Sunday School
When the disciples asked our Lord Jesus Christ to teach them to pray, He pivoted that prayer around the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV) 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
God’s plan; A Manual
This is not meant to replace your Bible reading. You should read your Bible, with a plan to completely read it every year.
1 Corinthians 15:21-27 (NKJV) 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
27 For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (NKJV) 55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We need a proper understanding of God’s plan. Above all, it brings a thriving relationship with God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who is at the centre of God’s Kingdom program. It also involves real interactions and activity with other people who know God. The Kingdom also includes nations doing real cultural activities. In other words, the Kingdom is life and life abundantly.
The Kingdom of God also makes everything we do and every trial we face worth it. “Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). And, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him” (2 Tim 2:12). A tangible Kingdom awaits all who devote their lives to King Jesus. No matter how bad things get, a wonderful Kingdom awaits.
God’s Kingdom program involves five major parts or developments:
1. Creation: Genesis 1 – 2
1.1. the Kingdom is present with creation as God the King of creation tasks His image-bearer, man, to rule and subdue His creation.
2. Fall: Genesis 3
2.1. the fall marks man’s failure to rule God’s creation; both God’s image-bearers (humans) and the creation come under the devastating effects of the fall.
3. Promise: Genesis 3:15 – Malachi
3.1. the promise plan guarantees the seed of the woman will eventually succeed over the power behind the serpent (Satan); the fall will be reversed and man will effectively rule over creation.
4. Redemption: Gospels – Epistles
4.1. Jesus the King brings redemption through His atonement, and His death is the basis for the Kingdom and reconciliation of all things.
5. Restoration: Revelation of Jesus Christ.
5.1. With the restoration of all things God’s Kingdom plan is fulfilled as Jesus successfully reigns over the earth; this Kingdom merges into the perfect Kingdom of the Father.
The Bible’s storyline shows how the Kingdom created goes to the Kingdom fallen, which then leads to the Kingdom restored. This storyline is centred and anchored in Jesus the Messiah.
The Bible does not leave the Kingdom in the abstract. If God rules, He rules somewhere, even if somewhere is everywhere. There is no abstract rule without a realm.
Thus, it is best to define the Kingdom of God as “the rule of God over His creation.”
What is a Kingdom?
The word is “malkuth” in Hebrew and “basileia” in Greek. Malkuth and basileia often are translated as “royalty,” “royal power,” “reign,” and “Kingdom.” The concept of “Kingdom” includes at least three essential elements:
1. Ruler—a Kingdom involves a ruler with rightful and adequate authority and power.
2. Realm—a Kingdom involves a realm of subjects to be ruled.
3. Rulership—a Kingdom involves the exercise of ruling.
All three elements are needed for a Kingdom, including active ruling.
Essential to the word Kingdom is the actual exercise of authority in a realm over which one has the sovereign right to rule. If the exercise of authority is not in view, the concept of Kingdom is not present. Thus there can be no Kingdom in the truest sense without the ruler, the realm, and the reigning function.
While most Kingdom passages focus on God’s mediatorial Kingdom on the earth (Dan 2:44; Matt 6:10; Acts 1:6), God’s universal Kingdom is always in operation. He is always in control and He always prevails. For a time men may resist God’s mediatorial Kingdom plans, yet they never escape God’s universal rule.
Coming Soon
Jesus Christ proclaimed and explained the Kingdom of God — God’s rule over all things. In the Old Testament, God established his Kingdom politically under David. When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, the prophets continued to speak of the reestablishment of the Kingdom of God under the coming Messiah.
When Jesus came to earth, he preached that the Kingdom of God had arrived.
Matthew 4:17 (NKJV) From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 5:3 (NKJV) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Luke 11:20 (NKJV) But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
With Jesus’ coming, God’s redemptive rule has freed men and women from Satan’s power. When Jesus cast out demons, he demonstrated the reality of the Kingdom.
Jesus’ ministry on earth ushered in the Kingdom; the coming of the Spirit brought it into a new phase; and someday, when the dead in Christ are raised and Jesus comes again to establish his earthly Kingdom, it will be fully realized in all of its splendor, justice and perfection (Rev 22:1 – 5).
The goal is for this planet to be brought into perfect conformity with God’s will. When the ultimate Mediator, Jesus the Messiah, successfully reigns over the earth, the mediatorial Kingdom will be brought into conformity with God’s Universal Kingdom. And God’s will on earth will be done as it is in heaven.
Eventually, all will be restored, God’s plan fulfilled. Part of that includes “a new heaven and a new earth”.
Revelation 21:1 (NKJV) Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.