THE CHRISTIAN AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD - Pastor J. C. O’Hair
In Colossians 1:13 we learn that the Christian has been delivered from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. If the Christian is in the kingdom of Christ, he should learn all that he possibly can, in the Scriptures and by the Holy Spirit, concerning that kingdom. It was Christ Himself Who said to Nicodemus, a very religious man, “except a man be born anew, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 to 7). In I Corinthians 6:9 to 11 we learn that a Christian inherits the kingdom of God. If possible, the Christian should know what he has inherited, what the kingdom of God is. We read in Romans 14:17 that the kingdom of God is not a religious system, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In Colossians 4:11 we read that certain Christians. who were members of the Body of Christ, the Church, were working With Paul unto the kingdom of God. From these Scriptures we learn that the Church, or the Body of Christ, and the kingdom of God are sometimes identical. But again as we search the Scriptures, we learn that the Church, or Body of Christ, was God’s secret during the years and centuries that the Old Testament prophets prophesied of great events to come. These prophets foretold the kingdom of God; but they knew nothing, and said nothing concerning the Body of Christ mentioned in Paul’s Epistles.
Yes, the Old Testament prophets had much to say concerning the kingdom of God, which was to be established on this earth. Therefore, all Christians should know that there is a difference between the prophesied kingdom of God and the unprophesied kingdom of God.
Let us carefully read the statement concerning Christ and the kingdom of God and what He said concerning that kingdom, in Mark 1:14 and 15: “Now after that John (the Baptist) was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand repent ye, and believe the gospel.” The Lord Jesus Christ declared that prophecy was about to be fulfilled. The kingdom of God was at hand. Years later the Lord Jesus, in heaven, revealed truth concerning the Body of Christ, truth never before revealed to any other servant of the Lord. (Ephesians 3:5 to 11; Colossians 1:23 to 28). Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ, in Mark 1:14 and 15, was not saying the Church, Which is My Body, is at hand. That Church did not begin historically until after the resurrection of Christ, although it was chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4 and 5, Ephesians 1:11 and Romans 8:28 to 32) .
Let us compare the truth of Mark 1:14 and 15 with the statements in Matthew 21:43 and Luke 21:31. In Matthew 21:43 the Lord Jesus declared that God would take away from Israel the kingdom of God. In Luke 21:27 to 31 the Lord Jesus declared that at the close of the times of the Gentiles, in the midst of universal trouble, He would come back in the clouds with power and great glory and redeem His people Israel, and then the kingdom of God would be at hand. This kingdom of God, which will be at hand when Christ comes to redeem Israel, will be the same kingdom of God that Christ declared to be at hand in Mark 1:14 and 15, and which He said, in Matthew 21:43, would be taken away from Israel.
In Matthew 21:43 the Lord Jesus Christ did not say, “I will take My Church, the Body mentioned in Romans 12:4 and 5 and Ephesians 3:6, from Israel and give it to Gentile Christians or Christian Gentiles.” The Lord Jesus Christ is now far above all heavens on His Father’s throne. (Ephesians 1:19 to 23 and Ephesians 4:8 to 12). Neither the Father nor the Son is offering to believing Gentiles the kingdom of heaven which was at hand when Christ was here on earth. (Matthew 4:17 and Matthew 10:7 and 
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In many old testament prophecies we may learn that Gentiles are to be saved after the “kingdom” nation is saved under the guaranty of the Abrahamic covenant, the Davidic covenant and the new covenant. Those saved Gentiles are to be in subjection to the “kingdom” nation, Israel. When the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23) is preached by the will of God, the nation Israel is in favor with God, and David’s throne is in view. But during this present economy and age of “all” grace God’s message is “the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24). This age and dispensation are distinctively the age and dispensation of the grace of God for Gentiles. (Ephesians 3:1 to 5). When Gentiles are saved and become members of the JointBody of Ephesians 3:6, they are not in subjection to Israel, as Gentiles will be in the coming kingdom age. All the children of Adam are permitted by the grace of God to become members of the JointBody and joint-heirs of the Lord Jesus Christ, on equal terms, without the subjugation of either Jews or Gentiles to the other. This was not true on the day of Pentecost, when the kingdom message was being given to, all the house of Israel.
