Our Hope The Kingdom

The Kingdom of God is the main theme of the entire Bible. It is the thread that ties all of scripture together from Genesis to Revelation. From the time Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, God’s plan has been to bring his children back into a Kingdom relationship with him. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Habakkuk, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, All of the apostles, and Jesus mention it and talk of its glory. It was the hope of the Jews in the time of Christ, and they were looking for it to be fulfilled, but they were looking for a conquering King, not this man of peace.

An understanding of the premillennial theocratic Kingdom is necessary to properly understand salvation, judgment, and prophecy.

There is a lot of confusion today about the end times, and few people will take the time to study it themselves, and many books have been written that teach many different concepts of the Kingdom and the return of Christ. A solid understanding of the Kingdom and Christ’s return is critical for Christians to understand. It not only is important to help us understand the scriptures, but if or when we suffer persecution, we may know that there is an end in sight, and that Christ will triumph and be true to His promises. Without a strong hope in the fulfillment of the Kingdom promises, we could easily become discouraged and give up on our faith.
This is why I have such a strong conviction that the Kingdom of God, defined as a physical earthly reign of Christ, must be taught, especially as we draw closer towards the last days.

Why put so much emphasis on the Kingdom of God? First of all the scriptures put a lot of emphasis on this topic, and second, Jesus put a lot of emphasis on it. The word “Kingdom” appears 120 times in the four gospels alone.

Jesus said in
Luke 4:43
43 But He said to them, “I must preach the Kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”

Here Jesus states the very purpose he was sent to earth by the Father was to preach `the Kingdom of God.

Jesus told us to make seeking the Kingdom our number one priority. It is more important than anything else in life. If we could only live a life truly dedicated to seeking the Kingdom and trusting the Lord to meet all of our needs.

Matthew 6:25-33
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In verse 33, the verb used in the original Greek “zeteite” (ζητεῖτε) that is translated “seek” is in the present tense, active voice and imperative mood. That implies that Christ is exhorting us to actively, and continually, seek His Kingdom. Seek and continue to seek. It should be the number one priority of our daily life.

The next word which is translated “First” is πρῶτον (proton). While it does mean first in a series, the “Kittle” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says:

“The meaning here cannot be that one must first seek after God’s kingdom and then after other things. “Above all” is the only meaning which corresponds to the central position which orientation to the kingdom of God has in the proclamation of Jesus. Indeed, πρῶτον (proton) is so exclusive here that it carries the implication of “only.”

Another place where the Kingdom is mentioned is in the Lord’s Prayer. Here when Jesus is teaching us how to pray, or maybe more appropriately what the outline of our prayers should cover, it is mentioned twice.

Matthew 6:9-12
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
10 ‘Thy Kingdom come.
Thy 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 also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.]’

From the first days of the Christian Church until today, we have been looking for the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.

Luke 21:27-31
27 “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 And He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees;
30 as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near.
31 “Even so you, too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the Kingdom of God is near.

After years of thinking He could come any time, we started to think we must have misunderstood, because He had not shown up yet. It is discouraging at times, even in my own lifetime there have been several times when it appeared that prophecy was being fulfilled and the time was at hand.

Those truly seeking, but not studying correct doctrines are constantly being seduced by false teachings. From Jim Jones at Jonestown, in Guyana to the Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas, the Heaven’s Gate group of web page designers that committed suicide, to The Church of The Lamb of God, led by Ervil LeBaron who was responsible for over 24 murders - all of them were seeking God and all were led terribly astray.

We have seen fanatics predicting the time, contrary to the teaching that no one will know the time or place.

Mark 13:32-37
32 “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.