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The Kingdom of God on Earth
God's plan for the world
THE view of planet earth, seen from outer space, is very beautiful indeed. Pictures taken from space have confirmed this. The earth is a wonderful jewel in God’s creation and the Bible tells us it is where He has promised to reveal His kingdom in all its glory.
The earth, of all the planets in the solar system, is the one that is perfectly suited to all forms of life and the one that orbits at exactly the right distance from the sun to provide comfortable conditions for the human race.
The Bible – sole source of information
The Bible alone explains why this should be. It reveals that it was the Lord God “who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18).
We think it is logical to assert that if there is a God, and if He created a race of beings to inhabit this planet and no other, then there must have been an ultimate objective in His mind. Happily, we have not been left to guess what that goal might be. From the day that God put a human being on this earth, His one supreme purpose was that His creation should willingly respond to His own perfection: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). The final stage in fulfilling that intention is what the Bible describes as THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH.
A real kingdom
It may surprise you to learn that it will be in every physical and political sense a real kingdom. It will have a king, a government, a capital, and an international system of laws. At the head of it will be the Lord Jesus Christ, for God has already delegated “all power in heaven and in earth” to him, the Bible tells us. When it will come about, we do not know, but “God has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained” (Acts 17:31).
There are good reasons to believe that the kingdom of God on earth will soon be here. The abundant signs which confirm this are not the subject of this booklet; but we are mightily convinced that it is so! The coming era of the kingdom will be the most exciting the world has ever seen. It will overshadow all those periods in history labelled with names like ‘the age of enlightenment’, ‘the classical age’, ‘the renaissance’ and so on. The kingdom of God will provide a superb environment on this planet for all who will acknowledge God as supreme Creator and Jesus Christ as King of the world.
A beautiful world
Use your imagination for a moment! Think of a world at peace, its inhabitants healthy and well-fed and doing rewarding work. Imagine a world in which there is full employment, where people are not exploited and where they can live long and truly prosperous lives; a world in which famine and pestilence no longer kill one quarter of the population and where the resources of the land and the seas are harvested for the benefit of all. Already you are getting a picture of the kingdom of God.
Now ponder on the absence of religious bigotry or sectarian strife; imagine the benefits of internationally accepted laws, with justice administered by fair-minded yet uncompromising judges. Conjure up a mental picture of life without terrorism and child-abuse; where good-neighbourliness prevails and evil tendencies are discouraged, where governments establish good standards of behaviour, and implement just forms of punishment for wrong-doing. That will be the kingdom of God on earth!
To many people, the kingdom of God is just a vague hope that one day man will bring about a state of happiness on earth. To others, the kingdom is a dream of heavenly bliss in the skies. But the realist knows that the aspirations of men are not producing a better world for us or our children. And anyone who reads his Bible carefully knows that there is no convincing evidence for the common belief in an afterlife in heaven. The kingdom has to do with a real, tangible world empire which will be set up on the earth when the Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven.
“Thy kingdom come”
The disciples of Jesus found prayer to God a difficult matter. What to pray for? What are the priorities? Jesus solved their problems by teaching them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer”. It established their priorities for them: God is a Father, the provider. God has a realm in heaven where His will is obeyed; God’s kingdom is to come to the earth. It was a powerful plea to make:
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven … For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
Many churches still repeat this prayer. Indeed, “Your kingdom come” should always be on the lips of faithful Christians.
Many human beings act as though there is no Creator and no purpose in the world around them. But they only have to look at the wonders of the human body and the miracles of plant life! Did these occur by chance or by design? Even atheists are forced to marvel at the incredible wonders of living cells. The Apostle Paul, a well-educated man of his time, declared that atheism is untenable because “what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19,20).
If there is a God, and He has a future for the human race, then surely He has told us? Of course He has! The whole Bible, from beginning to end, reveals His plans for the earth. He spoke to the “fathers” and through the prophets, and “in these last days … by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:1,2). That is why the Gospel was the centre of Jesus Christ’s ministry: “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). He left no doubt that the hoped-for kingdom would happen:
“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory: all the nations will be gathered before him …” (Matthew 25:31,32)
Where on earth will it be?
To answer that question let us spend a few moments looking back to Old Testament times. In those days the discerning Jew knew that God had promised Canaan (an earlier name for Palestine / Israel) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 15:18; 17:8; etc). God looked on this part of the earth with special favour. It was His land, because in it and around it He would demonstrate His purpose with the nations. It was a good land, “a land that flows with milk and honey”, well-watered and suitable for good crops and fruits. Faithful Jews knew that their special status was due solely to the extraordinary faith of their father Abraham – and not to any merit of their own!
Subsequent events caused them to come to live in Egypt. But there, in time, their lives became hard and God turned their thoughts back to ‘the Promised Land’. Under Moses they left Egypt – an event referred to as ‘the Exodus’. After this they renewed their special relationship with God. He was their leader and they were His people. But of course there were conditions attached to this:
“If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be a special treasure to me above all people … a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5,6)
Israel did not live up to God’s expectations for long and often degenerated to the level of the nations around them. But in their prime, in the days of King David and his son Solomon, they had some sense of what it was like to be the kingdom of God. They prospered and expanded and had peace in the land.