All Christians should know that the kingdom, which will be established on this earth when the King comes back to take David’s throne, in fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6 and 7 and the very definite promise in Ezekiel the thirtysixth and thirtyseventh chapters, is quite different froth the Body of Christ into which believing Jews and Gentiles are received and joined during this present economy of grace. (I Corinthians 12:13; Romans 12:4 and 5; Ephesians 3:6 and Ephesians 4:3 to 7).
In Acts 10:28 we learn that it was unlawful for the messengers of the risen Christ to have fellowship with Gentiles some seven years after the day of Pentecost. In Acts 11:19 we learn that Jewish disciples preached to none but Jews only. In Acts 11:1 to 6 we learn that the Christian Jews condemned Peter for preaching to a Gentile some seven years after the day of Pentecost. Therefore, all Christians should know that there was no JointBody (Ephesians 3:6) during those years covered by the first ten chapters of Acts.
Beginning with the second chapter of Acts and closing with the eleventh chapter of Acts the Holy Spirit would teach the Christian that before Paul was sent out with the gospel of the grace of God, God was giving us an outline of His kingdom program, of what is really going to be done when Christ comes back to build again the tabernacle of David and establish His kingdom on this earth, by first redeeming Israel and then bringing the Gentiles from all over the world in subjection to the “kingdom” nation. Read carefully Amos 9:1 to 15 and Acts 15:13 to 18.
All intelligent, Spirittaught Christians believe in the postponement of the kingdom, the suspension or interruption of the kingdom covenants which guarantee to Israel possession of their land, with their true King David reigning over them. (Amos 9:11 to 15; Isaiah 62:1 to 4 and Jeremiah 23:5 to 8). Such Christians do not disagree as to the fact that this age of grace is a parenthetical period, while the prophesied kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven is in abeyance; but they do disagree as to whether the postponement began with Matthew 23:23 to 39 or after Cornelius was saved at the time Peter used the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
According to Revelation 11:15, the kingdoms of this world shall surely become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever. The kingdom shall first be restored again to Israel. (Acts 1:6). God will send Jesus Christ back to bring about the restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19 to 21; Luke 1:67 to 77). Christ said that not one jot or tittle would pass away until all shall be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:17 and 18). The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:7). But nothing of this will be fulfilled until after the culmination mentioned in Ephesians 4:13. This is not the day of the Prince of peace, but still the day of His rejection. Until the last member of the Body has been baptized into Christ, during this dispensation and age of grace, Satan will continue to be the prince of the world, and this will continue to be this present evil age. Until the Son of man comes to earth there will continue to be wars and rumors of wars, evil seducers will wax worse and worse, and false prophets will continue to bring in the damnable heresy denying the Lord that bought them, and the glorious earthly reign of the King of glory will be in abeyance.
In the Book of Matthew more than thirty times we find the term, “the kingdom of the heavens.” Generally speaking, the kingdom of God, in Mark, and the kingdom of heaven, in Matthew, are identical. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is sometimes—but not always the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not always the kingdom of heaven, mentioned in Matthew. Sometimes in the Scriptures the Church of Christ, His Body, and the kingdom of God are identical. But the kingdom of God, in the Scriptures, is not always the Body of Christ. Try, for instance, to substitute the Body of Christ for the kingdom of God, in Luke 21:31 and 32, and we will see what a great blunder such a substitution would be.
If we keep in mind that the kingdom of God of Mark 1:14 and 15 and Luke 21:31, which is the kingdom of heaven of Matthew 4:17 and Matthew 10:7 and 8, was prophesied by Israel’s prophets and that Jesus Christ was born in the city of David, of the house of David, to take the throne of David and reign over the house of Israel forever (Luke 1:29 to 33), we will know the difference between this prophesied kingdom of God and the unprophesied Body of Christ, the JointBody of Ephesians 3:6, concerning which all of Israel’s prophets were both silent and ignorant. More of this in another chapter.
Tags: , Bible Studies, Dispensational, J. C. O'Hair, Truth-For-Today
