The Kingdom of God

One of the most well known prayers of the Bible is known as The Lord’s Prayer, Luke 11:2. “And he[Jesus] said unto them, when ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come.” This is a prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. People often recite this today but I want to draw your attention to one point; His disciples were instructed to ask that God’s kingdom come. 

In Mark 8:31, Jesus prophesied of his death and and resurrection then later in Mark 9:1, “And he [Jesus] said unto them, verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”

Jesus was telling his disciples that the prayer they were to ask for, that is that God’s kingdom come, would be answered while some of them were still alive. This prayer that people are reciting today, has in part, been already fulfilled.

Today, you will learn about the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said in Mark 9:1, that the Kingdom of God would come with power. This powerful event which Jesus prophesied was on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-4. The multitude that heard the twelve apostles proclaiming the wonderful works of God in their own languages were amazed, Acts 2:6-8. Peter explained to the crowd that this was the last days, spoken of by the prophet, Joel in Acts 2:16-21. This was the Kingdom of God.

This Kingdom of God was prophesied by an Old Testament prophet, Daniel. Daniel was one of the Israelites who was taken into captivity when Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC. In the book of Daniel, we read of Babylon’s king, Nebuchadnezzar, who had a dream which troubled him but he could not remember what it was about. He asked the wise men of his country, the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans to tell him what he had dreamt and what it meant. Of course, they could not answer him and told him, that no one would be able to answer his request. They did not take into account, the prophet of God, Daniel, who was in Babylon. Daniel 2;1-47 .

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the image which he dreamt about stood for different kingdoms. His own kingdom was symbolized by the head of gold. After him, another kingdom would overtake the Babylonians, signified by the breast and arms of silver, the Medo-Persians, Daniel 5:31-Daniel 6:1. Another prophet also foretold of this defeat of Babylon in Isaiah 13:16-19 and Isaiah 14:4.

The Medo-Persian Empire was followed by another kingdom which would “bear rule over all the earth”, the Greek Empire led by Alexander the Great, the Kingdom of Brass

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The Romans took over the Greek Empire, and are symbolized by the iron legs. Incidentally, Rome’s weapons were made from iron

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The feet of the image were iron mixed with clay, the divided kingdom of Rome. It was during this divided Kingdom that God would “set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand for ever”, Daniel 2:44. This is the Kingdom of God which was set up at Pentecost when the earthly Roman Empire was still in existence. It is not an earthly kingdom as the others were, as Jesus stated in John 18:36.

This spiritual Kingdom is the stone cut out of the mountain not made with hands. Hebrews 12:18-29 compares the nation of Israel with the new spiritual Kingdom of God brought in through Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. Hebrews 12: 18-29

Isaiah 2:2-3. This passage proclaims the establishment of the Lord’s Kingdom in the last days and that many nations would flow into it. This is what occurred at Pentecost and is still occurring today. Isaiah 2:3, “Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.”

Jesus preached that the time was fulfilled and that the Kingdom was at hand, Mark 1:15.

Jesus is the King and His Words will bring eternal life as Peter said before he confessed all their belief in Jesus as the Son of the living God. John 6:68-69.

After Jesus ascended into Heaven, Peter and the rest of the apostles preached unto others about Jesus telling them in Acts 2:38 to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins.

Jesus will receive you into His Kingdom today, if you will but believe in Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, confess your belief that He is the Son of the living God before others, repent of your sins and be baptized for the remission of your sins.

Mark 4:26-29 Now is the day for God’s harvest