The Kingdom Has Come

Posted: October 2nd, 2005 | Author: stauffer | Filed under: Articles
A major theme of the Old Testament anticipates the coming of the Messiah, who is to be the prophet and priest and king of an eternal kingdom. As prophet he would reveal God’s plan for human redemption, as priest he would offer himself as a sacrifice to redeem the world from sin, and as king he would establish and reign over God’s kingdom. And all this came to pass when Jesus, the Word who was God, became flesh and dwelt on earth. “All of this,” we say, yet many deny that the kingdom has yet arrived. To them, the time of the kingdom is at Jesus’ second coming. This, however, is to deny the clear teaching of Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament.
Jesus, when he came the first time, announced: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom is at hand” (Mark 1:15). “At hand” means near. It was so near that Jesus said to his disciples and others standing near by: “There are some here of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1). The kingdom was not to be of this world like kingdoms of men; it was to be a rule of the king within the hearts of men; it was to come when men with honest and good hearts responded to the gospel and were born of the water and the Spirit (see John 18:36; John 17:20- 21; Luke 8:11-15; John 3:3-5).
This kingdom came after the death of Jesus when sinners were purchased by the blood of Christ in obedience to the gospel message proclaimed on the first day of Pentecost after Jesus was raised from the dead. The Lamb of God, Jesus, was slain and by his blood purchased men of every tribe and tongue and nation and made them to be a kingdom (Revelation 5:9-10). This is the same body of people who were purchased by the blood of Christ and became the church of the Lord (Acts 20:28). Obedient believers, saints and faithful brethren, are called the church at Corinth, but were said to be translated into the kingdom at Colossae (see 1 Corinthians 1:2; Colossians 1:13).
This transformation of sinners is also called a birth of the water and the Spirit – a reference to the response of baptism that sinners make to the message of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the apostles. This baptism by faith puts one into Christ and into his death, where his blood was shed. There, one becomes a new creature (see Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17). When buried with Christ in baptism, sinners die to sin and arise to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).
This happened on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit filled all the apostles (Acts 2:1-4). The Holy Spirit guided the apostles into the truth, and they preached the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus – who was made both Lord and Christ. The message of the Spirit pricked the sinners’ hearts and they asked what to do. The answer was to repent and be baptized “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:22-38). They that gladly received the message of the Spirit were baptized – being born of the water and the Spirit. They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching, subjecting themselves to the rule of Christ, and living as faithful citizens under that rule. That was the beginning of the kingdom. It is a spiritual body of citizens, not a world empire yet to come.

A major theme of the Old Testament anticipates the coming of the Messiah, who is to be the prophet and priest and king of an eternal kingdom. As prophet he would reveal God’s plan for human redemption, as priest he would offer himself as a sacrifice to redeem the world from sin, and as king he would establish and reign over God’s kingdom. And all this came to pass when Jesus, the Word who was God, became flesh and dwelt on earth. “All of this,” we say, yet many deny that the kingdom has yet arrived. To them, the time of the kingdom is at Jesus’ second coming. This, however, is to deny the clear teaching of Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament.

Jesus, when he came the first time, announced: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom is at hand” (Mark 1:15). “At hand” means near. It was so near that Jesus said to his disciples and others standing near by: “There are some here of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1). The kingdom was not to be of this world like kingdoms of men; it was to be a rule of the king within the hearts of men; it was to come when men with honest and good hearts responded to the gospel and were born of the water and the Spirit (see John 18:36; John 17:20- 21; Luke 8:11-15; John 3:3-5).

This kingdom came after the death of Jesus when sinners were purchased by the blood of Christ in obedience to the gospel message proclaimed on the first day of Pentecost after Jesus was raised from the dead. The Lamb of God, Jesus, was slain and by his blood purchased men of every tribe and tongue and nation and made them to be a kingdom (Revelation 5:9-10). This is the same body of people who were purchased by the blood of Christ and became the church of the Lord (Acts 20:28). Obedient believers, saints and faithful brethren, are called the church at Corinth, but were said to be translated into the kingdom at Colossae (see 1 Corinthians 1:2; Colossians 1:13).

This transformation of sinners is also called a birth of the water and the Spirit – a reference to the response of baptism that sinners make to the message of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the apostles. This baptism by faith puts one into Christ and into his death, where his blood was shed. There, one becomes a new creature (see Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17). When buried with Christ in baptism, sinners die to sin and arise to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

This happened on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit filled all the apostles (Acts 2:1-4). The Holy Spirit guided the apostles into the truth, and they preached the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus – who was made both Lord and Christ. The message of the Spirit pricked the sinners’ hearts and they asked what to do. The answer was to repent and be baptized “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:22-38). They that gladly received the message of the Spirit were baptized – being born of the water and the Spirit. They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching, subjecting themselves to the rule of Christ, and living as faithful citizens under that rule. That was the beginning of the kingdom. It is a spiritual body of citizens, not a world empire yet to come.