... Have another look at what the Scriptures speak of concerning the
Kingdom of GOD and its Message/Gospel as preached by Jesus the Christ.
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I believe it is God's plan is to restore his kingdom government here on earth as he had in the past. The scripture in Daniel, which is prophecy concerning God's plan for our future. (Acts 1:6 )
I believe the above quote is scripturally correct.
The Gospel
began with Abraham [Gal 3.8] and it is concerned with the Promised Seed [Gal
3.16] and the Promised Land
[Gen 12.1, 13.14-17, 15.7,8,18; 17.6-8,
etc]
This is the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant.
However, the fact &
dilemma is
'Abraham never ever did inherit the Land'.
More on that
later.
The covenant was then expanded through David concerning his
lineage.
[2 Sam 7.12-14, 1 Chr 17.11-14, 22.10, 28.5-7, Psa 89.36-37,
etc]
(1 Chr 17:14) But I will settle him
in mine house and
in my
kingdom for ever:
and his throne shall be established for
evermore.
This Davidic Kingdom was GOD's Kingdom [2 Chr 9.8, 13.8], its
headquarters being in the Promised Land, its capital city being Jerusalem,
whereby GOD's viceregent ruled on the throne of David. [1 Chr 28.5-7]
This
Kingdom was the Kingdom of YAHWEH on earth.
This is the basis of the Davidic
covenant.
Sadly in the process of time, Israel fell repeatedly in sin,
which resulted in Israel being thrown out of the Land, and the
throne/viceregency vacated. [Ezek 21.27]
However, from that point
onwards, GOD through the prophets, has always promised that He would restore the
Kingdom, and that His chosen King, the Messiah, will one day be enthroned upon
David's throne; upon which he will inaugurate worldwide peace,
justice & righteousness.
[Ezek 21.27, Isa 9.7, Jer 23.5-6, 33.15-17,
Luke 1.32-33, Psa 89.35-37, Isa 2.1-4, Micah 4.1-4, etc]
(Ezek 21:27) I
will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more,
until he come whose right it is; and I
will give it him.
GOD made some
awesome Promises to Abraham, David & the Nation of Israel ... GOD keeps
His promises ... Jesus came to confirm all these
Promises. [Rom. 15.8]
GOD's Kingdom is all about
"Restoration Planet Earth, Restoration
Promised Land, Restoration Jerusalem, Restoration 'the throne of David'
"
Therefore, when Jesus came ... he came
preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of GOD ...
[Mark 1.14-15, Mat 4.17, 23;
9.35, 24.14, Luke 4.43, 8.1, 9.2,6]
(BTW the Kingdom of GOD and Kingdom of
Heaven are identical and synonymous. Kingdom of Heaven is simply a Jewish
circumlocution of the same term; used solely by Matthew) ...
Christ's
audience already knew from the OT (i.e. the Hebrew Bible) what was meant by such
a Kingdom. Jesus and his disciples were simply teaching and preaching the
requirements needed for one to enter the coming Kingdom.
Hence, when
Jesus was near geographical
Jerusalem, his disciples assumed that the Kingdom was to "now" appear; thus, the
Messiah gave the parable about the nobleman [Christ] going to a far country
[Heaven] to return with a kingdom. It is at his
return with the kingdom, that the nobleman rewards his faithful servants with rulership
over cities.
[Luke 19:11ff, cp. Rev
2.26-7]
The disciples' concept of the Kingdom and its appearing
wasn't wrong ... just the timing was wrong ... it wasn't yet to be. Christ had
to go away first, in order to return.
Again after Christ's resurrection,
after a 40-day seminar on the things concerning the Kingdom of GOD [Acts 1.3],
the disciples asked (Acts 1:6) When they therefore
were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Jesus
answered: (Acts 1:7) And he said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his
own power.
Again, there was nothing wrong
with their question, neither was there anything wrong with their concept of the
Kingdom (how could there be after being taught by the Messiah himself, the King de jure of the coming
Kingdom).
They understood the concept that
the Kingdom of GOD was to be restored to Israel.
It was just that the timing was not now ... it was yet
be ... namely at the Return/Parousia of Christ. And they were not to know when
that time would be!
Therefore, when Christ returns, he will raise the
faithful dead, and reward them with immortality, and rulership in the worldwide
Kingdom of GOD, its headquarters will be in the Promised Land, its capital city
being Jerusalem. From hence, GOD's Kingdom will be worldwide. The world will be
filled with the righteousness and peace of GOD.
[Isa 11.9]
How
about Abraham? He never ever did inherit the land!! As Stephen said, (Acts
7:5) And he gave him none inheritance in it, no,
not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him
for a possession, and to his seed after him, when
as yet he had no child.
How then shall Abraham, Isaac & Jacob,
inherit the Promised Land?? ... since ...
(Heb 11:13) These all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth.
(Heb 11:39-40) And these all, having obtained a good
report through faith, received not the
promise: 40 God having provided some better thing
for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
None of them
receive their promised inheritance, none of them received the promises.
How
shall this be resolved? Answer: At the return of Christ, when he resurrects the
saints, when Christ is enthroned upon the throne of his glory in Jerusalem; it
is then that the saints including Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, shall receive
their inheritance.
