The coming kingdom of God

“…Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of the kingdom of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the good news.” Mark 1:14, 15

Whether it is in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China or our own Caribbean, today’s political and power struggles, wars, coups, natural disasters, the complexity of social life – most citizens often wonder if we can ever have peace, stability, order, freedom from fear, terror, storms, earthquakes, etc. For many, religion offers hope and answers. And for many who are not interested in religious solutions, they look to economic, political change, social reengineering, attention to climate change, etc. The world is a very messy place, and perhaps it always has been, and this is a reality, especially for sober older people.

The Lord Jesus Christ preached the gospel everywhere, declaring the good news of the Kingdom of God. Proclaiming the coming Kingdom was Jesus’ primary mission: “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this I was sent forth.” (Luke 4:43)

When Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of four great kingdoms ruling the earth, he prophesied: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be brought to ruin; and the kingdom itself will not be left to any other people. And it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it itself will stand forever.” (Daniel 2:44) It was to this and other prophecies that Jesus was referring when he declared that “the time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near.”

The four great kingdoms were Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. One can see the end of the Roman era in the world power system today, “iron mixed with clay” (Daniel 2:43), characterized by superpower strength and various instability. Since the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Kingdom represented by His universal Church has been growing on the earth, just as “wheat grows among tares.” With His return as Judge, the invisible Kingdom will be established as the eternal Kingdom of God.

The primary task of Bible-believing Christians is to proclaim the reality of the Kingdom of God. This alternative must be urgently offered to men and women to eliminate the present chaos. Marked by rebellion against God and His Christ, by sin, lawlessness, idolatry, gross immorality, crime, “the whole world is in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).

We cannot remind the world too often that our present ruling power will be destroyed. The apostle Peter prophesied: “The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire to the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7), even though there are scoffers, mockers, and doubters everywhere.

The biblical “new world order” will exist in “new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). The Christian faith proclaims that Jesus Christ is “the eternal King, incorruptible, invisible, only God” (1 Timothy 1:17). He is described as “the blessed and only reigning God, King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15).

Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate and said to him, “My kingdom is not of this world… My kingdom is from another place… You are right in saying that I am a king. In fact, for this I was born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of the truth listens to me.” (John 18:36, 37)

All of the characteristics of the Kingdom of God make it “not of this world.” The spirit of this world is described in detail throughout the Bible. It is depraved and corrupt because “they do not count it worth while to preserve the knowledge of God.” (Romans 1:28). The works of the flesh, the sinful nature (which we all possess) are responsible for suffering around the world. The characteristics of the Kingdom of God are “the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22). Imperfection is manifested in the church.

By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, accepting all that the Bible teaches about Him, a person is “born again,” out of this world and its slavery, and into the Kingdom of God. While this is first and foremost a spiritual experience, it promises a future full physical reality. There we will experience true freedom and the fulfillment of our greatest desires. This is effective salvation. Daily practice of faith and repentance as taught in the Bible shows that a person is a citizen of God’s holy Kingdom. Jesus taught, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). When we fail, as we all inevitably do, we confess our sins and receive forgiveness from Christ. (1 John 1:9). Faith is a battle and spiritual warfare.

The final, inevitable destruction of the human kingdom and the evil angels will occur with the sudden appearance of Jesus Christ as King and Judge. “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a great trumpet call, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:30, 31)

Those thoughtful Bible scholars who know Jesus Christ as their Savior and King, who believe that our Earth and all its systems of human government “will be replaced by the Kingdom of God under the Son of Man”. Trapped in an age of defeat, struggling with racial civil wars, racism, economic decline and oppression, poverty, abortion holocaust, sexual perversions of all kinds, authoritarianism, ecological disasters, rampant crime, “every man against his brother”, a world anxious and fearful of violence and corruption, looking for some kind of superhero savior – now await the emergence of God Almighty – Creator, Redeemer and Judge. In these increasingly dark days, the Kingdom of God is needed more than ever before and is coming!! Christ will come again!

In these final hours of human and world history, the faithful, Bible-believing church must continually remind itself of its God-given mission and call men and women, as in the days of Noah, to prepare for the inevitable judgment. The sympathetic warning to all must continue: “Be ye also ready, for the Son of Man (Christ Jesus) is coming at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:44). In these worrisome days of disease, gruesome murders, car accidents—the end of death and the closing of the book of our lives, with their irrevocable record of faith or unbelief, emphasizes the encouragement to make urgent preparations for death, judgment, and eternity. The Bible promises that those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the risen Savior and King of the everlasting Kingdom of God will be resurrected to everlasting life in the Kingdom of God.