The Kingdom Of God Is …

by Chris Simmons

There was much confusion, both yesterday and today, regarding the Kingdom of God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So many have concluded that the kingdom of prophecy (Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 9:6-7) was to be a physical kingdom with the Messiah as its literal king. Even the apostles did not understand as they asked of Him after His resurrection in Acts 1:6, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus was clear when He responded to Pilate in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” This kingdom would not be characterized by anything man could see with his eyes. When questioned by the Pharisees about the coming of the kingdom, Jesus replied in Luke 17:20-21 saying, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Yet with such clear assertions about the spiritual nature of the kingdom, man has continued to try and turn the spiritual into the fleshly regarding the Lord’s kingdom – the church. They’ve done so because Satan has been so effective at getting man to walk according to the flesh (Romans 8:5) and allowing the flesh to govern every decision. When we are “walking like mere men” (I Corinthians 3:3), we allow the things of this life to cloud and distort every judgment and decision we make, including those regarding the Lord’s church and every aspect of our life. This was true in the first century church when both Jewish and Gentile Christians defined their relationship in Christ on fleshly terms rather than spiritual. In Romans chapter 14, we read how “walking like mere men” had led to great problems in the church in Rome. They were allowing food and the eating of meat to divide them when it had been communicated by God that it simply does not matter either way (Romans 14:3-6). As Paul began to make the point that it’s not about asserting our rights and pleasing ourselves but about the building up of one another, he prefaced his closing remarks by reminding them in verse 17 that, “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Their problems stemmed from the fact that they had either misunderstood or forgotten the nature of the kingdom of God. When we also begin “walking like mere men” and forget the true nature and purpose of the kingdom, rest assured, similar problems will follow. We must be vigilant to remember and apply the truths found in Romans 14:17.

The “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking.” The church is not about satisfying the fleshly wishes and desires of man. Paul addressed this problem in the church in Corinth when they had perverted the Lord’s Supper into a fleshly feast. In I Corinthians 11:20, Paul makes the point that they were not coming together to honor and commemorate the Lord’s death but rather to satisfy their fleshly appetites. He described such an approach to the Lord’s Supper as coming “together not for the better but for the worse” (verse 17). The fleshly meals were to be taken at home (verses 22 and 34) while their coming together was to be spiritual (verses 23-26). Man continues to adulterate the kingdom of God by placing fleshly burdens on the church that God directed for the individual to bear. When Paul wrote the letter to Timothy, part of the “sound teaching” (I Timothy 1:10) he was to uphold was to “let not the church be burdened” (I Timothy 5:16) by placing our individual responsibility to provide for the fleshly needs of our family upon the Lord’s church. When we place social, recreational, or political causes upon the kingdom of God, we are violating God’s prescribed purpose for the Kingdom of God. When we come together as a church, our focus should be solely upon the worship and praise of God and not about satisfying our human or fleshly needs. If the kingdom of God is not about the things of this world, what then is it about?

First Paul says, the kingdom of God is about “righteousness.” The purpose of the church is not to entertain, amuse, or alleviate fleshly needs but it is about making man right with God. Beginning in Matthew 6:19, Jesus is clearly contrasting a focus on the things of this life verses that which is spiritual and will please our heavenly Father. He summarizes that point in verse 33 where He says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things (our fleshly needs) will be added to you.” Our driving and dominating “hunger and thirst” is to be right with God (Matthew 5:6). That’s what the kingdom of God is all about – making man right with his Creator and Redeemer. A righteousness born not of perfection but forgiveness through the proclamation of the gospel and our faithful obedience to it (Philippians 3:9). What a noble purpose the kingdom of God has and how sad it is to adulterate such a noble mission by seeking to entertain and pacifying the consciences of men with empty platitudes (Jeremiah 6:14).

Second, Paul says the kingdom of God is about “peace.” The purpose of the church is to help man resolve the conflict between himself and God and bring about reconciliation. Paul stated that his purpose in preaching the gospel was to preach what man needs to reconcile with God. In II Corinthians 5:17-21, Paul wrote, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Without the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ, Paul reminded the brethren in Ephesus (2:12) that they were, “separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Through the sacrifice of Christ, Paul went on to say in verses 15-16 that, “in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.” Through Christ, we can be part of the kingdom of God and enjoy a peace that is incomprehensible to the world (Philippians 4:7).

Finally, the kingdom of God is about “joy.” Paul, through the Holy Spirit, did not say the kingdom of God was amusement, humor, or fun. He spoke of joy that comes from being forgiven of all our sins and is not dependent on temporal circumstances. When David contemplated the impact of his sin against God, he petitioned (Psalms 51:12) that God would “restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.” We see the example of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:39, who responded with great rejoicing to the forgiveness he had just obtained through his obedience to the gospel. Only through the forgiveness of sins and the renewed fellowship with God can one truly “rejoice always” (Philippians 4:4; I Thessalonians 5:16) regardless of trials and tribulations we may face (I Peter 1:6-7). Can you imagine hearing the words from our heavenly Father, “enter into the joy of your Master” (Matthew 25:21)? The kingdom of God is about providing such eternal joy.