What is the kingdom of God?

What is the kingdom of God?

We're going to answer that question.

The kingdom of God is referenced often in the Gospels and other places in the New Testament.

The kingdom of God is synonymous with the kingdom of heaven.

The concept of the kingdom of God takes on various shades of meaning in different passages of scripture.

Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal sovereign God over all of the universe.

Several passages of scripture show that God is the undeniable monarch of all creation.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all.

And as King Nebuchadnezzar declared, his kingdom is an eternal kingdom.

Every authority that exists has been established by God.

So in one sense, the kingdom of God incorporates everything that is.

More narrowly though, the kingdom of God is a spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who

willingly submit to God's authority.

In contrast, those who defy God's authority and refuse to submit to him are not part of the kingdom

of God.

In this sense, the kingdom of God is spiritual.

Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world and he preached that repentance is necessary to be part of

the kingdom of God.

That the kingdom of God can be equated with this sphere of salvation is evident in John 3, 5 through

7, where Jesus says the kingdom of God must be entered into by being born again.

There is another sense in which the kingdom of God is used in scripture, the literal rule of Christ on the

earth during the millennium.

Daniel said that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed and many other prophets

predicted the same thing.

Some theologians refer to the future, open manifestation of the kingdom of God as the kingdom of

glory and the present, hidden manifestation of the kingdom of God as the kingdom of grace.

But both manifestations are connected.

Christ has set up his spiritual reign in the church on earth and he will one day set up his physical

reign in Jerusalem.

The kingdom of God has several aspects.

The Lord is sovereign of the universe and so in that sense his kingdom is universal.

At the same time, the kingdom of God involves repentance and the new birth as God rules in the hearts of

his children in this world in preparation for the next.

The work begun on earth will find its consummation in heaven.

That answers the question What is the kingdom of God?

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