The most basic principle that we must understand about the kingdom is that Jesus is the King of the coming kingdom. That may sound ridiculously obvious, but it has been easily forgotten by those who sought to prepare the way for His kingdom throughout history. Actually, many of the greatest mistakes made by Christians throughout the church age were made by overlooking this most basic truth. Of course, we know it in our minds, but it is not believing in our minds that results in righteousness, rather it is believing in our hearts (see Romans 10:10). Therefore, let us humble ourselves and always be ready to receive the exhortation that Jesus is the King of His kingdom and the Head of His body, the church.
Another basic principle is that the church is not the kingdom. The church is obviously a part of the kingdom, but it is not the kingdom. It is not supposed to be the focus of the Gospel we preach. In fact, our goal should not be just to lead people to the church, but to the kingdom. Granted, if someone is led to the kingdom they will become a vital member of the church, which is His body. However, someone can be led to the church without being led to the kingdom.
You must be born-again just to see the kingdom, but seeing it does not mean that you have entered it. Entering the kingdom is living in the domain of the King. If we are living in the kingdom, we will know and appreciate our citizenship there more than that of any earthly country. We will be bonded to the other citizens of the kingdom more than we will be bonded to the citizens of any earthly country. The citizens of the kingdom are "a holy nation," separate and distinct from all of the other nations on the earth.
You can be a member of almost any church and not understand your citizenship in the kingdom, which should bond us to other Christians far more than our membership in any church organization or movement. I am a local church man, and always have been. I do not believe that we can mature in Christ as we are called to do without a vital, living relationship in a local church. I do not believe that we can be properly joined to the Head without also being properly joined to His body, the church. However, our citizenship in the kingdom trumps our citizenship in any church or movement. Just as the Apostle Paul's Roman citizenship gave him certain rights and benefits anywhere that he went in the empire, our citizenship in the kingdom has benefits that are far greater than that.
Again, the benefits of citizenship in the kingdom trump any benefits we have through any church movement or denomination. As we proceed toward the coming of the kingdom, this truth will become a reality in the church and will not undermine the true church, or its local expressions, but greatly strengthen the true church, bonding its members more to the Head than to any other organization. This will also begin to erode the barriers erected between churches and believers in different movements and denominations.
A true vision of the kingdom does not negate a healthy vision for the church or a devotion to local church life as it is intended to be. The church is the bride of the King and will rule with Him over His kingdom. Preparation of the bride is a vital part of preparing the way for His kingdom. The true friends of the Bridegroom are devoted to helping the bride get ready for Him. The church is His queen, and we must treat her with all of the dignity, respect, and honor that she is due.
As the bride of Christ, the church has the most exalted position next to His in the kingdom, but our purpose here is not to prepare the way for the church, but for the kingdom. Our purpose is not to preach the church, but to preach the kingdom. In relation to the kingdom, the church is a means to a higher end, not the end itself. The church is called to serve with Him to restore the earth, but the earth is not for the church, but for Him. When the church begins to overly focus on herself, she ceases to become what she is called to be—Christ-centered, not self-centered. The church exists for the Lord, not the other way around.
The church is being prepared to rule with Christ in the kingdom, and part of this preparation is preparing the way for the kingdom. Focusing on the coming kingdom and the work required to prepare the way for it is one of the major ways that we are changed and made ready for the King. We do not want to worship the church, but neither can we be a part of the work of God in this age without being a part of His church.
Behold the Queen!
No husband would appreciate someone coming up and beginning to berate his wife. The Lord does not appreciate those who berate His wife either. The church has had, and still has, some very serious problems and shortcomings, but we must always keep in mind that she is still His bride, and be careful how we speak to her, or about her. She is the queen, and not just any queen, but the bride of the King of kings. Let us never forget that.
Nevertheless, to help the church get ready, we must understand what she is called to be, what her condition is now, and how we can help her get to the place she is called to be. To really understand this, we need to also know, to at least some degree, where she has come from—her history. We will do that in this study and will necessarily have to look at some serious and tragic mistakes, but let us do this with the utmost respect for who she is, and see her more for what she is called to be, not for what she has been.
A Second Fall
Beginning with the first century apostles, the Lord began laying the foundation for His coming kingdom. The strategy of the devil from the beginning has been to counterfeit and thereby divert and thwart the coming of the kingdom. Just as the devil targeted Eve for deception and the fall of man, he likewise seduced the bride of "the last Adam," to begin eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and Evil in place of the Tree of Life. Though "the last Adam," Christ, did not follow His bride like the first Adam did, His bride did also go the way of a humanistic knowledge of good and evil. We need to understand how this happened, and which roots of that tree are still feeding much of the church.
The Lord, being committed to liberty, let the church go its own way for a long time. Then she began to awaken and see what she had done to herself, igniting both the Reformation that gave birth to the Protestant churches, and the Counter-Reformation that began to likewise bring corrections within the Roman Catholic Church. Just as we are not completely restored to a sinless, Christlike nature immediately upon conversion, but begin a process of restoration, the church has been going through a process of restoration, which has now lasted hundreds of years.
This process of restoration is still not complete. We must now understand how far it has come, and how far we yet have to go. If this process has been going on for nearly six hundred years, and it seems that less than half of the work has been done just to get the church back to the life and power of the first century church, we may wonder how much longer this age will have to last for the church to get ready. However, this does not have to have anything to do with the timing of the coming kingdom if it is waiting for the bride to "make herself ready." As Peter wrote about this very thing in II Peter 3:8, "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." This means that the Lord can do in one day what we think will take a thousand years. He can speed up the process!
Regardless of the terrible state that we may think the church is still in, the Lord is going to have a bride without spot or wrinkle, which the nations will only marvel at. We are at the time when renewal and restoration will speed up. We are at the time of another great awakening, and extraordinary moves of God that bring about great and sweeping changes—for good! Don't miss this. You will be in serious jeopardy of missing some of the greatest moves of God of all time if you are not in your right place in the church.
The key to the kingdom, or the key that opens the door to entering the kingdom, is found in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." If you have made the decision about where you live based on where the best job is, or career opportunity, or even the best schools for your children, and you are having a hard time finding a local church that you fit into, it is likely because you are not in the will of God for your life. If you truly live seeking first the kingdom, you will make every major decision based on where you are called to be for His purposes and where you fit into His body. Then the jobs, schools, and everything else will be added to us. They may not be the jobs we want, or even the schools, but they are the ones we need, and our Father knows best!
Because many are out of the will of God from having made major decisions based on their own desires or perceived needs, there is a great repositioning taking place right now among Christians. The highest priority and greatest devotion of our lives must be to do God's will. If we seek His kingdom first, we will enter it, begin to live in it, and inherit it.
When the church comes into its purpose, we are told in a number of prophetic Scriptures that the nations will bring their treasures to her. Because of this, it says that she will lend to many nations, but not borrow. We will begin to see this in the not too distant future, where the church actually arises to pay off the debt of needy countries, and maybe even some not so needy ones. Why not? As heirs of the kingdom, and joint heirs with Christ, we have unlimited resources. Jesus paid our debt at the cross and redeemed the whole earth. He is going to begin His reign here by settling all debts so that all start off in His kingdom free.
Why am I bringing this up here? The church needs to also be free for what is to come, and she needs to have a vision for the nations. We are here to set the nations free, and debt is one of the strongest yokes of bondage. Think about it. We will have much more to say about it later.
