01.4. The Kingdom of God
(Isaiah 66:19) I will perform a mighty act among them36 and then send some of those who remain to the nations — to Tarshish, Pul,37 Lud38 (known for its archers39 ), Tubal, Javan,40 and to the distant coastlands41 that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. The Kingdom of God 1) Christ announced the arrival of the Kingdom, he did not merely "offer" it.
[Here, Christ speaks of the Kingdom as of something that people have already been entering since the days of John the Baptist; hence, he could not be referring to a future, physical kingdom that he was only offering - no one would have entered that Kingdom yet. But Dispensationalists will say that even today no one has entered it.]
Matthew 12:28 [Jesus did cast out demons; therefore, according to him, the Kingdom had already come.] Matthew 16:18-19 [Here, the establishment of the Church is seen in parallel with entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.] 2) If Christ had truly been offering a physical Kingdom, the Jews would not have rejected it.
John 6:15 3) Christ and the apostles spoke of the Kingdom as one that now has only a spiritual presence, in our midst.
Romans 14:17 4) The Church today is the Kingdom, and Christians are Kingdom citizens.
[Since the entire generation alive when Christ was on earth has died, the Kingdom must have come already; therefore, it cannot be a future, thousand-year reign.] 1 Corinthians 4:20
[The power that Paul was speaking of was already operative in the Church, as the context makes clear; therefore, the Church was to him essentially the same as the kingdom.]
Colossians 1:13 Revelation 1:5-6
Revelation 1:9 5) Christ sent the apostles out to proclaim the same gospel of the kingdom that he had proclaimed.
Matthew 24:14 6) This the apostles did.
Acts 28:30-31 7) Christ is now reigning from the throne of David.