This study was first taught on January 21, 2018

Topic: What Kingdom? Which Israel? What Timing?_5:The Natural v. The Spiritual_3.1_What Kingdom? (A General View)

(use the audio to study)

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Background
The last time we studied “What Kingdom? Which Israel? What Timing?: The Natural v. The Spiritual” we focused on the second question, “Which Israel?” and concluded that while Jesus’ disciples at the time were asking about the physical nation of Israel, the Lord Jesus was talking about a nation without physical borders, without natural nationality, and without natural or biological affiliations of any sort (John 1:12-13)!

Indeed, we saw that after the fall of Adam; at the call of Abram; and, through the Old Testament prophets, God had in mind, to bring the Gentiles into His fold, His family, His household, His ‘nation’. Unfortunately, most people did not understand God’s plan. And even after revealing His plan to some, they found it hard to accept, and integrate themselves into it, hence, there were discriminations and all sorts of ‘doctrines’ that sort to make people to become Jews first as the basis for salvation in the New Testament Era! The truth is, God’s eternal plan was for peoples of every nation and tongue to be part of His kingdom. The Church is a term that refers to all those who, through faith in Jesus Christ, come to God. The Church is also referred to as the household of God; the new Israel of God—the spiritual Israel.

The mystery of God bringing all peoples into one sheepfold was not only revealed to the New Testament apostles and prophets; they were also given the task of telling the whole world about this mystery and to bring in as many as receive the message into the Church, through baptism. As a result, the Church of God, is the only ‘nation’ where all peoples are family, with no second-class family members, and, no discrimination of any sort whatsoever between any peoples group (Acts 6:1)!

The manifold wisdom of God is displayed by the Church of God, when peoples of all tribes and tongues assemble under Christ to worship God in spirit and in truth; and even though their natural tribesmen may indeed be at war against each other in the world, those who are the Church must never be at loggerheads with each other! Hence, the Church does not and should not participate in any form of discrimination, neither partisanship, nor indeed identification based on any physical/biological attributes, like nationality, ethnicity, etc.

The Church ought to go all over the world, and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, inviting all and sundry into the glorious kingdom of God without barriers of any sort other than that they follow the word of God and are led by the Spirit of God! This also, is our assignment, of which the Lord spoke in Acts 1:7-8. We paraphrased these verses thus: “It is not for you to know the times and seasons which God has put in His own authority, but you go, and tell everyone, everywhere, about the good news of salvation to all men, regardless of tongue, tribe, skin colour, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, and so on. And you shall be adequately equipped for this task, when the Holy Spirit, the Promise of the Father, which I had mentioned earlier, comes upon you. When that happens, begin to spread the message first in Jerusalem, and then in all Judea and Samaria, and then, spread out to the ends of the earth; but make sure that all peoples everywhere hear about this message, and get an opportunity to come into the household of God, otherwise the end will not come!”

Scripture Text(s)
Acts 1:6-8
Having established the spiritual aspect of the Lord’s response to the issue of “times and seasons” or timing, and of Israel, we shall now seek the Lord’s mind on the issue of the “kingdom”. May the Holy Spirit grant us understanding as we study, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
In our scripture text, the disciples asked about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. So, what does ‘kingdom’ signify? Understanding this, will go a long way in appreciating and putting together the spiritual Israel of God and the timing of God, which we have already studied. The word ‘kingdom’ signifies the rule by a ruler or governor, his reign or governance, and his realm or government. So, when the disciples asked about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, they were asking about the restoration of the rule, reign or realm to Israel—in other words, self-government. But what is the Lord’s mind on this matter? We shall take a look at this matter in general in this study, and in the next we shall look at the specifics as it affects Acts 1:6-8, and its implication for all that we should be doing in Christendom.
Isaiah 11:6-7; Colossians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17; Ephesians 6:11-12; John 8:43-47; Genesis 3:1-13; 1 John 2:15-16; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 8:7; Daniel 2:44; 7:14; Luke 17:20-21; Romans 14:17; John 18:36.

Conclusion
The word ‘kingdom’ could mean rule, reign, or realm. The totality of any kingdom is the realm over which a ruler reigns. For our purpose, the word ‘kingdom’ refers to a realm—physical territory, group of individuals, or an individual over which Satan, Self, or the Son of God reigns as sovereign.

The nature of the ruler—Satan, Self, or the Son of God—characterizes each kingdom, and this nature manifests in the lives of the individuals over which the ruler reigns.
• The kingdom of Satan, and the individuals who are under that rule, for instance, manifest a life that is filled with chaos, darkness, wickedness, evil, unbelief, unrighteousness, deception, etc., and the means of rulership is through oppression and terror.
• In the case of the kingdom of Self, the signature is the love for and desire of self, and it includes, nationalism, imposition of self upon others, democracy, desire for self-elevation, self-actualization, self-determination, etc.; and terms like greatness, fame, wealth, are freely bandied. The form of rule is subterfuge, hypocrisy, politics, religion. It usually manifests as “my way only”; dominion over others, hence, conquest and captivity, or the conqueror and the conquered. Those who are subjects of Self make career, vocation, worldly titles, fame, wealth, world acclaim, etc., their pursuit, which they prosecute with vigour and determination. This is a kingdom of ‘anything goes’—a ‘do as you like’ kingdom!
• The characteristics of the kingdom of the Son of God is one in which the individuals have been freed from the shackles of sin and self, and are thus able to submit to God and His word willingly and out of love from the heart. The individuals under the rule of the Son manifest love, peace, joy, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control or control by the Holy Spirit. It is a kingdom that is not about food and drink or the ‘good things of life’, rather, it is marked by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost! The kingdom of the Son is not necessarily a physical territory, but a heart that is surrendered to the governance of God in all its ramifications. This is a kingdom of order and of divine laws; it is a kingdom of obedience to the word of God and to every ordinance of man (which does not conflict with God’s ordinance); it is a kingdom of divine service, not of pew-warming! The kingdom of the Son is marked by liberty (freedom from sin and self); not liberalism (freedom to do as you like without law or discipline)!

So, while the disciples may have been asking, “Will you at this time restore again or unseat the rule of the Gentiles over our nation, Israel, and replace it with a government of Jews by the Jews?”, the mind of the of the Lord speaks to us on this wise “My kingdom is not of this world—it is not a kingdom that you have ever seen or can easily learn; No! it is a kingdom that must be etched in the hearts or the inner man of each individual who submits himself to my rule. Such individuals must be ready to give up everything for me, and be ready to do the Will of My Father only at all times!”

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