The Present Kingdom
John Boda
Matthew – John
simply means “Good News” and that was exactly what Jesus’ arrival signified!
First of all, many people have wondered, why four Gospels? (Considering the fact that some of
them repeat the same events and stories, some word for word.)
To help understand why, here is a brief focus of all four, and how each one reveals Christ in a
different aspect;
1. Matthew – portrays Jesus as King
2. Mark – portrays Jesus as Servant
3. Luke – portrays Jesus as Man
4. John portrays Jesus as God
When Jesus came to this earth, lived, died, and rose again, he was represented all four aspects of
these!
In theology, Matthew, Mark & Luke are combined together and called “The Synoptic Gospels”,
because they are similar, and “seen together”.
While the Gospel of John stands alone with many unique qualities of Christ, and constantly refers
to him as God. It even begins, not with little Jesus in the manger, but with Christ as God from the
beginning of time and space!
Another way to view the four Gospels is to divide the four into two groups according to Jesus’ own
divine nature as seen in Revelation; he is both The Lamb and The Lion.
Mark & Luke focus on many aspects of Jesus – the Lamb of God – as both servant and man.
Matthew & John focus on many aspects of Jesus – the Lion of Judah – as both King and God.
Jesus – The Personification of the Kingdom!
As stated before, the Kingdom of God, and the King, are inseparable! The Kingdom IS the King,
and the King IS the Kingdom!
The entire Old Testament looks forward to the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth! Then,
after Malachi, there is 400 years of a disconnect of this Kingdom, with rapid world changing
events, and a seemingly distant God, who many had though had abandoned his people.
But Jesus’ appearance, proceeded by John (Elijah) created incredible excitement that the
Kingdom of God really was emerging! To further this expectation, was Jesus’ own words;
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
(Matthew 4:17)
“But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon
you.” (Matthew 12:28)
“But he said, “ I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also,
because that is why I was sent.” (Luke 4:43)
But the crowds learned about and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the
Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.” (Luke 9:11)
“But seek his Kingdom first and all these things will be added unto you.” (Luke 12:31)
“Do not be afraid little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom. “ (Luke
12:32)
There are many, many more references to the Kingdom of God mad by Jesus, how could we have
missed it?! Jesus was not just concerned about improving our lives, or even getting us to heaven.
Those are all by-products of the ultimate reality of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth!
How is Jesus the personification of the Kingdom of God? Simple – HE IS THE KING! He is the
eternal king, who always ruled in the Kingdom since long before the earth and our universe were
even created! He came to this earth to be born a human being, live a perfect life unto God the
Father, and offer himself as the perfect sacrifice for all our sins. All this was done not just for us
to have peace, joy, freedom and eternal life, as incredible as those things are, but rather, he did
this to restore the earth back to perfect alignment with the Kingdom of God!
This is why Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
Because there was a problem and disconnect with the Kingdom and God’s perfect will since Adam
sinned. Jesus is called “The Second Adam” because he came to restore back the rule of the
Kingdom of God!
I know I’m going over and over on the same point, but it is extremely important that we grasp
this, because most haven’t. If we don’t get this, we still yearn for God and salvation, but then end
up going down the wrong road called – religion. The Kingdom of God concept has really nothing to
do with religion!
But religion is what many people naturally drift to because it has the form and look of the real
thing, but ultimately it leads to a dead end.
Nearly all the hostilities against Jesus when he was on earth came from the religious
establishment! They were called the Pharisees and Sadducees, and they were extremely diligent
for God’s law, and lived every moment of their lives in view of God and prayed daily for his
Kingdom to come (as they understood it).
But when it finally came, and stood before their eyes, they hated it! They despised Jesus and
wanted to kill him! This is what religion does when it encounters the real thing. Even many
churches today here in America, have largely lost focus and are more concerned with social issues
and purely practical living, rather than living and serving within the Kingdom of God concept.
Kingdom Defined
Our Kingdom of God definition is;
God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing.
Let’s trace this now for our Present Kingdom series;
God’s people – Jesus and his true disciples and followers
God’s place – The physical person of Jesus
God’s rule & blessing – Jesus’ words, miracles, and promises
How they missed it – then & now;
reality. The reality here, is the Kingdom of God, and prophesies that relate to it in the Old
Testament. Most of them had earnestly desired the Kingdom, but they had very false ideas of what the Kingdom was.
