GOD'S RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM

Many people are taught that we are to seek God's Kingdom and strive to be citizens of that Kingdom. (Matthew 5:3, 6:33, 19:14). However, many people are a bit vague on exactly what this means. The purpose of this page is to show the reader exactly what the bible says regarding God's Kingdom.

Yahweh is the Most High King and Ruler of this Kingdom (Exodus 15:18, Psalms 10:16, Psalms 24:10, Psalms 47:7, Isaiah 43:15). Jesus Christ, His Son (Mark 1:11, Luke 1:32,35 Luke 3:22, John 1:14,34 John 3:16), is the most high Prince of this Kingdom (Isaiah 9:6, Daniel 10:21). God intended that the earth He created remain inhabited and that humans be the caretakers of the earth(Genesis 1:28, Genesis 9:1, Isaiah 45:18). But instead, sin entered into the world, which brought sickness and death to all (Genesis 3:1-19, Romans 5:12 ). Death was not in the original plan, death was the direct consequence of sin (Genesis 3:19-23).

God's Heavenly Kingdom is made up of the King Yahweh, the Prince Jesus Christ, and the myriads of servant angels (Deuteronomy 33:2, Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 5:11 ). The bible reveals that some angels are Seraphs, and some are Cherubs (Isaiah 6:2,6 Genesis 3:24 ). Yahweh's Kingdom will also include the earth (Matthew 6:9-10, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 21:1-4). The Kingdom is not just merely in individuals' hearts. We say this because when Jesus was speaking with the unrighteous Pharisees, he told them the Kingdom was in their midst (Luke 17:20-21 ). Since these Pharisees were unrighteous men, they would not have had the Kingdom in their hearts. What Jesus was referring to was the fact that he, at that time, lived and breathed among them. He, the Prince of the Kingdom, was in their midst.

Humans were not meant to rule each other (Ecclesiastes 8:9-11 Psalms 22:27-28, Psalms 115:1), therefore God would not set up a permanent human ruled society on earth. In fact, the whole issue of whether or not humans should rule themselves is what's gotten people into the state they are in now. (Please see the page titled "Bible Topics" on this website for further information on that matter) According to scripture, once Yahweh is finished allowing the issue of sovereignty to run its course, He is going to establish Heavenly rule over the earth. For the first thousand years He will allow His Great Prince, Jesus Christ, to rule over the earth after Satan is locked up for the thousand years (Revelation 20:1-4). Jesus will rule until he subdues all of God's enemies, including human power and rulership, and death (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). Once he has vanquished human governments and the last enemy, death, he will subject himself to God and hand the Kingdom back to Yahweh (1 Corinthians 15:27-28). Only then, when Death is no more, will God take back the Kingdom (Revelation 21:1-4).

This is where the millenial rulership of Christ comes in: According to scripture, Christ rules for one thousand years (Revelation 20:4). Scripture also states that Christ rules until all of God's enemies are destroyed, the last enemy being "Death" (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). Therefore, it will take one thousand years for Christ to accomplish this. This is supported in scripture, especially at Revelation chapter 20. (King James Version):
(vs. 4) ...and they lived and reigned with Christ for one thousand years. (vs. 5) But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished...

So here it's telling us that Christ anulls death's power over people, in effect destroying death. This is supported in that the next chapter, Revelation 21:4 states that death will be "no more". In fact, reading Revelation 21:1-4, it shows that God receives His kingdom back from Christ, which is sensible since Christ will by then have destroyed the last enemy, Death. This parallels the passage at 1 Corinthians 15:25-28.

Yahweh is a most benevolent God. He wants to rule us with love, kindness, and justice. Some of the things He will do for us once His Kingdom is established on earth: ( The Message bible)

1 - Revelation 21:1-4 I saw heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. I saw Holy Jerusalem new-created, descending respendent out of Heaven as ready for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making His home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good -- tears gone, crying gone, pain gone -- all the first order of things gone.
He will do away with pain, suffering and death.

2 - Isaiah 9:7 His ruling authority will grow, and there'll be no limits to the wholeness he brings. He'll rule from the historic David throne over that promised kingdom. He'll put that kingdom on a firm footing and keep it going with fair dealing and right living, beginning now and lasting always. The zeal of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies will do all this.
He will rule with peace forever.

3 - Daniel 2:44 But throughout the history of these kingdoms, the God of heaven will be building a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom ever fall under the domination of another. In the end it will crush the other kingdoms and finish them off and come through it all standing strong and eternal.
He will annihilate all the corrupt human governments on the earth.

4 - Isaiah 11:4-5 He'll judge the needy by what is right, render decisions on earth's poor with justice. His words will bring everyone to awed attention. A mere breath from his lips will topple the wicked. Each morning he'll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots, and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land..
The evil in the world will be done away with and righteousness will take its place.

Now the question is, when will this Kingdom of God come? According to scripture, first there will be a Great Tribulation that affects people globally (Matthew 24: 21-22). During this time there will be false Christs and false prophets misleading people, and we are warned to avoid falling for their false leadership (Matthew 24:23-28). The bible doesn't tell us how long this period will last, but it does go on to say that immediately after this Great Tribulation the sign of Christ's coming will appear (Matthew 24:30). (To read more about the Great Tribulation, read the page titled "Armageddon". ) Now, some people get confused about this, because elsewhere in the bible Jesus stated that the Kingdom would not be coming with great observableness (Luke 17:20). So if we're all going to see the sign of his coming, yet it won't come with showiness, how does this fit together? We need to look at the context of the passages. Starting with Luke 17:20
Here Jesus is interacting with the Pharisees (Luke 17:20). The Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God was coming. Jesus informed them the Kingdom was not coming with grand display, neither will people be saying "Here it is!" or "There he is!" pointing to the true Christ for the Kingdom was already in their midst. Now when Matthew 24:30 tells us that after the Great Tribulation the Son of Man will be revealed, this is not saying it will be in a grand and showy manner. It is simply saying he will be revealed, that the sign of his presence will appear. To clarify: Say you are waiting for a particular celebrity to come to your city. You don't know exactly when, but you know by news reports and such that it will be soon. You and many others are on the lookout for this celebrity. In their fervor, many of the people believe the limousine parked over there is him, or the fancy bus parked over there is him, and then some impersonators show up to confuse the issue further. All these aren't the real celebrity, but the crowd doesn't realize it. While everyone is busy and distracted with these things, a regular looking car pulls up. Emerging from the car is that very celebrity with his body guards. They remain present though nobody notices at first because they are expecting a fancy arrival and are chasing the false leads. It isn't until someone ignores the false leads and starts really looking that the arrival of the celebrity is revealed and exposed. In this same way the Kingdom of God will not be with grand display, yet the arrival of his presence will be seen. Meanwhile, we must be careful to avoid false leads and imposters.

Since God's word is truth (Psalms 31:5, Psalms 119:160) and it is impossible for Him to lie (Hebrews 6:18), and all that he has planned will actually come to fruition (Isaiah 55:10-11), we can be assured that He will re-establish His Kingdom in due time. And, going by the above scriptures, it will be a Kingdom like no other, full of love, peace, security and justice. No greater Kingdom could there ever be!

May God bless your continued search for His truth and righteousness!