As we have seen, the kingdom is Christ Himself as the seed of life sown into us, growing in us, spreading in us, and maturing in us until there is a full harvest. The full harvest is the manifestation of the kingdom.
In the first chapter of the New Testament we have the record of a wonderful One, Christ, who is recommended to us as the seed of the kingdom. We need a deeper understanding concerning this seed of the kingdom. You may say that the seed of the kingdom is the Lord Jesus; yet your understanding of who He really is may be quite superficial.
It is easy to read the black and white letters of the Bible. It is also easy to gather some meaning or impression from reading in this way. However, to read the words of the Bible is one thing, but to see the spiritual significance is another. For example, when the Pharisees argued with the Lord Jesus about divorce, even using the Scriptures, He replied in a very unusual way. He said, "From the beginning it has not been so" (Matt. 19:8). On another occasion, the Sadducees argued with the Lord Jesus about the resurrection. They were the modernists of that day who did not believe in the resurrection. They quoted some verses from the Bible, and the Lord Jesus also quoted a verse (Matt. 22:23-33). He spoke of the title of God from Exodus 3:6, "I am...the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." If we read only the black and white letters, we will understand that God is the God of these three: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even elementary students can read and understand that. But the Lord Jesus unveiled something of life and resurrection from this title of God! Since God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all three are dead, and since God is a God of the living and not of the dead, God must surely be the God of resurrection! By this the Lord Jesus also proved that all these dead saints will be resurrected. Such a spiritual revelation is contained in the black and white letters, but we cannot see it simply by the letters; we need something more. We need a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17).
In one sense, it is easy to read chapter one of Matthew. This is the genealogy of "Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." It is not difficult to understand that these were the forefathers of the Lord Jesus, and that Mary was His mother. But what we need concerning this chapter is revelation! In order to know the kingdom we must know the seed of the kingdom. What is this seed? You may say that the seed is the Lord Jesus, but what is He? I do not ask who the Lord Jesus is, but what He is. We need something far beyond a mere doctrinal answer. We need revelation to see that the Lord Jesus is the issue of so many human generations mingled with divinity. The One who came out of the mingling of so many human generations with the Triune God is called Jesus and Emmanuel (Matt. 1:21, 23).