Kingdom of God
This is a question that has come up often: Are we living in the Kingdom of God now? So, allow me to try to address the Kingdom of God first. What is it? Psalm 103:19 says, “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty [kingdom] rules over all.” (NASB) I like what John Piper says, “the basic meaning of the word kingdom in the Bible is God’s reign — R-E-I-G-N — not realm or people.” He follows that up with “The kingdom creates a realm, the kingdom creates a people, but the kingdom of God is not synonymous with its realm or its people.”
God does sit on His throne of the universe and He rules His kingdom and His reign. In Revelation 19:6, the Apostle John writes: “Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.” The Greek word “Pantokrator” is our English word “Almighty,” which means “Omnipotent.” This means God is the ruler of all or ruler of the universe.
The Bible says Jesus answered Pilate when he asked Jesus the simple question in John 18:33, “…are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied in verse 36, “…My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” The emphasis here is “My kingdom is not of this world or realm.” In fact, Mark 1:14-15 tells us, “…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.”
The prophet Daniel said in chapter 2:44, “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” The kingdom of God will replace the governments of this earth. The kingdom of God will be established on the earth when the Lord Jesus returns. Revelation 11:15 states, “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.’” We prepare for that kingdom by living according to rules of the kingdom now. Our task is to learn what God’s laws are and then to begin living in accordance with the rules of that Kingdom.
We simply need to pray for God’s kingdom to come. It is not here yet. It is present in your midst, upon you, at hand. How can that be? The answer is, the kingdom of God is God’s reign. God’s sovereign action in this world is to redeem and deliver His people and then at a future time, He will finish it and renew His people and the universe completely.
Bob Lankford 