If you learned one thing from the previous lesson, hopefully you learned that the “Kingdom of God” is simply the “Reign of God.” This is new revelation to some of you and not so much for others. If this definition prompts you to ask the question, “How do the kingdom of God and the church relate to one another?” then welcome to Lesson 3 of The Kingdom series.
A Kingdom Within a Kingdom
God’s reign is eternal and universal. These are review concepts. However, not everyone submits to the reign of God. Because of this very truth, God cast Satan and his angels out of heaven, Adam and Eve out of Eden, and the Israelites out of Canaan. All three parties failed to recognize the universal authority of God. They sinned. Sin spread like a plague after Adam and Eve, and since that initial rebellious sin there have been two classes of people:
1) those who defy God’s authority
2) those who humbly submit to God’s authority.
The evil line of Cain (Gen. 4:16-24) and the righteous line of Seth (Gen. 5) preview these two classes. And so we are introduced to the secondary definition of the “Kingdom of God,” what will be referred to as the “Special Kingdom of God.” This special kingdom is composed of the second class of individuals- those who humbly submit to God’s authority.
This picture illustrates the dual nature of God’s kingdom. Imagine that the small cube represents God’s Special Kingdom and the larger cube represents God’s Universal Kingdom. Thus, the Special Kingdom of God is a kingdom within a kingdom. Everyone answers to God, but only some will submit to His rule inevitably. Notice, this is not a New Testament phenomenon. This reality has existed as long as sin.
The Manifestations of the Kingdom
1. Israel
In the days of Noah, Abraham, and Job, God did not designate one class of people as his Special Kingdom people. The Bible simply reveals
that God communicated directly with the father’s of each household (i.e. Abraham), and they were responsible for teaching their sons and daughters to fear the God of heaven, obeying God’s will as much as was communicated to them. It was during this age, what has been dubbed The Patriarchal Age, that God noticed Abraham. God did not take note of Abraham because he was white or black, rich or poor, Yankee or Southern. Abraham was exemplary in faith, worshiping God despite his father who bowed down to idols (Josh. 24:2-3). God told Abraham, “I will make you a great nation…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” (Gen. 12:2,3). God would remember this covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 2:24), eventually declaring the children of Israel (Jacob) His special kingdom people. “You shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” (Exodus 19:5-6). The Mt. Sinai covenant between God and Israel marked the first time in history that God chose a select group of people to be a Special Kingdom to Him. This nation would act as a lamplight to the world, announcing to the world that Yahweh reigns on high. When heathen, immoral nations saw Israel’s holy conduct, they were looking at a living billboard that read, “I am the Lord who brings you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy,” (Lev. 11:45). This was only the first manifestation of God’s Special Kingdom to the world.
2. The Church
Israel did not broadcast God’s kingdom to the world as was their purpose. For this reason God gave them up to the heathen nations they were supposed to be influencing for good! See What You Need to Know About the Old Testament series for more details about Israel’s fall and rejection by God. Israel was not God’s end goal in the whole scheme of things anyway. Israel was the instrument God would use to
facilitate Jesus Christ into the world who would work redemption for man’s sin. As the last lesson introduced, Jesus’ ministry began with, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” (Matthew 4:17). Wait a minute. I know what you are thinking: “Wasn’t the kingdom of God already in existence in the form of Israel?” Yes. However, Jesus introduces the Special Kingdom of God as coming in a way not formerly manifested. It is direly important to understand the difference between the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of God that Jesus professed. Israel was a physical kingdom with a physical king. Studying the 400 years of history between Malachi and Matthew will reveal that the Jews expected Messiah to come in Jesus’ days, and they expected Messiah to set up yet another physical, temporal kingdom to deliver them from the heathen nations everywhere around. But Jesus comes preaching a new concept; He preaches about a spiritual kingdom with a spiritual king. This is made clear in John 6:15, “Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.” They had missed the point, but don’t be hard on this crowd. There are thousands today making the same mistake the crowd in John 6 made. Jesus did not come to reign on a physical throne in Jerusalem. No, He came to establish a special, spiritual kingdom that He called the church and the kingdom of God.
Matthew 16:18-19 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…”
Matthew 18:1,17 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'” 17 “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”
Revelation 1:4,9 “John, to the seven churches which are in Asia…” 9 “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ…”
The visible church is an outward expression of the kingdom: the reign of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. When the heathen, immoral world looks on at the church, they should see a shining light testifying to the fact that Jesus Christ reigns on high. In Christ’s inaugural address of the kingdom He described the church’s purpose like this, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven,” (Matt. 5:16). The church is the Special Kingdom of God that prophecy anticipated in Numbers 24, Isaiah 2, Ezekiel 34, Hosea 1, Micah 4, Zephaniah 3, Zechariah 9, Psalm 72, Psalm 110, Daniel 2, Daniel 7, and many more places. God exercises His rule through the church, and it is only in Christ’s church that anyone can be saved.
NEXT: THE Church as the New Israel
