The Kingdom of Christ and God

In Acts 20:28 we read, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

Christ gained or purchased the church of God with his own blood. And so, it then became the church of Christ or his possession. Christ owns the church.

Isn’t it amazing how many parables Christ gave us concerning his kingdom and people still don’t recognize him as the King over the church that he purchased with his own blood. In fact, we read in Matthew chapter 3, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Shortly, the kingdom of heaven was to be established. In other words, the kingdom of heaven was not in existence at the time of John the Baptist. If the kingdom had been established with John he wouldn’t have made this statement. He would have told us that the kingdom has come. Yet, he didn’t say that at all. In fact, the kingdom had not been established while Christ was on earth. We might become confused about the coming of the kingdom. The words of Christ in Mattew 16, at verse 27, could confuse us about the coming of the kingdom. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” Verse 27 sounds a lot like the end of time but verse 28 tells us a lot about the establishment of the kingdom. Christ said, “some of you standing here will not taste death until they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

Some of those people have lived a very long time or the kingdom has already come. However, as we can see from this verse, the kingdom had not yet come when Christ made this statement.

In the church of Christ we often equate the church with the kingdom. In other words, the church and kingdom are one and the same. However, technically, those that make up the church body are subjects of the King because the kingdom refers to a form of governance or government. Before Kings were established, in the Old Testament, we can see that God was the ruler in general and that he dealt directly with his people. God’s physical rules and his natural laws governed all animal and vegetable life. However, the family unit had a head and that head was the husband. In that form of government the husband was the king or ruler over his own kingdom or household. Genesis 1, verse 26: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

Obviously, the Apostle Peter would be one of those still alive when the kingdom came. Even so, Peter was not the King. Acts chapter 10 makes that fact about Peter very clear. Peter would not have said what he said to Cornelius if he was made a King or the ruler of the kingdom. We see Peter say this beginning at verse 25, “And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.” Peter was not the King but he did receive a promise from Christ in the same chapter that Christ told them that some would not taste death until they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” Matthew 16, verse 19: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

When we review the word Pentecost we realize that it refers to an adjective denoting fifty. Fifty days after Passover we find the day of Pentecost. The Jews called this time the Festival of Weeks but the Greek phrase for “fifty days” comes to us as Pentecost. Pentecost was a celebration of the end of the grain harvest in Israel or Festival of First-Fruits. What do we see in Acts chapter two, verse 41, when Peter and the Apostles taught on the day of Pentecost? “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” In other words, we see three thousand souls added to the kingdom. Verse 47: “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

In my opinion, we have no better words about this event than the words of the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31, at verse 31: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Christ had a wife and he was husband to the house of Israel as stated plainly by Jeremiah. Unfortunately, they would not keep his commandments. Romans chapter 7 tells us how Christ disolved this relationship. “Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”

We find this same thought continued in Colossians 2, at verse 12: “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

And so, this first marriage relationship was ended when Christ died on the cross. Paul continues to talk about this marriage relationship in Ephesians chapter five at verse 25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

If Christ purchased the church with his own blood then we might ask who received the purchase price. We realize that in many cultures there is a dowry at the time of marriage. For example, we can see who had the authority over the bride and that was her father. We notice these words in Exodus 22, at verse 16: “And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.” Christ didn’t pay a dowry but he paid the ultimate price for his wife or bride. Deuteronomy 22, at verse 28 says it this way: “If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.” The concept of paying a price or dowry for a wife was a common concept in the Jewish culture.

God the father has the final authority over Christ and our souls. Romans chapter 5, at verse 6: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

We’ve talked about Christ purchasing his wife, his body, his church, with his own blood. Christ is the son of God and his wife is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. How could God not accept the bride of Christ which he purchased with his own blood? If we have been baptized into Christ we are part of the family and we are in the kingdom. The Lord adds us to his church.

In this lesson we’ve talked about the coming of the kingdom. Now let’s talk about the end of the kingdom on earth. We find these thoughts in 1st Corinthians chapter 15, at verse 20: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”

How long will christ reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Until he has put all enemies under his feet. At that end time Christ will deliver the kingdom to God according to verse 24. Verse 40: “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”

This verse 50 is a key verse in this study. It says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom and the second Adam became a living spirit. He overcame death, hell, and the grave by purchasing the church with his own blood.

Ephesians 2, at verse 15: “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Hebrews 3, verse 6: “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”

1st Peter 3, at verse 18: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”