The Kingdom of God

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 

Mark 1:15

Is there anything more profound than the personification of the rule, law and deity of God almighty in the person of Jesus Christ? Jesus' words in Mark chapter 1 are pregnant with hope and joy. The Kingdom of God occupied much of Jesus' teaching and was at the centre of his mission. Wonderfully, the kingdom of God is not just some heavenly dream but a temporal reality. When Jesus proclaimed the time is "fulfilled" he was not referring to the end of the world (evidently) but that hundreds of years of messianic prophecy was fulfilled in him:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

Isaiah 9:6 

Again in allusion to this glorious fulfilment of prophecy Jesus boldly proclaimed to the Pharisees:

"Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

 Luke 17:20-22

What does the kingdom of God mean? How do you define it? The kingdom of God can be understood as the 'rule of God'; in other words God's law having preeminence and power over the world. This rule was inaugurated in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. When asked by John's disciples if Jesus was the messiah, Jesus responded by affirming his fulfilling of messianic promises and the manifestation of the reality of the kingdom of God:

"Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them."

Luke 7:22 

Jesus manifested the very restorative and rehabilitating power of the kingdom of God. Under God's rule and sovereignty there is justice for the oppressed, healing for the lame and life that has overcome the grip of death. In God's kingdom there is also banishment and freedom from the evil that ultimately originates from Satan and his demonic legion:

"But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Matthew 12:28

Truly the kingdom of God is the purest, most noble, virtuous and glorious of pursuits. Through faith in Jesus, the power and rule of the kingdom of God is manifested through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost to the Church. The Holy Spirit, the very Spirit that raised Christ from the dead: the very Spirit of Jesus himself (Matthew 28:20). This kingdom is the greatest prize any person can ever conceive to be awarded or earn, as Jesus himself enunciates in his parables:

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Matthew 13:44

Here the kingdom of heaven is synonymous and interchangeable with kingdom of God. Experiencing the glory of the kingdom of God is filled with inexplicable joy and happiness. It is a path - the 'way' as the early Church referred to it (Acts 9:2); it is the "ancient path" that God through Jeremiah instructed Israel to seek out and walk upon:

"Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16

How does one experience the kingdom of God? Only through Jesus who as mentioned above is the incarnation of God almighty and the personification of the kingdom of God. Jesus is the messiah prophesied thousands of years ago, Israel's true king as Pilate declared as he nailed the sign to Jesus' cross that read in Aramiac, Greek and Latin "King of the Jews" (John 19:19).

How incredible that the God of the universe, creator and sustainer of all life - that this transcendant, holy, pure and all powerful being would manifest His essence, the very Shekinah glory of His being and the authority and sovereignty of His rule in the person of Jesus Christ! 

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 6:33