Kingdom of God and the Reign of King Jesus
- The Kingdom of God is the realm where God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven through the rule of King Jesus.
- Scripture reveals this reign from Eden and Israel to humanity’s resistance against God’s dominion.
- Jesus, the promised Messiah from David’s line, teaches his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come in Matthew 6.
We’re seeking to answer the question, “What is the kingdom of God?” Now, out of all the questions that we’re going to cover in the series, this one is the broadest, but I do believe it is the most foundational question that we can ask if indeed we’re going to live a kingdom life. I say it’s the most foundational because this is the question I believe Jesus spent the most time really answering while he was walking the earth, the subject that’s most recorded in the annals of Scripture by King Jesus.
To answer the question, “What is the kingdom of God?” I would answer it like this:
The kingdom of God is the realm where God’s will is being done on earth as it is in heaven through the reign of King Jesus.
Now, here’s how we arrive at an answer like that. The common Hebrew word in the Old Testament used for kingdom is defined as a dominion or sovereignty. The common New Testament word used for kingdom is the Greek word basileia, which is linked to a dominion but is also described as a reign or rule. So the kingdom of God, in its most basic sense, is the reign and the rule of God. The kingdom of God is the space where God has dominion. It is where God rules as King. That’s the basic sense of the kingdom of God. 
“The kingdom of God is the space where God has dominion.”
We see this concept played out early on in Scripture in the Garden of Eden. There’s a man and there’s a woman, Adam and Eve, dwelling, working, and living in the very space that God has created, in the very space where God is really ruling as King. It’s the space where he is sovereign.
We also see that played out in the story of ancient Israel, this chosen and blessed people of God. They were a kingdom people. Adam and Eve, the children of Israel, the nation of ancient Israel—they were a kingdom people. God truly was ruling as King.
But here’s the issue. Like Adam and Eve, the chosen status offered to Israel was very short-lived. It would meet self-imposed human resistance, resisting God’s rule as King, wanting to rule themselves instead of being ruled by God. Adam and Eve, the children of Israel, wanted to rule like God. This is a sinful issue.
And this sinful issue eventually pointed the way to a majestic figure that would come from the line of King David. The ancient Jews referred to this majestic figure as Messiah, or Anointed One, or King. There would be a King who would come from the line of David, who would deliver God’s people, who would be the very manifestation of God himself on earth.
“The ancient Jews referred to this majestic figure as Messiah, or Anointed One, or King.”
This figure came by way of the Holy Spirit to Mary and to Joseph, and they named their child Jesus. This Messiah, this Anointed One, would be King Jesus. King Jesus, in teaching his disciples to pray, spoke to them about this kingdom of God that they should pray for. In Matthew 6:10, he said, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
When King Jesus spoke about the kingdom, he said it was God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven. That whole thing would take place through the reign of King Jesus. Thus, our answer to the question, “What is the kingdom of God?” is this: It is where God’s will is being done on earth as it is in heaven through the reign of King Jesus.
This is Question #1 in Kelvin Teamer’s Kingdom Life: Experiencing God’s Reign through Love and Holiness.
More on this: Righteousness in the Bible, our guide to what righteousness means and how we receive it.
