TEN TRUTHS YOU MAY NOT KNOW AND MAY NEVER WANT TO KNOW 9

By Nana Yaw Aidoo

TRUTH 9: The Kingdom Has Already Come

500 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Daniel prophesied about a kingdom that would be set up in the days of the Roman Kings (Dan.2:44). When Christ was born, He preached; "...the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt.4:17). The kingdom that Daniel had predicted and which the Jews looked forward to, was "at hand". Since the phrase "at hand" means "near", then our Lord was in effect saying, the kingdom of heaven was near.

It has been alleged by some that due to the Jewish audience of Matthew's gospel record, only the phrase "kingdom of heaven" was used throughout that book, since Jews would not mention the name of God in vain. Inasmuch as the Jews would not mention the name of God in vain, those who make such a claim are simply wrong. The phrase "kingdom of God" is used too in Matthew 6:33; 12:38 among others. Both phrases were used by our Lord to refer to the exact same thing.

Also, in the model prayer, which is popularly known as "The Lord's Prayer", our Lord taught His disciples to pray; "Our Father in heaven...Your kingdom come" (Matt.6:9-10). Furthermore, on the night our Lord was betrayed, as He instituted the Lord's supper, He said; "...I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22:18).

Friends, notice if you would that in the texts that have been quoted above, the kingdom was yet future. Christ would not say it was "at hand" and ask His disciples to pray that it come, if it had already come, would He? However, it needs be noted that the words used in the passages already referenced, were used before Christ went to the cross.

Try as you would, you won't see a single person who after the cross of Christ, preached "the kingdom is at hand" and prayed for the kingdom to come. Rather you'd see texts like; "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of love" (Col.1:13); "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken..." (Heb.12:28) and "I, John, both your brother and companion in the...kingdom...of Jesus Christ" (Rev.1:9). Why is it so you inquire? Because contrary to the speculations of dispensational premillenialists, the kingdom that Christ during His lifetime preached was "at hand", has come and has been in existence for 2 millenia.

If the kingdom has already come, then when did it come? In another prophecy about the kingdom, Daniel wrote; "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed" (Dan.7:13-14).

Notice that in this prophecy, Daniel stated that the Son of Man, would be given a kingdom, alongside "glory". Both the kingdom and the glory were to be received simultaneously by the Son of Man. Also, notice the use of "kingdom" in Matthew 20:21 and "glory" in Mark 10:37. Clearly, both the "kingdom" and the "glory" were to be received by the Son of Man at the exact same time. Thus, by knowing when the "glory" was received, we would have known when the "kingdom" was also received.

When then did the Son of Man receive "glory"? The apostle Peter wrote; "...God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory..." (1 Pet.2:21). Clearly, the Son of Man received "glory" after His resurrection. When specifically after His resurrection? Listen to the Son of Man Himself; "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" (Luke 24:46). Our Lord received the "glory" when He ascended into heaven. Hence the reason Daniel said the Son of Man received the things He received, when "He came to the Ancient of Days...". Thus, if the Lord was glorified when He ascended, then of a certainty, the Kingdom that was "at hand" during His ministry, came when He ascended to heaven.

Also, our Lord told the apostles; "...Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power" (Mark 9:1). The word "present" is literally "having come". Thus, the kingdom was to come with power, which our Lord later explained was actually the power of Holy Spirit baptism; "...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..." (Acts 1:8). Notice that right after making this statement, our Lord ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9-11). The Holy Spirit came in Acts 2:1-4. Therefore, if the kingdom was to come simultaneously with the power of the Holy Spirit, and if the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2:1-4, then it follows that the kingdom came on that fateful Pentecost day in Acts 2:1-4. That being the case, Paul could write that the Saints of old had been "translated into the kingdom", and John could confidently assert, he was "a brother in the kingdom".

What then is the kingdom? Friends, the kingdom is the church which Christ built. In Matthew 16:18, Christ promised to build His church. We see right after that statement, our Lord promised to give "the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt.16:19) to Peter. Clearly, the words "church" and "kingdom" were used interchangeably by our Lord. No wonder Luke wrote that the Lord "added to the church" (Acts 2:47), right after he recorded the coming of the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), which was to come alongside the kingdom (Mark 9:1).

Then comes the premillenialist, who asserts that Revelation 20 speaks about a future kingdom. J. Early Arceneaux forcefully refuted this position with these words; "When you go to the symbolical language of the Book of Revelation trying to prove a doctrine that is not plainly taught before you get to the book of Revelation, you are making Revelation teach something it doesn't teach and make it contradict what the Bible does teach. Some men go to the 20th chapter of Revelation to prove the kingdom is future. Well, long before that, before John began to prophesy at all, he said, "I am your brother in the kingdom." All of that just comes under the head of the old fundamental principle that the symbolical or the obscure passages must be interpreted in the light of the plain, and not the other way around" (The Kingdom Before and After the Cross).

The Lord will not in the future come and build an earthly kingdom and reign in Jerusalem for 1000 years. Funny how people call Christ the "King of kings" and in that same breath, claim the kingdom is yet future. How could the kingdom be "at hand" during the ministry of Christ, if it is yet future, even after 2000 years? If Christ is a King without a kingdom, then He's no King at all but a mere crown Prince. That is the bottomline friends. Premillenialism is heresy.

Since the kingdom is in existence today, it is written; "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father..." (1 Cor.15:24). Paul over here was talking about the bodily resurrection of the dead at the 2nd coming of Christ. Pray tell me how the Lord would at His return, deliver to the Father, a kingdom that would begin to exist when He returns?

The kingdom is the church and all who would obey the gospel just like those of old, by believing the gospel, repenting of all their sins, confessing faith in Christ and allowing themselves to be baptized unto the remission of their sins, would be added to this kingdom, just like those of old were (Mk.16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:35-39; Gal.3:27).

If you didn't know this truth, hopefully you do now.

God bless us all in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

(To be continued...)