Sunday Sermons

The Kingdom of God

Mark Dunagan
01/22/06 - Sunday Morning

The Kingdom of God

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, “I will build My church”. When He made the statement, the church had not been established, yet the church had been predicted even prior to this verse. Earlier in the Gospels, both Jesus and John the Baptist had said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). While the term “kingdom” can at times refer to something other than the church, the term often does refer to the same group of people and the same relationship as the term kingdom. For example:

· Baptism is the final condition upon entering both (John 3:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

· Both are said to be purchased with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28; Revelation 1:5-6).

· The Lord’s Supper in connected with both (Luke 22:18; 1 Corinthians 11:18ff).

· John the Baptist and Jesus often spoke about the kingdom being “at hand” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17) and coming (Mark 9:1), yet what came was the church (Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:47).

· The gospel is the message of the kingdom (Matthew 13:19; 4:23 “the gospel of the kingdom”), and yet upon obeying the gospel one is added to the church (Acts 2:41,47).

· God adds the same people to both relationships (Acts 2:47; Colossians 1:13-14). In Acts, one is added by the Lord to the church and in Colossians one is translated by the Father into the kingdom.

Yet many people remain unconvinced that the church is the kingdom promised in the Gospels and the kingdom of Old Testament prophecy. To them the church looks like a disappointment, a relationship that has failed to live up to the glory which was promised, yet let us carefully examine exactly what was promised and what was not promised and also note the fulfillment in the New Testament.

The Kingdom in Old Testament Prophecy

2 Samuel 7:12 “When your (David’s) days are complete and you lie down with your fathers (die and are buried), I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever”

· The same truth was stated to Mary by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:32-33). “We have no alternative but to believe that the kingdom Jesus announced as ‘at hand’ was the Davidic kingdom for it was the throne of David that the angel had promised” (McGuiggan, p. 111).

· In Acts chapter 2, Peter cites 2 Samuel 7:12-13 as finding its fulfillment in the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:30-31). According to God’s own Divine commentary on 2 Samuel 7:12-13, when Jesus was raised and ascended into heaven, He was seated on David’s throne.

· This same truth is found in Daniel 7:13-14 (which is heaven’s view of Acts 1:9-11) ‘And behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him and to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him”.

Isaiah 2:2-4 “In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us concerning His ways;, and that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”

· Acts 2:16-17 is included in the period of time known as the “last days”. It is the last dispensation, the last age, the final covenant or agreement offered to mankind (Hebrews 1:1-2).

· God’s house or household is the church (1 Timothy 3:15), and is first spoken of as in existence in Acts 2:47 “and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (KJV).

· The church is for all nations (Ephesians 2:11-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10).

· On the day of Pentecost Jews from all nations began to flow into this relationship (Acts 2:5 “devout men from every nation under heaven”).

· The church started in Jerusalem (Acts 2:47), which is mentioned as the point of origin of God’s house in Isaiah 2.

· The church does operate under a new law. The law in Isaiah 2:3 is not the Law of Moses, for that originated from Sinai and not Jerusalem. Rather, the law that went forth from Jerusalem is the gospel of Jesus Christ that was first preached as a reality in Acts 2.

Isaiah 2:4 “And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war”

This is the verse that makes many people think, “But isn’t this describing a period of utopia upon the earth?”

· Remember, the previous verses mentioned nations streaming to the house of God. This does not mean that entire nations would come, but only that individuals from all the nations would respond.

· Verse 4 applies to the people who would become Christians. Paul noted the fulfillment of this in Ephesians 2:14-16. People from nations who had been long-standing enemies, find peace with each other in the church.

· See also Ephesians 2:1-3; Titus 3:3 and 1 Peter 4:4.

Isaiah 11:1-16 “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb…They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain”’

· Again, let it be noted that these verses (6-9) are describing what happens to the people who submit to the rule of the Messiah. Their character is drastically changed (Matthew 18:3 “unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of God”).

· The Divine commentary on Isaiah 11:10 (Romans 15:12) cites these verses as being fulfilled when the Gentiles were starting to come to Christ in the first century.

· At the same time a remnant of the truly faithful among the Jews were being gathered (Isaiah 11:11), which was equally happening as the gospel was being preached in the first century (Romans 11:5). We cannot separate Isaiah 11:6-9 from 11:10, because God said, “Then it will come about in that day”. Therefore Isaiah 11:6-9 was being fulfilled in the first century.

Daniel 2:36-45 “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed”

· Four successive world empires, starting with Babylon (2:37-38), are described in Daniel 2:36-43 “And after you…then another…Then there will be another”.

· History is clear concerning the three empires that followed Babylon, which were Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman Empires. It would be during the days of the Roman Caesars that the kingdom of God would be established (2:44).

· Christ lived and died while Rome ruled. Rome no longer rules the world and has not for 1000 years, yet the prophecy stated that the kingdom of God would arrive while the fourth empire was still ruling and still intact, and would lead to the destruction of the fourth empire, yet this kingdom would not be destroyed. Rome no longer rules the world, but two thousand years later, the church still exists and thrives.

· Christians in the first century were said to have had received a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

· Christians in the first century were being added to God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:14).

The Kingdom Prophecies Fulfilled

Mark 9:1 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power”

· The promised kingdom would come within the lifetime of the apostles. Therefore we must reject any claim that the kingdom of God has yet to arrive or that it came in 1914 A.D., or some time long after the lifetime of the apostles. This places the arrival of the kingdom within the first century, for the last apostle will die some time around 96 A.D.

· Other passages equally define and limit the time period in which the kingdom can arrive. Jesus said it was “at hand”. Daniel placed it within the lifetime of Roman Empire.

· The kingdom of God would come with power, and such power came upon the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Compare Luke 24:49 with Acts 1:3-8; and 2:1-4.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church Of Christ/(503)644-9017