Message Six

The Kingdom of God

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:32-33; 4:43; 13:29; 17:21-22; 19:12

1. The church today is Christ’s increase in life, but the eternal kingdom of God is Christ’s increase in administration—Dan. 2:34-35, 44; Mark 4:26-29:
   1. In life Christ increases to become the church; in administration Christ increases to become the kingdom—John 3:15, 29a, 30a; Dan. 2:34-35, 44.
   2. Christ is not only the church but also the kingdom of God; both the church and the kingdom are His increase—1 Cor. 12:12; Luke 17:21; Mark 4:26-29.
2. The Gospel of Luke is rich in revelation concerning the kingdom of God:
   1. “The Lord God will give to Him the throne of David His father, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end”—1:32b-33; 2 Sam. 7:13, 16:
      1. Jesus will have the house of Jacob—the nation of Israel—as the center of His reign (Acts 1:6; 15:16), through which He will rule over the entire world as His kingdom (Rev. 11:15), first in the millennium (20:4, 6) and then in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (22:3, 5).
      2. Christ, who is intimately related to David (Ezek. 34:23; Matt. 1:1; 12:1-4; Luke 1:32), will reign as King in the tent of David in the coming age during the restoration of Israel; the Christ who will reign in the millennial kingdom is actually Jehovah of hosts, and Christ’s reigning in the tent of David signifies consolation, encouragement, and restoration (Isa. 16:5; 24:23; Acts 15:16; cf. 2 Cor. 1:3-5).
   2. “I must announce the gospel of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this I was sent”—Luke 4:43:
      1. The kingdom of God is the Savior as the seed of life sown into His believers, God’s chosen people, and developing into a realm over which God can rule as His kingdom in His divine life—17:21; Mark 4:3, 26.
      2. The entrance into the kingdom of God is regeneration, and the development of the kingdom is the believers’ growth in the divine life—John 3:5; 2 Pet. 1:3-11.
      3. The kingdom of God is the church life today, in which the faithful believers live, and it will develop into the coming kingdom as a reward to be inherited by the overcoming saints in the millennium—Rom. 14:17; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; Rev. 20:4, 6.
      4. Eventually, the kingdom of God will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God’s eternal life, which all God’s redeemed will enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity—21:1-4; 22:1-5, 14.
      5. The kingdom of God is what the Savior announced as the gospel, the good news, to those who were alienated from the life of God—Eph. 4:18.
   3. “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God”—Luke 8:10a:
      1. God’s economy concerning the kingdom was a hidden mystery (Rom. 16:25-26; Eph. 3:3), which was unveiled to the disciples.
      2. Because the nature and character of the kingdom of God are wholly divine, and the elements through which it is brought forth are the divine life and the divine light, the kingdom of God, especially in its reality as the genuine church in this age (Rom. 14:17), is still entirely a mystery to the natural man (1 Cor. 2:14); divine revelation is required to understand it.
   4. “They will come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and will recline at table in the kingdom of God”—Luke 13:29:
      1. Here the Lord Jesus spoke concerning participating in the kingdom of God in the millennium, which will be the most enjoyable part of God’s full salvation before the enjoyment of the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth—14:15; 22:16, 18, 30.
      2. You may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom (v. 30) refers to the feast in Matthew 22:1-4 and the marriage feast in Revelation 19:9, which is for the overcoming saints.
   5. “The kingdom of God does not come with observation...For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you”—Luke 17:20b, 21b:
      1. The Lord’s word here indicates that the kingdom of God is not material but spiritual; it is the Savior in His first coming (vv. 21-22), in His second coming (vv. 23-30), in the rapture of His overcoming believers (vv. 31-36), and in His destroying of the Antichrist (v. 37) to recover the whole earth for His reign there (Rev. 11:15).
      2. The kingdom of God is the Savior Himself, who was among the Pharisees but who is now within the believers—Luke 17:21; 2 Cor. 13:5; Col. 1:27:
         1. Wherever the Savior is, there the kingdom of God is; the kingdom of God is with Him, and He brings it to His disciples—Luke 4:43; 17:22.
         2. Christ is the seed of the kingdom of God to be sown into God’s chosen people to develop into God’s ruling realm—8:5, 10.
         3. Since His resurrection He has been within His believers; hence, the kingdom of God is within the church—John 14:20; Rom. 8:10; 14:17.
   6. “A certain man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return”—Luke 19:12:
      1. A certain man of noble birth signifies the Savior, who is of the highest status—the God-man, both honorable in His deity and noble in His humanity.
      2. Went to a distant country signifies the Savior’s going to heaven after His death and resurrection—24:51; 1 Pet. 3:22.
      3. Return signifies the Savior’s coming back with the kingdom—2 Tim. 4:1:
         1. In His ascension Christ as the Son of Man is before the throne of God to receive dominion and a kingdom—Dan. 7:13-14.
         2. After He receives the kingdom from God, He will come back to rule over the entire world—Luke 19:12, 15; Rev. 11:15.
         3. Christ’s coming will terminate the entire human government on earth from its end to its beginning, and it will bring in the eternal kingdom of God—Dan. 2:34-35.