for their enjoyment in the coming age.