18-CHAPTER XIV GOD’S UNIVERSAL PLAN OF THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH

CHAPTER XIV GOD’S UNIVERSAL PLAN OF THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH The Royal Sovereignty (Kingdom) of God is the Chief Content of the Whole Biblical Historical Revelation

All these mighty developments in the realm of the Divine, human, and Satanic belong to the history of the kingdom of God. The "Kingdom" is the real basic theme of the Bible. It is the surrounding historical frame in which the whole course of revelation is being consummated. All ages and periods of the Divinely revealed ways; all groups and persons addressed, whether Israel, the nations, or the church; all temples, sanctuaries, and redeeming acts; all heavenly and demonic activities, whether in the foreground or background, stand in some way, either positively or negatively, in connection with the history of the kingdom of God. The kingdom itself is the royal saving work of God to the carrying through of His counsels in creation and redemption.

Therefore the most correct and inclusive translation of the Greek word basileia, used for "kingdom," is rather kingly rule than kingly realm.¹ It signifies far more than merely the sphere of a king’s rule, king’s territory, province, district, state, or area. It is nothing static, but a dynamic; no mere motionless circle but rather to be compared to a line; no mere enclosed section of time, but a continuous acting and becoming. It is the kingship of the Most High working salvation, that is, quite generally, it is the royal authority of the Savior God, His government as a living and powerful Divine action, revealing itself in ever new forms of self-manifestation, in the course of many dispensations and periods.

It is the kingly rule of God as, coming down from heaven, it will be set up on the old earth by way of redemption, and in perfected form will be continued on the new earth for ever. But then "kingdom of God" is more than "Millennial kingdom" (see TheTriumphoftheCrucified, p. 27). Already in the Old Testament God’s rule was termed "kingdom of God," even the kingdom which must be taken away from its then possessors, the Jews, because of their unbelief (Matthew 21:43). Also the present age of the church is termed "kingdom of God," hidden indeed in a mystery (Matthew 13:11), but nevertheless full of power and activity.⁴ And the eternal state, the final perfecting, is "kingdom of God" in the fullest sense of the term, even the heavenly kingdom, unto which the apostle expected to be pre­served (2 Timothy 4:18). And because all this comes from heaven, carries heaven in itself, and has in God, as the King of heaven, its creative base and its dominating summit, therefore is this kingship of God at the same time the kingship of the heavens. For where God is there is heaven, and where He reigns He brings heaven in His person.⁵ Therefore the message of His kingly rule is at the same time the "gospel [good news] of the kingdom," that is, the joyful message, which saves and blesses, that God is King. That the expression "the gospel of the kingdom," in this special sense, is not used by Paul, bears nothing against the above explanation. Apart from the term "passover" in 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul nowhere uses the term "Lamb of God," but no one will infer from this that for him the message concerning the Lamb does not dispensationally apply to this age of the church. In matters of expression each of the inspired writers has his own personal, God-wrought characteristics, peculiar to each, but all having in common that they set forth the same New Testament truth of salvation. For us who live in the present age of the church, and who as believers on Christ belong to the New Testament church, it is of great importance, at the close of our explanations as to the Divineplanofredemption,toenquire in what attitude the New Testament church stands to this kingdom. In view of the fact that this kingdom is such a tremendous reality which in the course of the Millenniums reveals itself in ever new forms, this question can only be answered by further asking:In what relation does the church of the New Testament stand to these single manifold revealed forms of the kingdom in the various dispensations of past, present, and future? Here in fact the Holy Scripture gives an unusually full answer. The Relation of the New Testament Church to the Old Testament Rule of God (Theocracy) This is threefold:

The Relation of the New Testament Church to the Present Kingdom This also is manifold. We think now of the present form in which the kingly rule of God appears in its full spiritual sense as the kingdom in mystery, that is, of the sovereign rule of God in the period between the first and second comings of the Lord. In this sense we say:

All members of the body belong to the kingdom and all true citizens of the kingdom belong to the church. Dead professors belong only to the sphere of influence of the kingdom (Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 13:41; Matthew 22:11-14). as do all effects of Christianity in morals, art, culture, laws, and world-history; but to the real kingdom itself belong only those who have been born anew (John 3:3; John 3:5). In the present age these form the church. Therefore in the various periods of history the respective generations of the church, living at any time on earth, represent at the same time the citizens of the kingdom (Ephesians 2:19; Php 3:20; Colossians 1:13).

