The Kingdom of God

The “Kingdom of God” is mentioned frequently in the Gospels (Mark 1:15, 10:15, 15:43; Luke 17:20) and in other parts of the New Testament (Acts 28:31; Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 15:50). “The Kingdom of God” and “the Kingdom of Heaven” are synonyms, though “the Kingdom of Heaven” is only found in the Gospel of Matthew. The concept of the “Kingdom of God” has different levels of meaning in various biblical passages. Generally speaking, it refers to the eternal reign of God who rules over all things in the universe.

The LORD is the sovereign ruler of the universe, and in this sense, His kingdom is the entire universe (1 Timothy 6:15). Several biblical passages show that God is the undeniable King over all creation: “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). Furthermore, as King Nebuchadnezzar said, “his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” (Daniel 4:3). All existing authority is established by God (Romans 13:1). So, in one sense, the Kingdom of God encompasses everything.

In a more specific sense, the Kingdom of God is a spiritual reign over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority. The Kingdom of God involves repentance and being born again, as God reigns over the hearts and minds of His children in this life in preparation for the future. Those who deny God’s authority and refuse to submit to Him do not belong to the Kingdom of God. In contrast, those who acknowledge Christ as Lord and willingly surrender to God’s rule are a part of His kingdom. In this sense, the Kingdom of God is spiritual—Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), and He preached that repentance is necessary to be a part of it (Matthew 4:17). The Kingdom of God can be equated with the realm of salvation, as is evident in John 3:5-7, where the Lord Jesus says that a person must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is also used in another sense in the Bible: a literal, earthly reign of Christ during the millennium. However, Daniel said, “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44; 7:13-14), and many prophets foretold the same thing (Obadiah 1:21; Habakkuk 2:14; Micah 4:2; Zechariah 14:9). Some theologians point out that currently, the Kingdom of God is mysteriously manifesting as the “kingdom of grace.” In the future, the Kingdom of God will be openly revealed as the “kingdom of glory.” However, these two manifestations are interconnected; Christ has already established His spiritual reign in the church on earth, and one day, He will establish His visible, earthly reign in Jerusalem.