The Progression Of The Kingdom
The Kingdom of God was announced by John the Baptist and by Jesus Christ. “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15. Later, Jesus and his disciples expelled demons from people and told the people that the Kingdom of God had arrived. “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” Matthew 12:28. The King had arrived and was exercising his authority over all demons.
The prophecy in the book of Daniel said God would set up his Kingdom during the Babylonian succession of empires. (Daniel 2:44). Jesus Christ began his ministry during the Roman Empire, the fourth empire in that succession. The Kingdom started with a small number of people, just Jesus and his disciples. It grew as Jesus healed people and preached about the Kingdom of God. After Jesus died, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit, his Kingdom grew by the thousands (Acts 2:41 and Acts 4:4). Jesus predicted this growth, saying the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is tiny, but grows into a huge plant. (Mark 4:31-32). We do not know how many Christians are in the world today, but the number is in the hundreds of millions. However, many people who call themselves Christians are not Christians. They have deceived themselves, for they have not repented of their sins.
We are in the second phase of the Kingdom of God. The first phase was the ministry of Jesus Christ. After he ascended to heaven the second phase began as the disciples waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit. After Pentecost the Kingdom grew rapidly and I would call it the Church Age. We are in the Church Age. All who are born again of the Holy Spirit and the teachings of Jesus Christ are citizens of the Kingdom. The Church Age is about preparing the future rulers of the planet. All Christians (true Christians) will rule in the coming phase of the Kingdom. We are a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2:9). The rulers in Israel in the Old Testament were the priests and princes. We are both. Our brother Jesus is both High Priest and King. We are all children of God the Father, creator of the universe. The Church Age is wonderful. It involves the infilling of the Holy Spirit, God in us, but there is something much greater coming in the third phase of the Kingdom.
The Gospel is not complete. We have the Gospel of personal salvation, but phase three of the Kingdom will be the return of Jesus Christ to rule over the entire planet, not just over his followers. “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4:3. His reign will see the end of all wars for a thousand years. Can we imagine what it will be like when the money and effort spent on wars and weapons is spent on human welfare? Unfortunately, there are many people who will not be part of his wonderful empire. He came as a lamb to be slaughtered. He returns as a lion to kill and subdue until his Kingdom and empire are established. The center of his Kingdom will be more than just the Church. It will be Israel, the Anglo Saxon and kindred people, who are the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. They will be the holy people at the center of the empire. Of course, the Israelites are more than one country. They will be a company of Christian nations (Genesis 35:11). This is the vision the Church does not understand. They do not understand the Gospel of the Kingdom. They think the Kingdom is the Church, but the Church is only a small part of the Kingdom. The Kingdom will include all Israel. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” Hebrews 8:10-11. Before this happens, Israel must be cleansed of evil. This will happen when the Lord returns with the holy angels to bring his wrath down on the wicked people, Israelites and non-Israelites. Those people left alive will go into the third phase of the Kingdom, the universal reign of Jesus Christ.
God the Father has been directing events in the world for the establishment of the Kingdom. He prepared the way for the coming of Jesus Christ by calling Abraham, leading to the creation of Israel and the giving of the law by Moses. The law was the schoolmaster to bring people to Jesus Christ. (Galatians 3:24). God has prepared the way for the return of Jesus Christ by the Reformation and the giving of the Bible to the world. After the Reformation the British Empire took the Bible all over the world, followed by the United States of America, to finish the work. Of course, other nations took part in evangelism to a lesser degree. I believe we are almost ready for phase three of the Kingdom, the return of Jesus Christ. However, I believe there has to be a huge Middle East war before that happens. May the Lord shorten the time and hasten his Kingdom.
Don’t worry. God has world events under control.
