The Kingdom Of God On Earth

It's Here Now!

This is the Ninth post in the series from Chapter 5 of Friends With God: God’s Called Out Ones. In the previous post we examined some of the characteristics of the true Church, and how to identify it.

In this post we will see what is meant by the statement: And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matt 16:13-19)

The Kingdom Of God Shall Be Taken From You

In chapter 21 of Matthew, Christ gives many parables against the Jewish religious leaders of his day. Finally, in verse 33-46 he gives the most pointed parable, in which he concludes by saying that the Kingdom of God will be taken from Israel and given to someone else. I will quote it all here as it is a very important statement, for he is changing the authority on Earth from physical Israel to the Church, which is spiritual Israel:

Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: (this is God giving the Kingdom to Israel) And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants (prophets) to the husbandmen, (Israel) that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. (They rejected the prophets’ teachings)

Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. (Christ is pictured as the son and heir)

When the lord therefore of the vineyard comes, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They said unto him, (The Jews listening to Jesus replied) He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus said unto them, Did you never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner (the corner stone): this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? (Jesus is the Corner Stone)

Therefore, say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

And whosoever shall fall on this stone (the corner stone of Jesus) shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them. (Matt 21:33-46)

They understood he was talking about them. Not only was the Kingdom to be taken away from Israel, but Jesus warned them that if they resisted him, they would be broken and ground into powder!

Also, Peter tells the church, of both Jew and gentile:

you also as living stones are built up (into) a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for (God’s) possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; you who then were not a people, but now (are) the people of God, those not pitied then, but now pitied. (1Peter 2:5, 9-10)

As discussed in this previous post, Ephesians 2:19 also identifies the Church as a spiritual nation: Now therefore you (gentiles) are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.

The church is part of the household of God. It is the ‘nation’ of Spiritual Israel, who are the modern representatives of the Kingdom of God on Earth. With this role, as shown in this parable, comes the great responsibility of bringing forth the fruits of the Kingdom for the King.  

The Greatest Prophet Tells It Straight!

John the Baptist also warned of the Kingdom of God being taken from Israel. He was the greatest prophet God ever called. (Matt 11:10-11) He played a critical role in telling Israel that they needed to change, as no longer was the historical and physical relationship with their ancestor Abraham (the friend of God) going to be adequate to maintain a relationship with God.  

When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptised by John, he was as blunt as could be:

he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet (appropriate) for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that comes after me (Christ) is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matt 3:7-12)

Strong words indeed. Yet these religious leaders still didn’t get it, so Jesus had to be even more blunt with them:

Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed on Him, If you continue in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. … If you were Abraham's children, (spiritually) you would do the works of Abraham.
But now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth which I have heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You do the deeds of your father.
… You are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. … He who is of God hears God's Words. Therefore you do not hear them because you are not of God.
(John 8:31-47)

The proof that they were not of God, was that they did not hear and understand the words of God. The Kingdom of God was taken from Israel as they were not of God. While they were the physical descendants of Abraham, they were not his spiritual children, as they did not follow God, but rather followed their father the Devil!

Jesus instituted a very clear change of responsibility- from those who are the physical children of Abraham, his friend, to those who are in the spiritual lineage of Abraham and are the friends of Christ. (John 15:14-15) 

The Kingdom Of God On Earth

Christ has put his friends in charge of the Kingdom of God on Earth today. Originally, we see that Abraham was the friend of God and his descendants were promised the blessings of that friendship:

You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, “And in your seed shall all the Kingdoms of the earth be blessed”. 
(Acts 3:25)

Then in the next verse we see that Christ was preached to them in preparation for the change of authority from Abraham’s physical seed to his spiritual seed:

Having raised up His son Jesus, God sent Him to you (Israel) first, to bless you in turning every one of you away from his iniquities. (Acts 3:26)

The Gospel about Christ was first preached to Israel, but then it was taken to the rest of the world. Indeed Christ was with Israel from the time of the Exodus, for we are told that he was that rock that followed Israel in the wilderness. (1Cor 10:1-4) Israel, however, as a nation, constantly rebelled against the Word of God, both then, and when he appeared in the flesh. As Stephen said:

O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit.
As your fathers did, so you do. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?
And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One,
of whom you have now been the betrayers and murderers;
who received the Law through disposition of angels, and did not keep it.
(Acts 7:51-53)

The authority for preaching the Kingdom of God to the world was consequently taken away from the Nation of Israel, and given to the Church.