(Even John the Baptizer lost hope once and was confused and sent his disciples to determine if he
really was the Messiah)
When we speak of the Kingdom of God, or anything relating to it, we must always be very careful
to base all of our views and ideas on all that the Bible speaks of concerning it! Any idea that does
not fit the Biblical template must be discarded.
One of the biggest problems, on almost every Biblical issue, is that of us taking a very small,
human view and reducing it into something that it is not at all.
Here are seven popular, but small and distorted views of the Kingdom of God that were popular
both then and now, and lead people down the wrong road;
1. The National Kingdom
Certain people groups , on earth now, are the kingdom. (The most common is Israel)
2. The Millennial Kingdom
Basically is that God’s government will be established on earth, at the 2nd coming of Christ, and
last for – 1000 years. Afterwards it is dissolved into heavenly bliss
3. The Celestial Kingdom
The reign of God in heaven; A very common doctrine in today’s churches. The Kingdom of God is
one and the same with going to heaven forever.
4. The Ecclesiastical Kingdom
The Kingdom of God is the church. Both Roman Catholicism and Protestants have their own
versions of this idea. The early church father – Augustine – was the chief leader of this concept
.
5. The Spiritual Kingdom
Here, the Kingdom of God is not a tangible thing, and never becomes one! It is rather, the
invisible rule of God in the hearts of all believers.
6. The Moral Kingdom
The Kingdom of God is reduced to a matter of ethics! One of the leaders of this idea was the great
philosopher; Immanuel Kant (1724 -1804)
7. The Liberal – Social Kingdom
The Kingdom of God is reduced to a progressive social organization to simply improve mankind.
Society and government is given top priority rather than individuals. This is largely the description
of many liberal churches today, especially in large cities, who have rejected Jesus divinity and the
absolute truth of the Bible.
So when someone says, “I believe in the Kingdom of God”, I usually quickly respond with, “Which
one?!”
(Recall our Kingdom definition; God’s People, in God’s Place, under God’s Rule & Blessing).
Most of the Jews of Jesus’ day had very distorted views on the Kingdom of God! Most expected
that, when the Messiah came, he would not delay and quickly establish the Kingdom on earth.
True peace would come, all the Jews would be delivered from oppression, and the new eternal
age would finally arrive! That’s why when Jesus spoke often of being delivered unto evil men and
dying, they could not accept or believe it, even Peter! Most of them were right in expecting the
King and coming Kingdom, but most were wrong in how the thought it would arrive.
All of us today must be very careful not to suffer the same delusions concerning his soon return!
There are many views concerning pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib, pre-mill, post-mill, and even A-Mill
groups! We all should be expecting Jesus’ return at any moment, any day, any year, but also be
careful not to be so dogmatic concerning exactly how he will fulfil the days after. Yes, I have my
strong convictions, which are basically considered “Pre-Tribulation” views due to many supporting
scriptures, but I also leave room open to the possibility that I may be way off! The main thing is
to be about advancing God’s Kingdom and be looking for his soon return.
Now, I will try to help define just what it is even more;
1. The Kingdom of God is NOT the same as heaven!
When Adam sinned, he lost the Kingdom of God for himself and all of us! He never lost heaven
because he didn’t come from there, and in fact had never been there before! Adam originated on
earth, God formed him from the dust of the ground. Yes, Adam and Eve are most likely in heaven
now, but that place is a waiting place for their true eternal home – The New Jerusalem on a New
earth! THIS is also the destiny of ALL believers who have put their faith in Christ. It seems that
most of the modern church is obsessed with preaching about heaven, and trying to get as many
people there as possible, when that is not our eternal home! The Apostle John saw the
culmination of God’s goal when he saw the New Jerusalem descend from heaven to earth, where
it remained here, forever, with God and his people living in perfect peace in the Kingdom of God.
(Revelation 21 & 22) What is heaven? Biblically, we can think of heaven as the overall sphere in
which God’s kingdom resides, but specifically, it is right here on a New Earth. (In a similar
manner, we can think that we live in North America, but specifically in Illinois and even more, in
the Chicago area.)
