"The King has a Kingdom"
                                                          (This article has been updated several times)
                                                                               last updated  2/3/00

"...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 you, and believe the gospel."        Mark 1:14,15

    Jesus came into this world as King. The scripture declares that He is "King of Kings, Lord of Lords" (1 Tim. 6:15).  For this end came Jesus into the world as it is recorded for us when he confronted Pilate. "My kingdom is not of this world.." (John 18:36), was Christ's answer to the man who would give the execution order. It would be His Resurrection from the dead that not only proved Jesus' kingship but would be the very act that would set Him upon the throne of David. It was for this reason that God had raised him, the one who was worthy, to sit at His right hand.
Peter made it clear on the day of Pentecost what God had accomplished in the Resurrection of His Christ. (Acts 2:24-36)
    If the Kingship of Jesus seems to be one of those truths that is neglected or ignored in the church, it may perhaps be, because if considered thoughtfully, would mean, "a King would certainly have a Kingdom". Since Jesus is indisputably "King of Kings", what or where is his Kingdom? Is it a future realm to be realized when he returns at the end of this present church age? Or, has it broken into this world?

    The King said, '...the time is fulfilled". Something had come, something had come to fruition. That something was the promises of the prophets.
    God had shaken the very earth when He spoke from mount Sinai. So dreadful was the sight that the people could not bear it (Heb. 12:18-21).  Now God was about to shake both the earth and heaven. The Kingdom of God had broken into this world, with the coming of the King. The voice from heaven spoke...  "which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear you him."
                                                                                                    Mat 17:5b

    The proof that Jesus gave that the Kingdom of God was now a present reality was the fact that the powers of hell were subject to His command. "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."  Mat 12:28   This was absolutely necessary if Jesus was going to be able to come and save His own people (Matt. 1:21). He came to Bind the 'strong man' (Satan), in order to plunder his realm.   "Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house." Mat 12:29     Paul explains it to the Colossian believers this way...
"Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"  Col 1:13.  And, "He led captivity captive...", to the Ephesians. The promise that the prophets proclaimed was the setting free of the captives. "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;"    Isa 61:1
    It was in the person of Jesus Christ, that the Kingdom had come. He was the one who was to bind the strong man, and to proclaim liberty to the captives, to set free those who were in bondage to sin. It was Jesus who stood up in the synagogue at Nazareth, his home town, and read from Isaiah, thus declaring that the scripture was fulfilled in their hearing. (Luke 4:16-21)

    Christ was the one who could deliver and set His people free, because He was found obedient to the Father. Adam, the federal head ship of mankind, whom God gave dominion over all the earth, failed in the Garden and in the most perfect of conditions. God gave man (Adam) the command to 'Subdue' the earth... the Hebrew word for this is... kabash,  and it's prime root means to.. 'tread down; in the negative- to disregard; in the positive- to conquer, subjugate, violate:-- bring into bondage, force, keep under, subdue, bring into subjection'.  Adam was to subdue the earth, and he failed when he confronted the serpent.
    The second Adam, (1Cor. 15:47) Christ Jesus, passed the test of Obedience in the wilderness, while under the most dire of human circumstances. It was the same serpent, the devil, whom the first Adam confronted. The test was the same, obedience to God. What was at stake was the obedience of God's will.
    Satan had continued to hold that which the first Adam was to have subdued, and to gain dominion over. Satan's offer to hand over the Kingdoms of this world was a legitiment offer... they were his to give...  "Again, the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said unto him, All these things will I give you, if thou will fall down and worship me."    Mat 4:8,9
    Jesus never reprimanded the devil for making such an offer, and we are told that he is the prince and power of this air. But with the coming of the Christ all this was to change. "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."  John 12:31  God's Kingdom had broken into the world. The very demons had become subject to the authority of the disciples as they went forth with the Kingdom message (Luke 10:9-24). The Strong man was Bound and his followers (the demons) were helpless before the power of God's Kingdom.

