The Coming of the Kingdom

 First Principles: The Coming of the Kingdom – Understanding what the kingdom of God is and when it came.

 

Purpose: To discover the purpose for God’s kingdom on earth.

SIX QUESTIONS:
  1. What is the kingdom of God?
  2. When did the kingdom of God come — if it did?
  3. How does one enter the kingdom?
  4. Do the Old Testament and New Testament fit together?
  5. Is it important if I go to church?
  6. Is it important where I go to church?

OLD TESTAMENT PREDICTIONS OF THE KINGDOM

(THE HEIGHT OF ISRAEL’S GLORY WAS UNDER THE KINGSHIP OF DAVID — APPROXIMATELY 1000 B.C.)

Isaiah 2:1-4 (750 B.C.)

1This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. – NIVUK

  • In the last days, the “mountain of the Lord’s temple” will be established.
  • All nations will stream to it.
  • People will be taught His ways.
  • The word of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem.

Daniel 2:31-45 (550 B.C.)

31‘Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue – an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing-floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. 36‘This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39‘After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron – for iron breaks and smashes everything – and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. 44‘In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever. 45This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands – a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. ‘The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.’ – NIVUK

  • Large statue — represents a timeline of events:
    • Head of gold: (Babylonians: 605 B.C. to 539 B.C.)
    • Chest and arms of silver: (Medo-Persians: 539 B.C. to 331 B.C.)
    • Belly and thighs of bronze: (Greeks: 331 B.C. to 63 B.C.)
    • Legs of iron and feet of clay: (Romans: 63 B.C. to 476 A.D.)
  • A rock strikes the statue on the feet of iron and clay — during the latter time of the Roman reign. The rock becomes a huge “mountain” and fills the whole earth!
  • “In the time of those kings,” God will set up a kingdom. (verse 44)
  • This is the meaning of the vision of the rock: God’s kingdom smashes the feet of the statue, which means His kingdom comes during the Roman reign!
  • When exactly do you think God’s kingdom came?

NEW TESTAMENT PREDICTIONS OF THE KINGDOM

Matthew 3:1-2 (25 A.D.)

1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ – NIVUK

  • John the Baptist declares that the kingdom is near.
  • Jesus had already been born (John the Baptist was six months older).
  • This confirms the Old Testament prophecy about the kingdom coming during the Roman reign. Old and New Testament prophecy are united! (Answer to Question #4)

Matthew 4:17 (27 A.D.)

From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ – NIVUK

  • Jesus begins His ministry and declares that the kingdom is near.

Matthew 16:13-19 13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ 14They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15 ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ 16Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,#16:18 The Greek word for Peter means rock. and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades#16:18 That is, the realm of the dead will not overcome it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be#16:19 Or will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be#16:19 Or will have been loosed in heaven.’ – NIVUK

  • Peter is given the keys to the kingdom of God.
  • “Peter” in the Greek is petros, which means “small stone.”
  • “Rock” in the Greek is petra, which means “large foundational rock.”
  • What does the “rock” refer to in this passage? Jesus! (1 Corinthians 3:11)
  • “Church” in the Greek is “ekklesia,” meaning “a group called out with a common purpose.”
  • The church is God’s kingdom on earth!

Mark 9:1 And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’ – NIVUK

  • Some will not “taste death” — or die — before the kingdom of God comes.
  • The word “some” is significant. Judas Iscariot did not live to see the day this verse was fulfilled.
  • The kingdom will come “with power.”

John 3:1-7 1Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.’ 3Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’ 4‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’ 5Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” – NIVUK

  • To enter the kingdom, we must be “born of water and the Spirit.” (Answer to Question #3)
  • What does “born again” mean?
  • Has the kingdom come yet?

Luke 23:50-51 50Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. – NIVUK

  • Jesus has died, but the kingdom still had not come.

Luke 24:44-49 44He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ 45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, ‘This is what is written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’ – NIVUK

  • Jesus has resurrected, but the kingdom still had not come.
  • Here are four clues about entering the kingdom:
    1. Repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name;
    2. To all nations;
    3. Starting in Jerusalem;
    4. Power from on high

FULFILLMENT

Acts 1:1-26 1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’

6Then they gathered round him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’

7He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’

9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’

12Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were:

Peter, John, James and Andrew;

Philip and Thomas;

Bartholomew and Matthew;

James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot and

Judas son of James.

14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

15In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

16and said, ‘Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.’

18(With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

20‘For,’ said Peter, ‘it is written in the Book of Psalms:

‘ “May his place be deserted; let there be no-one to dwell in it,”

 ‘ “May another take his place of leadership.”

 21Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.’

23So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24Then they prayed, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.’ 26Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles. – NIVUK

  • For 40 days after His resurrection, Jesus spoke to His disciples about the kingdom.
  • The disciples didn’t fully understand and were still waiting for a physical kingdom or earthly king
  • Judas’ death is a partial fulfillment of Mark 9:1.
  • The prophecies begin to be fulfilled in Acts 1 and 2.

Acts 2:1-17 1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’ 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’

13Some, however, made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine.’

14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17‘ “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. – NIVUK

  • Peter highlights three clues from Luke 24:44-49:
  1. Power from on high (verses 1-4) (Fulfillment of Mark 9:1)
  2. Jerusalem (verse 5) (Fulfillment of Isaiah 2:3)
  3. Every nation (verse 5) (Fulfillment of Isaiah 2:2)
  • “Last days” (verse 17) (also a fulfillment of Isaiah 2:2)
  • Has the kingdom come yet?

Acts 2:22-24 22‘Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. – NIVUK

  • Peter preaches the essential “keys” to the kingdom — truths we must believe before being born of water and the Spirit (Fulfillment of John 3:5):
    1. Jesus is from God;
    2. Our sins put him on the Cross;
    3. He rose from the dead!

Acts 2:36-41 36‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’ 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ 38Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’ 40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ 41Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. – NIVUK

  • Repentance and forgiveness of sins (verse 38) — the biblical answer to enter the kingdom! (Fulfillment of Luke 24:44-49)
  • The kingdom of God has come! Three thousand people are “born again of water and the Spirit!”

Acts 2:42-47 42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – NIVUK

  • This is the blueprint for the church.
  • Like the first-century disciples, we must be devoted to the Bible, prayer, fellowship, and communion (breaking of bread).
  • Daily discipleship and evangelism were practiced by the church. (verse 46) They were taught and imitated the ministry of Jesus. (Matthew 26:55)
  • Is it important where we go to church? Yes! (Answer to Question #6)

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. – NIVUK

  • We must seek first the kingdom. Is it important if we go to church? Yes! (Answer to Question #5)
  • Our schedules must reflect that the meetings of the body are a priority (Sunday services, midweeks, devotionals, Bible Talks).
  • We must be willing to sacrifice to put the church — God’s kingdom on earth — first in our lives! This is why we are part of the “SoldOut Movement!”

Challenge: Seek first the kingdom by being committed to the fellowship of disciples — the church!