What is the Kingdom of God?
The phrase "kingdom of God" runs through the Gospels and the letters, yet it is used in more than one sense — sometimes of something present and inward, sometimes of a glory still to come. Underneath every use lies one question: where is God's authority actually being carried out, and how does anyone come under it?
God's rule in action
At its root the term describes not a place but a power at work. One writer defines it by what that power does for those under it:
Scripture QuarterlyThe Kingdom of God is the authority and power of God exerted for the preservation of its subjects from the evil by which they are afflicted, and for subduing everything under His sway of blessing. It was exhibited in the Lord's works while He was here.
Because it is God's rule rather than a fixed territory, it can appear under very different conditions without changing its nature:
J. G. BellettThe subject of this short discourse is "the kingdom of God." That expression indicates a dispensation in which divine power is brought in. As the apostle says, "the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power." It is, I judge, as another has said, "the exercise or exhibition of the ruling power of God under any circumstances."
The King Himself standing among men
When religious leaders asked Jesus when the kingdom would come, His answer pointed to Himself rather than to a date:
Various"The Kingdom of God" occurs five times in our Gospel. It clearly expresses a different idea from the above. It has been described as "the exhibition of the ruling power of God under any circumstances." It was thus manifested when the Lord was here. So He could say (Luke 17:21), when unbelievingly asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was coming, "the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." It was there represented in His Own Person.
Its present character: righteousness, peace and joy
For those who belong to it now, the kingdom is described by moral realities rather than outward advantages.
James McBroomThe kingdom of God and of Heaven is a sphere on earth where the rule of God is maintained. It is not heaven nor in heaven as some have thought… Romans 14:17 explains it. Negatively — it is not eating and drinking, that is, not concerned with temporal things. Positively — it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is a sphere of good and blessing where grace reigns through righteousness, in contrast with the world where sin reigns. Three things mark it: the Lordship of Christ; the will of God, which is salvation; and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
This moral sense is why one writer notes the phrase can never be swapped for the other Gospel term:
William KellyThe apostle Paul frequently speaks of the kingdom of God, not as a dispensation but as a moral display. He says that "the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). He says, too, that "the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power" (1 Cor. 4:20). You could not say "the kingdom of heaven" in these cases.
The door is new birth
Nothing in a person's background, morals or religion opens this kingdom. Nicodemus, a respected teacher in Israel, was told so directly:
J. N. DarbyThis is what they desire visibly to behold, as is declared in John 3:3, "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God"; and to be brought into it — as in verse 5, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." The perception of this kingdom, therefore, and the entrance into it, clearly arise from their being "born again."
Hidden glory now, displayed glory later
The same kingdom has two very different appearances, and the difference is timing.
J. G. BellettHe teaches us that this kingdom of God is "not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" — but, by and by, it is to be "the days of the Son of Man," manifest, glorious power… It is hidden glory now — glory within, in the Holy Spirit, the glory of a sanctuary known only to God and the worshippers. It will be displayed glory by and by, or glory in the world, known from one end of heaven to the other.
Not the same as the church
Commentators are careful to keep the two ideas apart, since each has its own principle:
J. N. DarbyThe church is God's assembly, and, viewed in its heavenly place of association with Christ, it is the body of the Head. The kingdom is the sphere of government… Government is the great thought in the kingdom; but grace is the thought in the church.
That distinction has practical weight, because the kingdom's present boundaries are wider than real faith:
Michael HardtThe kingdom is not synonymous with the church. The church consists of true believers, living stones, members of the body of Christ. The kingdom contains all these but also nominal Christians. This explains why the wheat and the weeds are to be left to grow together in the kingdom, whereas in the church what is sown by the enemy is to be judged.
Summary
- Rule, not region — the kingdom is God's authority and power in action, protecting its subjects and bringing everything under His blessing.
- King present — that rule was seen in the Person of Christ, so He could tell His questioners the kingdom was already standing among them.
- Entry by birth — no advantage of character or religion admits anyone; seeing and entering both depend on being born again.
- Marks now — for those inside, it is not about food and drink but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, with Christ owned as Lord.
- Glory later — today the glory is hidden and inward; at the days of the Son of Man it will be displayed openly, known from one end of heaven to the other.