Yet Israel has not been totally rejected by God. As Paul tells us in Romans, it is just that for a period of time they are not responsible for preaching about the Gospel of Christ. (Rom 11:1-36) They will, however, be given this responsibility again, after the return of Christ. (Zec 14:16-21)

The responsibility for preaching the Kingdom of God was taken from a single, national, physical group of people Israel, and given to the Church- which is not a single national group, but can be as small as “two or three gathered together in my name”.

The Called Out Ones

The original word for church in Greek (ecclesia), means a group of called out individuals, or an assembly. Israel was also called “the church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38) Israel was also called out of Egypt to form a nation in a new land. However, Christians are to actually remain in the world, but we are called out of living the way of the world. We are to be in the world but not of it:

I do not pray for You to take them out of the world,
but for You to keep them from the evil one. 
(John 17:15)

John 17 is the prayer that Christ prayed for the church before he was killed. This prayer gives a lot of insight into the role of the Church, and what God expects of us.

A nation is a very large autonomous group of people, often related to each other by ancestry, land and laws. Yet a group of ‘called out’ people, as the Church is, denotes that they come from “somewhere”. As stated above, we are called out of living the way of the world, while also living in the world as a light to the world.

We are not taken out of the world when called by God, but, as Jesus continues in his prayer, we are taken from amongst the world, in order to live the life of Christ in it.

They (the Church) are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them (the Church) through Your truth. Your Word is truth. As You have sent Me into the world, even so I have sent them (the Church) into the world. (John 17:16-18)

The Church is expected to live in the world as a light to it. (Matt 5:16) So, unlike the physical nation of Israel, we are to be in the world, but not of it. We are to be in Christ’s name, to live a life that shines the light of God into this world.

Jesus continued in his prayer for the church:

And I do not pray for these alone (talking about the Apostles), but for those also who shall believe on Me through their word, (which is you and me) that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. (John 17:20-22)

We are to be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You. This could be a large group, or it could be a few people, there is no indication that it’s just one single group.

The critical factor is not the size, but that we are in Christ in the same way as Christ was in the Father. Which is the same as truly being in Christ’s name:

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt 18:20)

Being one with God is not about being unified physically like a nation, in once place, but being a unified spiritual body, that is unified by the Spirit of God guiding us individually:

you also as living stones are built up (into) a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1Peter 2:5)

While it is a spiritual house, is its spiritual structure manifested in the physical structure of the Church today?

In the next post we will examine the parameters of the physical structure that Christ requires the Body of the Church to work within today.

God’s Relationship With Israel

Given the rise of anti-Jewish feeling in the world today, I would like to restate that God has not abandoned the physical nation of Israel.  For the time being, Israel is in great distress because they have rejected God, but when their time of blindness to the truth of God is over, the remnant of Israel will live in the land and God will pour the Holy Spirit out on them. (Isa 44:1-5, 21-28, Rom 11:1-36)

The knowledge of God will fill the land of Israel, and will indeed spread out from Israel over the whole earth. (Zec 12:1-9, Zec 14:16-21, Isa 41:1-20, Isa 60:1-22)

The physical nation of Israel, once converted by the Holy Spirit of God, will be involved in the spread of the knowledge of God to all nations. Israel may be being chastened by God now, but God has not abandoned his people. He will complete what He began and will again use Israel for spreading righteousness throughout the world.