God’s Kingdom Principles

Definition: Kingdom: (Oxford Dictionary)

1. a country, state, or territory ruled by a king or queen. Eg “the Kingdom of the Netherlands”

2. the spiritual reign or authority of God.

“Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.””

John 18:33-36 NLT

Many nations have different political parties that govern at a time. In Ghana you many belong to some party but as Christians, we need to remember not only our blessings of freedom here and the opportunity to participate in the government of our nation, we must also remember that we belong to the government of another world as well. This government is referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God.

Jesus explained the duality of our situation when He answered Pilate concerning His true identity as the King of this other nation, or of this other government. the Kingdom of God, the government that we actually belong to that is present in this world and will exist in the world to come, when this world will no longer be. The first thing the Bible teaches concerning the Kingdom that is not of this world is the following:

1. This Kingdom was the subject of prophecy – Daniel 2:31-44 (READ)

We’re familiar with the book of Daniel so let me just summarize what it said about the Kingdom. Daniel and other young Jewish men of noble blood were carried off into Babylonian captivity where they were, by the grace of God and their faithfulness to Him, raised to high levels in the court of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Soon after, Daniel was called upon to interpret a strange and disturbing dream that the king experienced. In this dream, God revealed the sweep of history that was to come, as well as historical markers for the arrival and the development of God’s own Kingdom here on earth. Daniel’s inspired interpretation of this dream was recorded in Daniel chapter two, and its accuracy concerning future earthly kingdoms was firmly established as history unfolded.

If we examine his interpretation we note that the statue is made of many parts: a head of gold, a breast and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze, and legs and feet of a mixture of iron and clay.

In the dream, a stone cut without human hands appears and strikes the statue not on the head, but on its feet of iron and clay, reducing the entire statute to dust, which is blown away. Daniel then describes that in the place of the statue the stone used to destroy it becomes a mountain that eventually fills the entire earth. And so, in his interpretation, Daniel names five separate kingdoms :(Babylon, Medo-persia, Greek, Roman,The kingdom of God)

2. The Kingdom is on Earth, but it is Spiritual in Nature

Daniel predicted that the Kingdom was to come, John the Baptist preached that it was at hand, and Jesus proclaimed that it was here. For Jews, as a people, who had actually lived through the four empires mentioned by Daniel, this was exciting news. For some it rekindled nationalistic aspirations that had appeared throughout their history.

The Kingdom that Jesus and His Apostles announced,

• was small enough to exist in one person’s heart

• was big enough to include all who would enter in

• was powerful enough to dominate every other kingdom

• was so precious that when someone found it they would abandon everything they owned in order to possess it

And yet, was so elusive that some people stood right next to it, but didn’t even see it. Finally, the Kingdom that Jesus spoke of was being built in their lifetimes, exactly as Daniel had spoken.

3. The Kingdom was Something that has been Established – Matthew 6:9-10

In this passage Jesus mentions one Kingdom existing simultaneously in two spheres. One kingdom is on earth, that had yet to be established and the other one was in heaven, already established. Therefore, Jesus was praying that the will of God be done on earth as it was already being done in heaven. An important point to note here is that the Kingdom of God exists wherever His will is being done, because the word kingdom comes from a Greek word which means sovereignty or will.

In Matthew 6:9-10 Jesus prayed that God’s will be done here on earth as it was done in heaven. In essence He was praying that God’s Kingdom be established here just as God’s will was being done in heaven. When this happens, God’s will (the Kingdom established) is being fulfilled in both the heavenly and the earthly realms. And so, if we want to know what the Kingdom looks like, we need to examine what God’s will is for all men, because the Kingdom exists wherever and whenever God’s will is being done.

Shalom! Rev. Ron.