    The Kingdom of God suffers Violence. Such is the power of the Kingdom.
"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it."    Mat 11:12 NIV
The Kingdom forces it's way into this world as leaven works it way through bread. You can't see or observe this action, just as you can't stand by and watch a seed grow into a great tree. With the Strong man bound, the Kingdom works it's way through this world finding it's way into the hearts of God's people. No longer can Satan deceive the nations as he once was allowed to do so before the coming of the King. It's a violent action that sets free the slaves of Satan and sin, and translates them from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's Son. "Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"    Col 1:13
    It is the promise of God being fulfilled when he spoke through Isaiah...
    "Ho, every one that thirsts, come you to the waters, and he that has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. Behold, you shalt call a nation that you know not, and nations that knew not you shall run to you because of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you. Seek you the LORD while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near:"    Isa 55:1-6
    The peoples of all nations are now running to the Lord their God in this day of Salvation. There in no way to keep them back, the violent take it by force, the very gates of hell cannot prevail against the Body of Christ. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: ...(the Stone that has crushed violently the kingdoms of this world has become the Mountain of God,  Dan 2:35)  ...for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.  And in that day (the day of Christ) there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious."  Isa 11:9,10      "Come to me.. and I will give you Rest.."  Matt. 1:28

    Yet, for all this, Jesus tells us the Kingdom of God would not come with "observation"  (Luke 17:20).   That is, people would not be able to point to a specific place or time and say... "there it is, its finally come... over there". Jesus said that his kingdom was not of this world... "for it is within you" (Luke 17:21). Any pretense to a future kingdom, whereby people may observe it with the hope of physical blessings goes against the grain of Scripture which Paul writes,  "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
    The Pharisees of Jesus’ time made that mistake when they thought that the kingdom of God was something external in which you could point to. The Pharisees of today still make the same mistake, when they teach that Jesus is coming "to be King", when he sets up His rule of a 1000 years, sitting upon a physical throne in the Jerusalem which now is.
    The truth is, the Kingdom has come, and continues to come, as it works it's way into this world.  Jesus is King and is sitting upon his throne at this very moment.
It is not the earthly things which we are to have our eyes fixed upon and our hope placed. "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all."    Gal 4:26
     We are told that even Abraham while standing in the very land God had promised him, looked not to those earthly things, but.. "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God."        Heb 11:9-10

    The City was about to be revealed, the city of God, the New Jerusalem.
"Thus says the LORD; I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain." Zec 8:3
As the people of God, we have come to the Holy Mount of Zion...  "But you are come unto mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,"    Heb 12:22
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."    Rev 21:2
    The Revealing came, with the fulfillment of the coming and out pouring of the Spirit of God. The very first message to the New Born Church, as Peter stands up before the many thousands on the day of Pentecost... was to answer the people's question...  "what means this?" Acts 2:12   Peter, with the full authority of the Holy Spirit, proceeds to declare that it was the promise through Joel being fulfilled that they were witnessing. With the Advent of the Holy Spirit, they had entered into the Last Days. "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:  Acts 2:16,17a    It was the time of fulfillment.
    It was the resurrection of the slain Christ that God raised up, to sit on David's throne.  " (David) Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses."
Acts 2:30-32
    It was in Peter's second recorded sermon that he declared... as he again spoke to his kinsmen after the flesh... "For Moses truly said to the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up to you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.  And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days."   Acts 3:22-24
    What Peter was making clear, was the truth, that this Jesus was the very prophet who Moses foretold would come. As important as Moses was to the nation, he warned them, that  the One  would come, in which it was imperative that they hear Him. It was this One, in which all the prophets had spoken of and pointed too. Peter wanted them to understand they had entered those days of which the prophets had spoken concerning the messiah and the promises surrounding Him.
The ultimate fulfillment of those promise's was wrapped up in the promise to their great father Abraham, ... "You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindred's of the earth be blessed."    Acts 3:25
    The promise of Abraham was being fulfilled, and it was in that 'Seed', which was the Christ, that all peoples were to be blessed. The result from that blessing was the turning away and cleansing of our sin. "Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."    Acts 3:26

