Question:
I hope you have an honest heart and will be honest with yourself. Surely you will agree with me that the Bible is written in mystery form. We have to figure it out and put it together correctly to receive the greatest reward ever. For those who do not will be the greatest horror ever. Surely you agree that God will send an honest heart the truth, that he will not believe a lie. If He sends those who do not want truth a strong delusion, why would He not send those, who want truth, the truth?
Here are scriptures to show you the Kingdom has come. If you disagree, please send me scriptures that prove these wrong. -E.C. DeLeon, Texas
(The italicized Scriptures were submitted by the reader, below each is the answer of Megiddo Church)
Answer:
- Jesus said in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world”. His kingdom was not going to be an earthly rule. It is here now, in my heart, and your heart, and the hearts of all the believers.
When Jesus answered Pilate that His kingdom was “not of this world,” He was not in any way suggesting that His kingdom would be a spiritual or non-physical entity. The word translated “world” in this text is not the word for the earth or the physical planet but is kosmos, which means, “the present order of things, the secular world.” When Jesus said to Pilate, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world,” He was solidly affirming that He was indeed born to be a king, but that His kingdom was not to be of that world order. It would be a physical kingdom, but in no way belonging to that political arrangement.
- Jesus said in Matthew 16:28, “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. Are the people still alive that Jesus was talking to? Jesus said some of those people he was talking to were going to be alive when the kingdom came.
What could Jesus have meant? We find the answer in the next chapter, when some of those in His hearing did see Him, in a vision, coming in splendor and glory. “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother… and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matt. 17:1-2). Jesus was giving them a preview of His future glory, as He would appear when He would return as king.
Could the kingdom have arrived without the disciples realizing it? It could not, for on another occasion Jesus indicated that His coming would be spectacular: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matt. 24:27). The apostle Paul spoke also of the “brightness of his coming” (2 Thess. 2:8)—it will be an event clearly visible to those who are living. Revelation says “every eye will see him” (Rev. 1:7)—such a widely visible event could not be missed.
- In Luke 17:20-21 the Pharisees were demanding to know when the kingdom was going to come. They were awaiting an earthly kingdom also. Jesus told them “The kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” The kingdom is not going to be something we can see. It is not going to be earthly, but rather, it is within you. It dwells within each person. It is spiritual. It is something we see only by faith, like many other things that pertain to God.
We cannot agree with your conclusion; that the Kingdom is “right here now, in my heart, and your heart, and the hearts of all the believers.” In our Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,” indicating that when the Kingdom has come, God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. Is this the present condition of our earth? On the surface, Jesus’ words might seem to lead us to the conclusion that the Kingdom was present in His lifetime, hence is here now. But since the church and the hearts of men both fall short of the Bible description of the Kingdom, we must look further.
Consider, too, that if we are to take this passage literally and say that Jesus meant that His kingdom is literally in our hearts, He was saying that the Kingdom was in the hearts of those self-righteous Pharisees who were His audience!
The Greek word translated “kingdom” in Luke 17:21 is ‘basileia’ which also can mean “king; his royal majesty.” Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott renders the verse, “God’s royal majesty is among you.” Harper’s Greek Testament states in a footnote that Jesus was “alluding to His own presence in their midst.” The Berkeley Bible translates the verse, “Indeed the kingdom of God is in your midst,” and then adds a footnote: “The translation, ‘within you’ is equally possible, but could hardly be our Lord’s meaning regarding the Pharisees. More likely it means, ‘I am in your midst.’” In our common King James Version, a marginal reference suggests “among” instead of “within”—the King was among them. This agrees with the teachings of Scripture. The King was among them, but the time when He would set up His Kingdom was yet future.
- In Matthew 16:15-19, Jesus asked Peter who he thought He was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In Matthew 16:18-19, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom. What does a key do? Does it not give entrance into whatever it fits? Jesus gave Peter the authority to open up the kingdom.
If we say that Jesus “gave Peter the authority to open up the kingdom” and base this upon His words in Matt. 16:13-19, we overlook the intent and meaning of the passage in its context. In this passage there is a significant play on words. The two words translated “rock” in our Common Version are not the same original word in the Greek. Jesus said to Peter, “You are Peter [Greek, petros, meaning “a stone, a splinter of a rock”], and upon this rock [Greek, petra, meaning “huge mass of rock”] I will build my church.”
Each individual who will be part of the kingdom of God becomes a “petros,” a stone or splinter of the great rock (“petra”) of Divine truth. But the foundation of the kingdom is the great mass of rock, i.e., Divine knowledge. Jesus is describing the triumph of righteousness. God’s plan cannot be defeated. He is making a statement about the people who will comprise the Kingdom, not about the Kingdom itself.
Jesus continues by giving Peter a solemn charge concerning the standard which must be maintained among all who truly comprise Christ’s church: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” In other words, the same high standard must prevail within the true church that will prevail when the Kingdom is established. There is nothing here about Peter opening the doors of a church which is literally God’s eternal kingdom.
- In John 3:3-5 Jesus tells Nicodemus the way to enter the kingdom:. “Jesus answered and said to him [Nicodemus] ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of being born again, He was speaking of a birth which is necessary before one can live in the Kingdom of God. He was not saying that the Kingdom of God was a then existing entity which one could enter by any immediate physical process. In John 3:6 Jesus says “that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In these words Jesus is expressing the same thought which Paul stated in 1 Cor. 15:50, that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” Before we can live in God’s eternal Kingdom, we must receive the physical change from the mortal to the immortal state; our bodies must be physically transformed, made immortal, like the angels, like Christ’s glorious body (Luke 20:35-36, Phil. 3:20-21).
We cannot receive this change to immortality, we cannot be born of the Spirit until we are first “born of water,” i.e., the water of life, by learning of the knowledge of God and applying it to cleanse our lives morally from every sin until we become “pure even as he [Christ] is pure” (John 4:14; Isa. 1:16; 1 John 3:3). Being born of this water is the first step toward being born of the Spirit. Jesus did not say that anyone could be born of the Spirit at that time. He was only outlining the steps which must be taken before one can live in the Kingdom. One born of the Spirit has the ability to move with the freedom of the wind. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). There is nothing here to suggest that the Kingdom was then in existence.