The believers have been regenerated into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5). To be regenerated is to enter into the kingdom of God. We have repented, believed into the Lord Jesus, and been regenerated into the kingdom of God. All the believers in Christ have entered into the kingdom of God through regeneration. In John 3:3 the Lord Jesus said, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then in verse 5 He continues, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” These verses clearly show that regeneration is the unique entrance into the kingdom of God. To enter into the kingdom of God we need to be regenerated; apart from this, there is no way to enter into the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is the reign of God. It is a divine realm to be entered into, a realm that requires the divine life. Only the divine life can realize the divine things. Hence, for one to see, or to enter into, the kingdom of God requires that he be regenerated with the divine life. This clearly demonstrates that the kingdom is a matter related to life. The vegetable kingdom is related to the vegetable life, and the animal kingdom is related to animal life. In order for us to share in the kingdom, we need to have the life of the kingdom. If we do not have the human life, we cannot enter into the human kingdom. Likewise, without the divine life, the life of God, we could never enter into the kingdom of God. To enter into the divine kingdom, we must have the divine life. We have received the divine life, the life of God, through regeneration; therefore, to be regenerated is to enter the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is not only the reign of God but also a divine realm or sphere. 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 participate in the divine kingdom. Regardless of how good, clean, and pure our human life might be, it is not able to realize the things in 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 were all born into the human kingdom. No one has ever been “naturalized” into the human kingdom. The principle is the same in regard to the kingdom of God. The divine life brings us into the kingdom of God. This is the reason the Lord Jesus said that we must be born into the kingdom of God. We cannot enter into the kingdom of God by learning or by naturalization. We can enter into the kingdom of God only by being regenerated.
Colossians 1:13 says that God “delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” We have been transferred into the kingdom of God through regeneration, and we are now in the kingdom of God. After we believed into the Lord Jesus and called upon His name, the divine Spirit entered into us and regenerated us, thereby causing us to be born into the kingdom of God.
After we enter into the kingdom of God through regeneration, we need to continue to enter richly into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have entered into the kingdom, yet we still need to enter richly. The initial entrance into the kingdom of God is through regeneration, but the rich entrance into the kingdom is through the full development of our experience in the divine life, that is, the development revealed in 2 Peter 1.
Second Peter 1:11 says, “In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to you.” The bountiful supply that we enjoy through the development of the divine life and nature will bountifully supply us a rich entrance into the kingdom of our Lord. It will also enable and qualify us to enter into the coming kingdom by all the riches of the divine life and divine nature as our excellent virtues (energy) unto the splendid glory of God.
The eternal kingdom spoken of in this verse refers to the kingdom of God, which was given to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Dan. 7:13-14) and which will be manifested at His coming back (Luke 19:11-12). This kingdom will be a reward to His faithful believers, who pursue the growth in His life unto maturity and the development of the virtues of His nature so that in the millennium they may participate in His kingship in God’s glory (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6). Thus, to enter into the eternal kingdom of the Lord is related to entering into God’s eternal glory, to which God has called us in Christ Jesus (1 Pet. 5:10; 1 Thes. 2:12).