Further; the church is the fruit of the kingdom, in that she is the eternal outcome of the activity of the present kingly rule of God in Christ through His Word and His Holy Spirit. For by the preaching of the "word of the kingdom" as the joyful message of the redeeming sovereignty of the Savior God, and by its being believed, there arises the church (Acts 20:25; Acts 28:31). According to Paul the preaching of the gospel is a command to repent.⁶ and conversion is an act of obedience and submission (Acts 26:19). Thus conversion is both the acknowledgment of the kingly rule of God, and at the same time—in its inseparable connection with the new birth—the entrance into the membership of the church; and so, with the establishing of God’s kingly rule in a human heart the building up of the church is effected. Therefore the church is the fruit of the kingdom. The church perfected is, then, the total of all who in all times and places have accepted Christ as their Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3), and who thereupon have been translated out of the authority ’of darkness into the kingdom (basileia) of the Son of God’s love (Colossians 1:13). This means that the New Testament church in its entirety is the full number of all citizens of the kingdom in the present age, the sum of all generations of believers under the present form in which the kingdom of God appears. As regards the spiritual life, the relation of the church to the present rule of God is that of a living organism for the Spirit. The church is present where Christ is acknowledged as Lord by redeemed men. Thus the kingly rule of God is its spiritual essence. The church is the organism in which the kingly rule of God through His Holy Spirit is recognized in principle and realized in practice (1 Corinthians 12:3). Therefore Paul compares the ecclesia to a political state (Php 3:20). The redeemed are a "people" (Acts 15:14), fellow "citizens" with the saints (Ephesians 2:19), a "kingly" priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), and Paul, the especial apostolic standard-bearer of the truth of the church (Ephesians 3:1-10), describes his fellow-workers in the church as being at the same time his fellow-workers unto the "kingdom of God" (Colossians 4:11). And finally In the present age the members of the church are the ambassadors of the kingdom. We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). The church has to represent its heavenly government in this world as in a foreign land, that is, God, its Lord, and Christ in whose kingdom she is (Colossians 1:13). This is their life-work on earth.

Thus the relationship of the New Testament church to the present form of the kingly rule of God has chiefly a fourfold aspect: As to their persons they are citizens of the kingdom: as to their existence they are the fruit of the message of the kingdom: as to their nature they are the organism of the kingdom: as to their task they are the ambassadors of the kingdom.

Thus behind the whole history of the church stands the authority of the kingdom. Furnished with this royal and full authority of the King of all kings (Matthew 28:18-20) she can proclaim the royal and saving command of God (Acts 17:30; Romans 16:26; 1 Corinthians 9:16) and can do so in the triumphant certainty that the Lord of all Lords is with us. Our kingdom cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). The Coming One will come and will not delay (Hebrews 10:37), and at last we shall "see the King in His beauty" (Isaiah 33:17). The Relation of the New Testament Church to the Eternal Kingdom The kingdom of God in its form as the kingdom of glory will be the sphere of the activerule of the church:"Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3):"Fear thou not, thou little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). The church is thus the ruling aristocracy, the official administrative staff, of the coming king­dom of God. The kingdom of God as the future kingdom of glory is the inheritance of the church. The sanctified in Christ will inherit the kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:10; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:5). They will enter into it (Acts 14:22). It is the goal of their pilgrimage. They are called unto this kingdom.⁷ (1 Thessalonians 2:12). It is their reward. They will be "counted worthy" of the kingdom for the sake of which they suffered in the present time. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17"5)

Thus as regards the future the church will be "in" the kingdom. She is one circle in a greater circle, but among the separate circles which make up the whole circle she is of all the highest.

Thus the church stands in a living relation to all forms of the kingdom. The kingdom of power shall become the kingdom of glory: between lies the kingdom of grace, whose essential content is the redemption. But the church is at the centre of the whole. All revelations of the kingdom are joined to her essence and existence. The whole course of time is bound up with this people of eternity. But above all, the King Himself is her own: for Christ her Head, is at the same time given to her as Head over the universe (Ephesians 1:22).

Therefore it becomes us to walk worthily of this high calling (Ephesians 4:1). We have, with Paul, to proclaim the kingly authority of God (Acts 20:25; Acts 28:31). It becomes us to be witnesses and evangelists so as to win souls for Christ, that obedience of faith may be found among all nations (Romans 1:5; Romans 1:15; Romans 1:18; Romans 16:26).

