The Kingdom of God

Thought for Today
Jan. 15

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Paul taught that "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). The question Preacher Clark asked in his sermon was, "Who preached the first kingdom of God message?" But what did he mean by "kingdom of God message"?

When a person is converted, he is what Jesus called "born again". His sins are washed away, and he becomes a citizen of God's kingdom. This is what Preacher Clark was referring to when he asked about a "kingdom of God message", a message from God that would result in the immediate conviction and conversion of souls into God's kingdom.

Jesus did not do that. No one was ever born again, except himself, while he lived on earth. The new birth for mankind was made possible only after Jesus paid the penalty for man's sin. So, both Jesus and John the Baptist, while they lived here among us, could only proclaim in Israel that "the kingdom of God is at hand." Being "at hand" is something other than actually being here. To be "at hand" is only to be "near". Men could feel its nearness, but they could not enter in. Jesus taught at one point that "the Law and the prophets were until John; since that time, the kingdom of God is preached" (Lk. 16:16). But when he and John preached the kingdom of God, what did they say? Here is what we are told: "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 'Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!'" (Mt. 3:1-2). And when Jesus came into Galilee, he came "preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand! Repent ye, and believe the gospel!'" (Mk. 1:14-15).

So, neither Jesus nor John the Baptist ever preached a "kingdom of God message", a sermon that resulted in people being born again into the kingdom of God. It wasn't possible, so long as Jesus was on earth. The kingdom of God, remember, is "righteousness, peace, and joy" in the holy Ghost, and the holy Ghost "was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified". It was given to men only after Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 1.

Jesus gives us a clue as to who preached the first "kingdom of God message" when, after his resurrection, he appeared before his astonished and frightened disciples. They were terrified when he suddenly appeared in their presence; they thought they were seeing a ghost (Lk. 24:37). But he comforted them and began to explain to them why things had to be as they were and to tell them of things that must soon happen. "Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, 'Thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem'" (Lk. 24:45-47).

"Beginning at Jerusalem"? Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus began their preaching at Jerusalem. Besides that, repentance was preached to Israel long before Jerusalem even existed as an Israelite city, even before the Israelites reached Canaan's land itself! All of God's prophets in ancient Israel preached repentance. John the Baptist preached repentance at the Jordan River before Jesus himself came to be baptized. John's baptism was even called "the baptism of repentance". But John's ministry was restricted to the area around the Jordan River; he never preached in Jerusalem. And the Lord Jesus began his ministry in Galilee, far to the north of the holy city.

What was Jesus talking about, then, when he told his disciples that repentance would be preached "beginning at Jerusalem"? What would be so different that he would say that something would "begin at Jerusalem"?

The revolutionary, new element of the gospel that would be preached "beginning at Jerusalem" was that the door to the kingdom of God would be opened, and those who repented would be taken into it! From the day of Pentecost onward, after the holy Ghost baptism was first given, neither Peter nor any of Jesus' other disciples ever said, "the kingdom of God is near". It was not "near"; it had come! From that time forward, even to this day, when people come to Jesus confessing their sins-unlike any other time in the history of mankind-their sins are washed away and they are "translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son" by the baptism of the holy Ghost.

Notice that Jesus actually referred to this difference in the Scripture from Luke that I quoted earlier. He did not say that the preaching of repentance would begin at Jerusalem; rather, he told his disciples, "repentance AND remission of sins should be preached . . . beginning at Jerusalem." That was the new thing. Under the Law of Moses, before the sacrifice of Christ was accomplished, there was no such thing as remission of sins. In the Old Testament, one could be forgiven, but the record of sins remained in God's Book until the crucified and resurrected Jesus ascended into heaven to offer himself to God for the sins of the world. Then, sins forgiven under the Old Testament were blotted out forever from God's Book. What a great day it was when the lamb of God offered himself to the Father for the sins of the world! Jesus said that even Abraham, though in Paradise, rejoiced to see his day finally come. Everything depended on Jesus.

So, Peter was the man who preached the "first kingdom of God message". He was the one chosen by God to preach the kingdom of God to Israel after Jesus had opened the door. When Peter preached on Pentecost morning, thousands repented and were baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. A new thing had happened on earth! This was the "nation born in one day" that Isaiah spoke of, the "offspring of the Lord" that David foretold, Hosea's "foolish nation" that God would use to provoke Israel to jealousy; this is "the generation to come, and the people that shall be created [who] shall praise the Lord". These are the called out ones, the family of God on earth, born "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Peter was given the keys of the kingdom of God, and on Pentecost morning, he opened the door for the Jews. Remission of sins was at long last made available to mankind. A new birth of spirit into the family of God had been purchased by the blood of Christ Jesus, and the precious children of God were created on earth. That is the "kingdom of God message" that was first preached at Jerusalem, and Peter was the man who preached it.