The Gospel of the Kingdom

I did a search today for the word 'kingdom' in the New Testament...and came up with fourteen pages of verses!

Fourteen pages, in the New Testament alone!

I had no idea. I guess it's an important idea...

Then I found this:

'Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.' [Matthew 4:23]

I don't know how I missed that! The gospel, or good tidings, of the KINGDOM! Hallelujah!

'For He rescued [or delivered] us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the KINGDOM of His Beloved Son...' [Colossians 1:13]

Here we clearly see that there are two kingdoms—the domain, or kingdom, of darkness, and the Kingdom of His Beloved Son. It is the latter that Jesus, and later the Holy Spirit, reveals to us in the Word.

I've been know to say that, when we pray, we should pray from our position in Christ, seated in Him in heavenly places. [Read Don't Look Up, Don't Look Up 2, Don't Look Up 3]

And this is correct...but to expand the idea, we're praying from the Kingdom of Heaven!

We've already been transferred to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son...seated there, in Christ, at the right hand of the Father.

'But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved ), and raised us up with Him, and SEATED US WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.'

And we know that this Kingdom is within us. [Luke 17:21] The greek word translated 'within' is entos, meaning within or inside, or within your soul. Unfortunately, the New American Standard, which is usually extremely accurate, translates it as 'in your midst.'

I think a couple of scriptures will help to clarify...

'How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion!' [Psalm 84:5]

'But you HAVE come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled IN HEAVEN, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.' [Hebrews 12:22-24]

Two Places At Once [Again]
At the same time, we have been planted into the world.

'...and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom...' [Matthew 13:38]

This is the very gospel Jesus was preaching! That there are two kingdoms and that He was the WAY to be delivered from one into the other!

In our spirits, we are in the Kingdom of God. In our physical bodies, we are in the world but not of it...planted into the world.

Why?

'And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops BY ITSELF; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grainin the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." [Mark 4:26-29]

'And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can next under its shade." [Mark 4:30-32]

There are some other facts you need to know to understand this concept [ref Mark 4, Matthew 13]...

1. The seed is the Word.
   
2. The soil is the heart of man.
   
3. There are different kinds of soil...good, very good and non-productive. The harvest is the proof.
   
4. There's an enemy who is sowing seeds, too...evil seeds.
   
5. The harvest is the end of the world.

The Good News
And there's more great news!

'Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.' [Daniel 7:27]

'Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world HAS BECOME the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever." [Revelations 11:15]

When you take Hebrews 4:3 into consideration, that is pretty exciting!

'...although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.'

Mind blowing.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg...more to come.