Thus our message of the gospel is at the same time a proclamation of the Kingdom (Acts 20:25). We proclaim both the present and the future kingdom.⁸ In this sense gospel workers of the church are "fellow-workers unto the kingdom" (Colossians 4:11). The Kingdom Message of the Church As regards the moralconduct of men we proclaim the kingdom as a totalitarianclaimofGod. To preach the gospel means to proclaim as a herald, with Spirit-filled authority, God’s announcement of remission of sins.⁹ Behind the saving command stands the royal authority of the supreme Lord of the universe. God offers to man His gift of salvation, and at the same time commands him to accept it (Acts 26:19; Acts 17:30). And has He been able to show to a man His grace, then from that time this grace will rule him royally (Romans 5:21, lit.; 1 Corinthians 7:19). His whole being and existence, in all its connections, spheres of life, and circles of activity will thenceforth come under the sole and total rule of his kingly Lord. In view of man’s poverty we proclaim the kingdom as the gift of God. The Scripture teaches that not on earth but in heaven will the future kingdom be handed to Christ (Daniel 7:13-14; Luke 19:12). Its course is not from below to above, but from above to below. It is not a payment for human merit, but a free gift of the grace of God. It comes not from progress but through collapse, not from moral activity but by Divine renewal. Not Christianizing the world until civilization has been Christianized, but increasing enmity of the world until Christianity is expelled by civilization—this is the course foretold by prophecy (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; Revelation 13:1-18). Thus completely does man himself display his utter incapacity to enter into God’s royal thoughts concerning salvation and His kingdom. Not by reconciliation, but by increasing conflict, not by alliance between God and the vainglory of man, but by the smashing of the God-estranged kingdom of the world by the kingdom of God (Daniel 2:34; Daniel 2:44-45)—thus will arrive the completion of the present age. This truth has also a high apologetic value. Far from being a reason against the message of the Bible, this very increase of the general unbelief becomes an unwilling proof of the accuracy of Biblical prophecy. But finally, after the judgments of the End time, the kingdom of God will be to men His—gift. In the light of the utter weakness of men we proclaim the kingdom as the power of God. Only the kingdom of the Divine King, when He appears, will be in a position to solve the political and social problems of mankind. Christ alone will be the Arbiter who will bring peace to the nations (Isaiah 2:2-4). He will be the first to pronounce true justice for the poor and the widow, and introduce a just distribution of property (Isaiah 11:3-5). He first will overcome evil in man and give to the peoples pure lips (Zephaniah 3:9). Thus will He introduce a true human fellowship, and by the power of God His kingdom will be one of peace, righteousness, holiness, and love. As regards the longing of men we proclaim the future kingdom as God’s goalformankind. The kingly rule of the Eternal alone can bring the fulfillment of all man’s ideals. Then first will arrive the realization of a true, noble humanity. Therefore in Holy Scripture the promised kingdom is described as the " king­dom of the Son of man," that is, as the kingdom that shall no more have as its motto and escutcheon the wild beast but the countenance of man. It will be the kingdom of the God-King who will then free mankind from its sub-human, wild beast character, and for the first time set on the throne of inter­national history true humanity in the meaning of the Creator, even the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27).¹⁰ In the light of the enmity of man we proclaim the kingdom as the victory of God. The stone which shattered the colossus of Nebuchadnezzar went on to fill the whole earth (Daniel 2:35; Daniel 2:44; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 19:11-21). Therefore it becomes the believer to have a confident spirit, an assurance of victory, and courage. Therefore away with all fear of ruin and all little faith! Away with all fear of man and all cowardice in witnessing! The gospel is no hole-and-corner affair! Eternal victory belongs to the affairs of the King!

Finally: In view of all humangreatness we proclaim the kingdom as the gloryofGod. Therefore we praise Jesus Christ, declare His excellencies (1 Peter 2:9), show the greatness of His royal power and the majesty and exaltation of His person. He Himself is the content of our message:"we preach not ourselves but Jesus Christ, and Him as Lord" (2 Corinthians 4:5).

"Now to Him [the Father] the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable, whom no man hath seen nor is able to see, to Him be honor and power eternal. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:15-16.)

Notes ¹In this connection the Greek word basileia has a double meaning in Holy Scripture. It signifies:

(a) the territory of a king:e.g. Matthew 4:8, therefore the plural "kingdoms of the world"; 12:25; Mark 6:23.

(b)"empire, kingdom, kingship," in the sense of existence, state, dignity, ruling activity of a king, thus kingly government, kingly authority; e.g. Revelation 17:18.

²The bare translation "state" does not sufficiently express the kingly significance of the word. The Greed basileia is connected with basileus a king. Therefore the verb basileuein means not only rule as a king, e.g. by Paul in Romans 5:21.

³Concerning the different consecutive forms in which the kingdom has appeared see The Triumph of the Crucified, p. 23f., including the footnote; also Ch. X1.

⁴Romans 14:17; Colossians 1:13; Colossians 4:11; Acts 20:25; Acts 20:28; Acts 20:31.

⁵ For more detailed treatment of the relation between the expressions " kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God," both by the rabbis and the Lord Jesus, see Triumph of the Crucified, pp. 22ff. The expression "kingdom of heaven" is used by Matthew only, and by him 32 times. He used it in numerous places where Mark and Luke, on the same occasions and in the same statements by the Lord, employ the term "kingdom of God"; for example:

Matthew 4:17—Mark 1:15.

Matthew 5:3—Luke 6:20 Matthew 11:1—Luke 7:28 Matthew 13:1—Luke 8:10 Matthew 19:14—Luke 18:16 ⁶Acts 17:30; Romans 16:26; 1 Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 6:2; Romans 5:21.

⁷"Called" in the sense that peers are summoned by the sovereign to attend at the House of Lords. [Trans.]

⁸Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 4:20; Colossians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; Acts 14:22.

⁹"Proclaim":Gr. kerussein, from keryx, a herald. 1 Timothy 2:7.

¹⁰See in Daniel 7:1-28 the symbols of the world empires, lion, bear, panther, and terrible beast, and then (v. 13) the appearing of the kingdom of God in the for of a Son of man. Upon the title "Son of man" see The Triumph of the Crucified, pp. 21f.