What kind of king then is Jesus? To understand this, we must first of all comprehend God’s eternal purpose. In eternity past God made a plan to express Himself. So He created the heavens and the earth. Then God created man in His own image with the intention that this corporate man would be His expression and would exercise His authority over all the earth. But through the fall, mankind became rebellious toward God. Man today is altogether in rebellion. Even his loving of others is rebellion to God. It is because he does it by himself and with himself. Even our kindness and patience are a kind of rebellion. Not only are the bank robbers rebels to God, even the most moral people are also rebels. Whatever man is after the fall is a rebellion.
Then God became a man by the name of Jesus. God Himself came to the earth in the form of a little man to preach the gospel of the kingdom. “From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). He did not say that man should repent to enter the heavens, but to repent for the kingdom of the heavens is near. The word “repent” means to have a change of mind. The rebellious people need a turn in their concepts. Jesus came as a king, but not in their concept. He came as a king according to God’s purpose. He came not to rule over us in an outward way, but as a king to enter into us in order to consume all our rebellious element. Jesus came as a king to impart Himself into us that He might discharge all our rebellious element, and replace it with Himself. Regardless of how good we think we are, God would say that we are rebellious. Our good nature is altogether a rebellion to God. We may be good in many things, but we are not good in obeying God. Therefore He came into us as a king to replace all our rebellious element. Now we will have His ruling element within us as a seed. When this seed grows to a certain extent, it becomes the kingdom. This is the way Jesus is the king.
Many Christians today hold a pitiful concept concerning Jesus’ kingdom. According to their concept, it seems that Jesus today is not the king. This is not true! There are some on earth today to whom Jesus is the king. Then is His kingdom here now? If you were to ask me, I would say, “Yes, His kingdom is here!” Let me prove it to you.
Perhaps you were saved two years ago. I do believe that at least several times before you were saved you stole some things. Perhaps it was just a small amount of change from your mother or father, but it was still stealing. Since you have been saved, Jesus the king has come into you. Now it would be really difficult for you to steal anything. Jesus has come into us to rule over us. He is not only troubling us, but reigning over us. Therefore, we are now in His present kingdom. This kingdom is a living person living with us. No lexicon or dictionary would ever give us such a definition. Our King Jesus is not a king in an ordinary category. He is something extra. I can testify that hour after hour Jesus is my king, and I am in His kingdom. This reigning One rules in life right within me. He is a king ruling over me. It is not that He will be a king or that he should be a king, but that right now He is a king. He is here and now the king in his kingdom.
The Brethren teachers say that the kingdom was suspended, and that Jesus brought in the church to replace it until the time of the kingdom. But Romans 14:17 proves that the church life today is the kingdom. By reading Romans 14 carefully, we see that it deals with the proper church life. While Paul is speaking about receiving the saints in the church life he says, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14 deals with the church, but it speaks of the kingdom. The kingdom has never been suspended. The kingdom is here and now.
The Gospel of Matthew itself also proves this. In chapter sixteen we have two verses which are linked together. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19). In Matthew 16:18 the Lord says that He will build His church. Then in the following verse He says that He will give the keys of the kingdom. Here we see that the kingdom and the church are used interchangeably. The church mentioned in verse 18 surely is the kingdom in verse 19. This proves that the church today is the kingdom. This is also confirmed in Matthew 18:17-18. “And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” In these verses the Lord gives the same authority to bind and loose to the church as He did to Peter when He spoke of giving him the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.
In the world, there certainly is no kingdom of the heavens. The world is full of robbers. But in the church all the robbers are converted into good citizens of the kingdom of heaven. The church today is the kingdom, and Jesus is the king. When Peter on the day of Pentecost brought people into the church, that was the time he used one of the keys of the kingdom for opening the way for the Jews to enter. This kingdom into which they came was the church. Then in the house of Cornelius he used another key of the kingdom to open the way for the Gentiles to enter. How can anyone say that the kingdom has been suspended!
After resurrection, we are told in Acts 1:3 that Jesus spent forty days speaking to the disciples about the kingdom. “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Jesus never suspended the kingdom. This verse tells us clearly that after resurrection Jesus returned to His disciples to speak to them about the kingdom. So whatsoever the early disciples were doing, it was the opening and establishing of the kingdom. At the same time we are clear that what they did was to establish the church. The church life today is the kingdom.