    This was the promise of the Kingdom, the very promise of Salvation.
The coming of the Kingdom and promise of Salvation were wrapped up together.  The two are inseparable. It was this Promise of Salvation through the establishment of God's kingdom (the Zion of God) that the prophets declared..  "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name."    Isa 62:1,2
    Throughout, the cry from old was... "Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God brings back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad."    Psa 53:6
    The answer of God through Isaiah was.... "Hearken to me, you stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness: it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory."       Isa 46:12-13

    The righteousness and Salvation promised would come with the 'Anointed One'... and with Him, the very Jubilee of God...  "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; ...to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;" Isa 61:2
    This acceptable year of the Lord, the great Jubilee of God which has been setting free the slaves of Satan and Sin, through the preaching of good tidings, has not come without cost. The Day of Vengeance was poured out by God on the Cross of Calvary as our Lord hung there for the sins of His people. It was this very vengeance of God, in His divine Justice upon the sins of His people, that has brought the comfort to all those who mourn. "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted..."

   All this was to take place in the Last Days, of which Peter said we have now entered.   "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem."    Micah 4:1,2
    The Hebrew writer begins with, "God,... "Has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;"    Heb 1:1,2
    It is in these last days whereby God has brought His people under the New Covenant. The new covenant was the promise of God to His people that we would be taught of God, and that we would walk in His ways. It was the promise of God that His people would not depart from their God.   "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleanness:..."    Ezek 36:26-29a
    Where the old covenant was weak, in that it did not provide the Power to keep it, the promise of God in these last days was the out pouring of His Spirit to empower His people to the obedience of His Son.
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his."
Gen 49:10  NRSV
    And with the promise of Obedience, was the promise that God's people would not depart from him... "And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." Jer 32:38-40

        If there is yet some great period to come, where God is to bring the old testament promises to fulfillment of God's Kingdom rule, then we have missed the last days, we has missed the New Covenant, and we have also missed coming to Mount Zion... . But even more importantly, we have missed the Christ of God.
"But you are come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.     Hebrews 12:22-24
    The message of the Hebrew writer was to declare that the old things were to be shaken away... "In that he says, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away."    Heb 8:13
    It was a message of warning to those who would cling to the old ways. The New had come, and there is at present a great shaking of both earth and heaven.
"See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven."    Heb 12:25,26    It is in the present tense that God is shaking the earth and heaven.

   The Christ has come, and God has spoken from heaven concerning Him.
With the transfiguration of the King, it was revealed to the three disciples, the Kingdom Glory. "...and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear you him."    Mat 17:5
    This announcement by God has truly shaken both earth and heaven. Something New has come, which has required the removing and shaking away of the Old.
All the earthly types and shadows, the sacrificial system, the temple, the old covenant of Sinai... were coming down, shaken away, removed.  The new is that which cannot be shaken.  'We have a better...' ...was the admonition to the Hebrews. "And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain."    Heb 12:27
        That which is new and cannot be shaken is the very Kingdom of God...  "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:"    Heb 12:28

    Yet, for all this, the Kingdom of God is a Mystery.
It is a mystery that is hidden to the world. All will not see or hear, all cannot see or hear! It lies within the hands of the sovereign God who has created us for His own good pleasure. "He (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."  Mat 13:11  With these sober words in mind, let us be found in faith and... "See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:"    Hebrews 12:25

    The King has spoken. When He calls, the promise is that His people will hear His voice. "When you said, Seek you my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek."  Psa 27:8  As the great shepherd, Jesus calls,  "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."  John 10:16
 Such is the nature of Christ's Kingdom.

    Jesus is the Christ, the King, the great shepherd, and his people are pressing into His Kingdom even today. When Christ returns the second time Heb.9:28, it will be to purge the Kingdom of all things that offend and reward the saints with the completion of their salvation; for death itself will be swallowed up and mortality will take on immortality, and then it shall be, '...God may be all in all.'

Will you hear Him today...? "...for today is the Day of Salvation", ...it is His Day!
 Tomorrow the Kingdom will be purged!  Tomorrow will be to late!

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins,
which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold,
the bridegroom comes;  go you out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil;
for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you:
but go you rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came;
and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage:
and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, truly I say to you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour
when the Son of man comes.

"He which testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
  Rev 22:20,21

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 This page last updated:  2/3/00