2. The Kingdom of God always existed, and will exist forever without end!
(Psalms 10:16) (Daniel 2:44) (Psalms 145:13)
Even until recently, I used to wonder what God was doing all those long eons before anything in
our universe even was created! Although I don’t know any detailed specifics, I DO know that God
was administering rule in his Kingdom! (Whatever that involved we can not know in this life) We
also can never know if there were other “earths” with similar events, or if we are totally unique,
but we can know that God’s Kingdom was enforcing rule then, and will again in full control soon.
Our entire human existence on earth is really a blimp on the screen compared with eternity.
3. The Kingdom of God is universal in scope!
(Psalms 103:19) (Isaiah 24:23) (I Chronicles 29:12)
Mankind has hardly scratched the surface of viewing and understanding how big our galaxy, and
universe really is! We hardly even know yet what exists here in our solar system. But we must
realize that God rules above and overall his creation! God is above and beyond space-time! There
is not some hidden corner somewhere in the farthest galaxy which is not under God’s sovereign
control! (Notice I said – sovereign – as right now we are under his sovereign rule, but not
completely under his Kingdom rule in full, but it will occur soon)
4. The Kingdom of God is ruled and administered through the Eternal Son!
(Colossians 1:17) (Hebrews 1:2)
Here is where we focus once again back here into The Present Kingdom. Even though the word
“Trinity” never appears in the Bible, the concept of God as a Triune Person is seen all through the
Bible! Even starting in Genesis when God said, “Let US make man in our Image, according to OUR
likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) It appears that all three of the God-head, The Father God, The Son &
The Holy Spirit, were in perfect union (And still are) and each had a unique role in the Kingdom’s
rule, but the King, and the one who rules and administers throughout, is God – The Son – Christ!
In fact, it seems likely that he was the one who intervened in human affairs since the beginning;
(In Eden/At Babel/Called Abraham/Wrestled Jacob/Called Moses in burning bush/and on and on
and on.)
But where was God – The Father? God was always on his throne in heaven and in perfect union
with God-The Son and Spirit at all times. It is a very difficult concept for us to grasp! (There really
is only one time I’m aware of where the Bible reveals God-The Father and clearly not The Son.
That is in Daniel 7: 9-14 where it clearly speaks of God –The Father as “The Ancient of Days” and
God-The Son as “The Son of Man” coming to him and receiving the Kingdom in full.)
Who is the King, God or Jesus?!
During this session we are focusing on the supremacy of Jesus, as he is the focal point of the
entire Bible, and he IS the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! But it can become confusing when you
think of God. Are they one and the same, or are they different? The answer is – yes!
While the word – Trinity – is not found anywhere in the Bible, it is an important concept that is
revealed, and without grasping it, we cannot make sense out of many scriptures and distort our
understanding of who God is.
(Note: The word – Rapture – also not found anywhere in the Bible, but is clearly taught. The word
is a Latin translation directly from the Greek word – Harpazo – “caught up” in I Thessalonians
4:17)
All through the Bible starting from Genesis one, we find that God is one, yet plural in three
distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; (three in one and one in
three and the one in the middle he died for me)
All three are equal and all three are God, and all three are ONE, not three Gods! This is a hard
concept to grasp! Jesus often spoke of his Father God, yet we are told “ in Christ dwells all the
fullness of Deity” (Colossians 2:18)
Even Isaiah the Prophet combined them in Isaiah 9: 6 “ For to us a child is born, to us a son is
given and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The son is both a son AND Everlasting Father!
Furthermore, when Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit, he called him “The Counselor”, so it would
seem Isaiah is linking all three here!
One of my previous analogies to picture the Trinity was to use the sun. The sun itself was like God
the father, the light was like God the Son, and the heat we feel was like God the Holy Spirit. But
after years of using that and thinking more on it, I’ve come to believe that it is not very good!
While each element can represent each person of the Godhead, it makes God out to be three
separate things, as the sun, the light, and the heat energy are all three different things!
Now I’ve come up with a much better one….so far; Space-time! It is the absolute construct which
permeates everything in the universe. Space itself – like God the Father (also made up of three
dimensions) Time – also very much the same and interwoven AS space together called space-time
would be God the Holy Spirit. Then finally, another aspect of space-time is all the actual mass
within it, which is also the same together; God the Son, who also became a physical mass body on
earth! God is I AM and I am Not!