Truly, Abraham will be
heir of the
world. [Rom
4.13] Truly, the meek shall inherit the
earth. [Matt 5.5]. Truly, the saints shall
judge/administer/govern the world. [1 Cor 6.2]
(Mat 8:11) And I say
unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, in
the kingdom of heaven.
(Luke
13:28 ) ... shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God ...
(Mat
19:28 ) And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have
followed me, in the regeneration when the
Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory,
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.
(Mat 25:31) When the Son of
man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit
upon the throne of his glory:
(Rev 5:9-10) And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made
us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the
earth
Through
the Coming/Parousia of Christ with the Kingdom of GOD, all the Promises spoken
of in the OT (as well as the NT) shall be
literally fulfilled!!!
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Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world
Christ was saying that his Kingdom was not of i.e. from/ek this
world.
The Kingdom is not from this world ... it is from GOD. GOD will
set it up. It is GOD's Kingdom.
A Kingdom
of/from/ek Almighty
GOD.
Again, look at Daniel.
(Dan 2:34-35) Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that
were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay,
the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like
the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no
place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great
mountain, and filled the whole earth.
(Dan 2:44) And in the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven 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.
GOD's Kingdom,
the stone cut out without hands, will fill the
whole earth.
(Dan 7:27) And the kingdom
and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the
saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all
dominions shall serve and obey him.
GOD's coming Kingdom will be a
Kingdom under the whole heaven.
Because this Kingdom will come to the
earth from Heaven/GOD at the Coming of Christ, it is therefore called
...
'The Kingdom of Heaven' or 'The Kingdom of GOD'
The
Kingdom of Heaven is a Kingdom of Heaven, of
GOD,
i.e. a Kingdom from GOD ...
The Coming
Kingdom will be a Kingdom of/from Heaven,
not a Kingdom
in
Heaven!!
Abraham [Heb 11.9-10,16], Isaac
[Gen 28.4, Gal 3.14], Jacob
[Gen 35.10-12, 48.4], Daniel, all the Patriarchs,
etc., never ever for one moment imagined that their future Hope, the fulfillment
of GOD's promises would be a Land/Kingdom/City
in Heaven or any other place removed from this
planet. No! They all had the faith of Abraham
[Rom 4.12,16] and looked forward to this planet being restored, renovated and
reborn.
Hence Joseph's desire for his remains [Gen 50.25] to be placed in the
Promised Land. He shared the same Hope:
Being resurrected in the Promised
Land, the land of GOD's Kingdom, located on this planet. Again, read Matt
8.11.
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Jesus also said this present heaven and earth will pass away.
Indeed this present heaven & earth will pass away and give way to new heavens & earth that will be ushered in at the Coming of Christ and the inauguration of GOD's Kingdom.
How will it pass away? This present world will be renewed/restored/reborn in the Age to Come, the New age/epoch that will commence at Christ's coming.
(Mat 19:28 ) And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Acts 3:20-21) And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive [retain] until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
This world, this planet, this system of things, will be recreated, renewed, restored, regenerated, reborn! That is why Isa 65.17ff describes a wonderful earthly paradise, speaking of Jerusalem, longevity, lushness, abundance; and carnivorous and venomous animals being vegetarian and at peace [cp. Isa 11.6-9].
This is a picture of the future Paradise, as it was, in the Garden of Eden.
This Planet Restored
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this present heaven and earth will be burned up on the hour and day of Jesus Christ return. - Jesus return is compared to the day of the flood with Noah (2 Peter 3:5-6)
Look again ...
(2 Pet 3:5-7) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
The scriptures says that the heaven & earth of Noah's time perished! Amen! So it did. Every living thing perished. There was a mass depopulation. Only 8 humans and an ark full of animals survived.
However, was the planet itself destroyed. No! Was planet earth removed. No!
It was the same planet that was under judgment, the same planet overflowed with water, ... it was the same planet that had perished, that Noah, his family and the animals disembarked on to!
Remember, (2 Pet 3:6) Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
In like manner, at the coming of Christ, whereby Christ will
(2 Th 1:8 ) In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; this planet, this world will indeed perish, indeed pass away, indeed there will be a terrible judgment, indeed there will mass depopulation
[see Isa 24.1-23].
However, the same GOD that was able to preserve Noah and his family whilst the antediluvian world perished, is the same GOD who will preserve the immortalized, glorified saints, whilst fiery judgment is being meted out on this present heaven and earth at the end of this present evil age [Gal 4.4].
Nevertheless, after the fire, after the judgment, this planet will be renewed & reborn, it will be made fit to be ruled and administered over.
The saints will inherit the earth ... alongside Abraham, they will be heirs of the world, then they will reign with Christ over the world.
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rather they preach and teach of world peace or some type of paradise here on this present earth.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of GOD, as preached by Christ & his disciples, is about future world peace [Isa 2.4, 9.7, Micah 4.3], the future paradise [Lk 23.42-43], that will come upon this planet in the Age To Come.
It will be this earth, restored and renewed ... in such away that this present i.e. the former world, will not be remembered. [Isa 65.17] It will be such a transformation.
So, not only will the saints be transformed/changed [1 Cor 15.51-52] ... this planet also is looking forward to its transformation, its change; hence, it groans for the manifestation of the sons of GOD [Rom 8.19-23], which will not happen until the return of Christ.
I hope this post clarifies things and helps correct some erroneous assumptions about the Coming Kingdom of GOD.
