Now we need to see something concerning the kingdom from the book of Hebrews. With the exception of Matthew and Revelation, Hebrews has more related to the kingdom than any other book in the New Testament. Most Christians have never considered that Hebrews is a book on the kingdom. Many think that Hebrews is simply a book which tells that Christ is superior to all the main items of Judaism. While this is correct, we must realize that Christ is superior to all the items of Judaism for the kingdom. Christ is for the kingdom.
According to the revelation of the New Testament, Christ has come for the kingdom. The concept of most Christians is that Christ came only for our redemption. They never consider that Christ came for the kingdom. While it is true that Christ did come for redemption, redemption is not the goal. Redemption is a process toward the goal. The goal is the kingdom. God's intention is to have a kingdom. God created man in His image so that man could have dominion over all things and express His glory. This means that God created man in His image so that He could have a kingdom.
God's goal is the kingdom. Even the church is for the kingdom. Why does God need the church? It is because through the church, by the church, with the church, and in the church, God can have a kingdom. God has no other way to get a kingdom for expressing His glory except through the church. These two matters, the church and the kingdom, are closely related in Matthew 16:18-19. In verse 18 the Lord Jesus said that He would build His church, and in the following verse He said that He would give the keys of the kingdom to Peter. The keys of the kingdom are related to the building of the church. The church is builded for the kingdom.
During these years which are near the end of the age, the Lord has burdened us with the matter of the kingdom. We are not here merely for redemption, the gospel, salvation, sanctification, and other things. We are here particularly for the church to bring in the kingdom. We are here for the kingdom. For such a long time, the Lord has been delayed. The Lord Jesus has been seeking the kingdom for over twenty centuries, but still it has not come. The delay is not due to Him, but due to us. The problem is that we do not have the adequate maturity of life. For many years we have been stressing one thing: life and the maturity of life. The maturity of life is for the kingdom.
In Matthew Christ is the seed to produce the kingdom. In the first chapter there is such a wonderful One! He is the issue of forty-one generations mingled with the Triune God. His name is Jehovah-plus and God-plus. He is the seed to be worked into all of us. This seed will eventually become the harvest. The seed is Christ, and the harvest is the kingdom.
Please remember the vision in Daniel 2. In that chapter a stone is cut out without hands which smites all the Gentile world, and eventually becomes a great mountain. The stone in Daniel 2 signifies the Lord Jesus, and the great mountain signifies the kingdom. The stone becomes the mountain, signifying that Christ becomes the kingdom. This indicates that the kingdom is just the enlargement of Christ. It may sound strange to hear that the kingdom is the enlargement of Christ, but according to Daniel 2 the stone became the great mountain. The stone signifies Christ, and the mountain signifies the kingdom.