One of the biggest proofs that Jesus the King, although a distinct person, is one and the same as
God the Father is by his own words! Many times Jesus said that he was one with his Father, and
the unbelieving crowd understood he was claiming Deity, and tried stoning him.
Every Jewish person revered Moses, and believed that Moses interacted with God the Father.
They all knew that it was God who first revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush. When
Moses asked God’s name, God said; “I AM WHO I AM” also “I AM” for short. (Exodus 3:14)
Jesus used this very name for himself in John 8:58, but all through John we find that he is the I
AM seven other times!
1. I AM the bread of life. (John 6:35)
2. I AM the light of the world. (John 8:12)
3. I AM the door. (John 10:7)
4. I AM the good shepherd. (John 10:11)
5. I AM the resurrection and the life. (John 11:25)
6. I AM the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6)
7. I AM the true vine. (John 14:30)
8. I AM (John 8:58
(See Isaiah 14: 13-14 to compare Jesus’ eight I AM’s to Satan’s five “I Will’s”)
Jesus & the Law
Bible) and specifically the law of God given to Moses, the Ten Commandments, and many other
various laws which the people were required to obey.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard believers make the statement; “I try to obey the
commandments”, or “I follow the Ten Commandments”! Whenever I hear such statements I
usually can determine the level of Biblical understanding that person has…(which is not much).
The New Testament, especially Paul’s writings, makes it very clear that NO ONE obeys all the law
in letter and spirit! It is impossible! During Jesus’ time, many of the Pharisees and others thought
they had it down, then Jesus would utterly shock them into reality by indicating that they weren’t
even close! (See Matthew five on the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus makes it clear that even
if you don’t commit murder, if you even have hate in your heart, it is the same, as well as for
adultery and lust in the heart!)
Paul makes it very clear that the law was given as a tool, or tutor, to help mankind be drawn to
Christ;
“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith, but
after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” (Galatians 3:24-25)
In essence, based on this verse and others, God basically said this; “OK, for all of you who want to
know what my Holiness and Righteousness requires, then here it is! I command you to all obey
it!”
God knew very well that it would only lead us to frustration and despair in trying to obey it! Why?
Not because there was anything wrong with the law of God, but because all of us have something
very wrong in our hearts that refuses to submit to the law of God, always, it is called – sin! The
law was pure, good, and holy, but all mankind was not. So the result was despair in any attempt
to obey it.
But the reason that the Gospel is called the Gospel (Good news) is because it is! The good news
for all of us is that there was one, and only one, who ever obeyed ALL the law in letter and spirit,
Jesus. (Adam & Eve did also before the fall, but their sin disqualified them and all their children,
you and me)
Since God demands 100% perfection to all the law, he was completely satisfied with Christ, who
not only was the Son of God from eternity, but was also the Son of Man born of human woman
and entered the human race as a man.
When he died on the cross, the rose from the dead, he offers all of us salvation and life, now and
forever by us trusting in HIS righteousness and perfection, which is good news because we don’t
have to strive to try to please God as he is already pleased in his Son. (This does not give us a
blank check to sin and do as we please! God still requires true faith and obedience, but salvation
is not earned by it at all.)
(Salvation is monogistic, but sanctification is synergistic!) (I’ll explain this one in person if it
troubles you)
The frustrating striving to obey God’s laws perfectly always resulted in disaster. As stated, the
good news message of the Gospel is the remedy, and not just the Gospel message of salvation
from sin and the improvement of our lives, but the Gospel of the Kingdom which embodies that,
and the full overall plan and purpose of God!
Jesus was very possibly referring to this when he said;
“Come unto me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Remember the goal of creation from our first series? God’s goal is rest – rest within the perfect
rule and reign of his glorious Kingdom.
One more important thing to understand about the New Covenant and the Law of God, and it is
very crucial to grasp!
When Jesus arrived on the scene for the Present Kingdom, he did not do away with the law! In
fact, he obeyed it much more perfectly than anyone, although he shocked many by revealing a
true interpretation of the Law. Jesus did not abolish, or destroy the law in any way! JESUS
FULFILLED THE LAW – JESUS WAS THE COMPLETE GOAL OF THE LAW.
