5 SIGNS OF THE KINGDOM

The New Testament opens with the beginning of Jesus' ministry and with the annunciation that the kingdom of God has arrived in the person of Jesus Christ. Welcome back to our verse-by-verse exposition through the book of Acts.

We took a little bit of a break, but we are back and continuing with verse 3 of Acts chapter 1, where Luke records Jesus ending his earthly ministry as he began it, speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Acts 1 -3, to these he presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. We spoke last time about the resurrection of Jesus and now Luke lets us know the topic of discourse that was his during the period between his resurrection and his ascension.

The kingdom of God is a primary biblical theme and it is especially eschatological, meaning that it has much to do with the study of last things in that it encompasses Old Testament promises and their fulfillment in Jesus.

The importance of this motif is apparent as the New Testament opens with the announcement of the arrival of the kingdom of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Mark 1, 14 and 15,. Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel. So what is the kingdom of God? Let's take a stab at defining it so that we can move towards an understanding of what Jesus is talking about during this forty day period and what the apostles subsequently proclaimed because, let me go ahead and point it out to you, in Acts 28 -31, which is the last verse in the book, the apostle Paul is preaching the kingdom of God.

Anthony Hokema admits that it is not an easy thing to do, particularly since Jesus himself never gives a definition of the kingdom of God, neither do we find such a definition in the apostolic writings.

While kingdom language has different nuances and different contexts through the progress of doctrine and redemptive history, Hokema writes that it usually describes the reign of God over his people. The kingdom of God, therefore, is to be understood as the reign of God dynamically active in human history through Jesus Christ, the purpose of which is the redemption of God's people from sin and from demonic powers, and the final establishment of the new heavens and new earth.

It means that the new age has been ushered in. This is the importance of Mark 1, 14 and 15 that we just read. The king has come to his people to bring them a long-awaited salvation. The Old Testament believer looked forward to the coming of the kingdom of God and the appearing of the Son of Man.

So the arrival of the kingdom in the person of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the great eschatological hope of the Old Testament saint and the initial stage, Hokema says, of the great drama of the history of the end.

This is how George Ladd in his book The Presence of the Future defines or describes the kingdom of God.

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The kingdom of God is the redemptive reign of God dynamically active to establish his rule among men and that this kingdom, which will appear as an apocalyptic act, has already come into human history in the person and in the mission of Jesus to overcome evil, to deliver men from its power, and to bring them into the blessings of God's reign.

The kingdom of God involves two great moments, fulfillment within history and consummation at the end of history. So two things need to be made clear at this point. First, when we talk about the kingdom of God, we are indeed talking about the salvation of God's people and God's reign in their hearts, but that's not all we're talking.

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To quote Hokema again, the kingdom of God means nothing less than the reign of God over his entire created universe. And God, as king, acts in history to bring history to a divinely directed goal. Secondly, we must understand that the kingdom of God cannot be conceived of separately from the person of Jesus Christ.

They are connected and it is impossible for them to be unconnected. We notice this connection in the preaching of the disciples, Acts 8 .12, but when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.

Again Acts 28 .31, Paul was preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. So the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ are necessarily connected in the preaching of the apostle.

Now, while the kingdom of God in the person of Jesus means that God is coming to save his people, it is also a warning to unbelievers. Recall Mark 1 .14 and 15 again and notice that the announcement of the fulfilled time and the kingdom of God at hand is followed by the command to repent.

Hokema writes,. The kingdom of God includes both a positive and negative aspect. It means redemption for those who accept it and enter into it by faith, but judgment for those who reject it. Jesus makes this abundantly clear in his teaching, particularly in the parables.

For example, in Matthew 22 .1 -14, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a wedding feast. Those who accept the invitation are happily feasting and those who do not are put to death. A man who slipped in without a wedding garment is cast into the outer darkness by the king.

So with the annunciation of the kingdom of God is the command to submit to its rule. There were also signs that accompanied the ushering in of the last days. Signs of the presence of the kingdom. Signs of the messianic age that it has arrived in the person of Christ.

And the first sign was the casting out of demons. It was the Son of God's confrontation with the powers of darkness, pushing them back by his divine authority and casting demons out of those afflicted.

He says in Matthew 12 .28,. The second sign is the fall and binding of Satan. Kim Rydelbarger writes,. This becomes clear when cross-referenced with the binding of Satan as described in Revelation 20 .1 -10 and the mysterious restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2 .7.

So while the final victory of Satan is not yet fully carried out, Ladd comments,. The third sign is the performance of miracles. When John the Baptist questions if Jesus is the Christ, Jesus points to anticipated proofs.

In Matthew 11 .4 -5, he says,. It's important to note, however, as Hokema points out, but not yet making its final consummation. The fourth sign is the preaching of the gospel. Jesus follows up the miraculous signs with the sign that the poor have the good news preached to them, which is the greatest good that could be bestowed upon humanity far greater than healing and provisional resurrection.

The fifth sign is the bestowal of the forgiveness of sins. According to the Old Testament prophets, the messianic age was to be marked by the forgiveness of sins. One example of this is found in Jeremiah 31 .34, prophesying of the new covenant.

He writes,. These five signs were given to demonstrate the presence of the kingdom ushered in with the appearing of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. The Pharisees missed this. They asked Jesus in Luke 17 .20 -21 when the kingdom of God was coming.

Jesus answered them and said,. I know we just covered five signs of the kingdom of God being present now ushered in by the person of Jesus, but what Jesus is getting at in this verse is that it is not coming with the expectations of the common Jew.

Hokema remarks,. Now remember, while the promise of the kingdom is fulfilled within history with the coming of the Messiah, it is not yet consummated until the end of history, meaning that we as believers look forward to the final consummation of the kingdom of God even while we enjoy its benefits and blessings now in a limited degree.

There is an already-but-not-yet reality in which we live, and this present-yet-future tension is clear in Scripture. Colossians 1, 13, and 14 make the present kingdom clear. 2 Timothy 4 .18 is an example of the future kingdom being spoken of by the Apostle Paul.

He says,.

And so here the kingdom of God is spoken in a future tense, and there are more examples of this in Scripture. The tension between the already and the not-yet concerning the kingdom of God is clear. Hokema writes,.

We thank God for having brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, and yet we continue to pray,. Until the consummation, when cosmic redemption takes place, conflict between good and evil will remain, and as those who live in the midst of this conflict, we will suffer for our King who came not to bring peace but a sword, knowing that He will bring us also safely into His heavenly kingdom.

Well, I hope this lesson helps us to understand Acts 1, 3 and what is meant by Jesus speaking of things concerning the kingdom of God during the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension. Next time we'll look at verse 4 and 5 and discuss the promise of the Father which is the Holy Spirit, so stay tuned for that.

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