“For Christ is the end (goal-completion-finish) of the law for righteousness to everyone who
believes.” (Romans 10: 4)
“Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets, I did not come to destroy but fulfill.
(Jesus) (Matthew 5:17)
Maybe you’re still not convinced of how all this relates to you and me and becomes good news?
Because Jesus fulfilled the law for us, he also was the perfect sacrifice for us as well, so that now
as we follow him, we ARE righteous and we ARE holy, not by any intrinsic quality of our own, but
because of his work and life!
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, that the
righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh
but of the Spirit.”
(Romans 8:3-4)
In view of the above insight, here are two important principles to understand that I will only
briefly explain here,
1. Even though God deals with us differently under the New Covenant, God’s attitude
towards sin has not, and cannot ever change because he is holy! God does NOT ever grade
on a curve!
2. God’s requirement of holiness and perfect obedience to the law has never changed
either! He still requires that for anyone to get saved. (The good news is that Jesus met this
requirement as none of us can, and as we trust in him, we are judged through the cross
and saved by his life and resurrection.)
Literal or Allegorical?
talk of the Kingdom of God and his rule on earth forever are just word pictures, and allegorical.
Many even believe that the Kingdom is already consummated and happening right now, and that
all of us who are looking for it yet to come are the ones deluded!
While it is true that there are some Biblical passages that cannot be taken literally, we must be
very careful not to simply make some allegorical that have clears literal implications!
How do we know that this coming Kingdom of God IS a literal, tangible Kingdom? How do we
know it is not just an idea, or pie in the sky dream which is not really real, but just designed to
give us hope and something to live for?
There are a great many reasons to not think like that, the most important one is the fact that
Jesus, the Son of God and the King of that Kingdom spoke of it in realistic, tangible terms and
never once even alluded to it as an allegorical idea or concept.
Although there are many other examples, I will give just one more from the Old Testament
character who spoke more of the Kingdom of God than any, and who actually saw it revealed to
him by God – Daniel.
In Daniel chapter nine, Daniel is captive in Babylon and although Jerusalem is destroyed, and
many of his people are either killed or captive in hostile lands, he begins to have hope. Daniel was
reading the prophet Jeremiah (his Bible at the time was the Torah and various prophetic books)
and he understood that Jeremiah prophesied that the terrible time that he lived in would not last
forever, in fact, it would last exactly 70 years! Daniel believed the scriptures meant what they
said in literal, actual years, and then the Kingdom would arrive in literal appearing! He prayed to
God for understanding, and God sent the angel Gabriel to him to explain it all in detail! (Please
read Daniel chapter 9)
Gabriel proceeds to give Daniel incredible details on when the Messiah – Christ would come, when
Jerusalem would be rebuilt, and even the final last days of the Tribulation period and the end of
all things!
However, Gabriel seemed to mix it all together and did not separate the first coming with the
second, and it really seemed that within 70 weeks (490 years) Jesus would come and set up his
Kingdom and the end would arrive! (Within that exact time period Jesus DID arrive and was “cut
off” by death and a total of 69 weeks occurred. Most believe, as I do, that God stopped his clock
upon the destruction of Jerusalem again in 70 A.D. and the times of the Gentiles began. When
that time is over, God will resume his clock and it will be only one more week (7 years) left before
the very end.)
My point here is not to get into Daniel’s prophecies, as incredible as they are, but to show that
Daniel expected and believed in a literal fulfillment with specific dates, and it happened exactly
like he foretold the first time when Jesus came riding his donkey into Jerusalem the week before
his death.
If it occurred literally the first time, and Daniel mixes both comings together in his prophecies,
why would the final Kingdom establishment be only allegorical? I believe that we make a grave
mistake and distortion of scripture to dismiss it that way. The coming Kingdom of God IS very
real, and very literal!
Conclusion
God’s people, in God’s place under God’s rule & blessing
1. God’s people – Jesus & his disciples.
2. God’s place – Jesus, the personification of the Kingdom!
3. God’s rule & blessing – Jesus, and every word he spoke.
Next, please read at least one of these books, or more if possible;
Acts – Jude as we begin – The Proclaimed Kingdom division.
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