[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World whiteboard.]

What Is the Kingdom of God?

When Jesus was preaching here on earth, He emphasized one topic more than any other—and that is the Gospel, or good news, of the Kingdom of God.

The Apostles taught it after His death and resurrection. And we’re told in Matthew 24:14 that even in the very end-time, the “gospel of the kingdom [of God] will be preached in all the world.”

The Kingdom of God is truly one of the central ideas of the entire Bible.

So what exactly is the Kingdom of God?

This can be answered in two primary points, and we’ll go over them in this video.

The Kingdom of God Is His Coming Government

Point number one is the Kingdom of God is the government that Jesus Christ will establish when He returns to earth.

The second chapter of Daniel describes a literal kingdom that will come to earth in the future.

God inspired Daniel to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a famous image, where parts of the image symbolized literal governments throughout history.

• The head of gold represented the Babylonian Empire (625–539 bc)
• The silver chest and arms represented the Medo-Persian Empire (558–330 bc)
• The bronze belly and things represented the Greco-Macedonian Empire (333–31 bc)
• The iron legs represented the Roman Empire (31bc–476 ad)
• And the toes of iron mixed with clay represented a future revival of the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:36–43)

After describing these literal empires, verse 44 says:

And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Daniel 2:44).

This verse describes how the Kingdom of God will replace all of the human kingdoms and last forever.

Jesus Is King of That Government

And just like any government, the Kingdom of God will consist of four primary pieces: a king, territory, laws, and subjects.

And, we can see from the Bible how each of these will be fulfilled.

1. The king will be Jesus Christ.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied about the coming government that Christ would establish and reign over.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever (Isaiah 9:6–7).

Many other Scriptures describe Jesus reigning as a king in a hierarchical government.

He will be called King of kings (Revelation 19:16).

The kingdom will begin when the seventh trumpet sounds, as described in Revelation 11:15.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15).

And lower in the government, God’s true saints will rule under Christ and His Apostles (Daniel 7:18, 27; 1 Corinthians 6:2–3; Revelation 20:6).

An interesting aspect of the structure of Christ’s kingdom will be how some of God’s servants will be placed in the government.

For instance, Matthew 19:28 clearly explains how Jesus told the Twelve Apostles that they would rule under Him, each one judging one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

We can’t say dogmatically, but it would fit God’s pattern that Abraham, known as the “father of the faithful” (cf. Romans 4:16) and “heir of the world” (Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:7), would rule directly under Christ over the entire earth.

Some verses indicate that David would likely rule under Abraham but over the Twelve Apostles, as king over Israel.

In fact, in Ezekiel 37 we read of a united Israel at that time, where it says,

“David My servant shall be king over them…” (Ezekiel 37:15–28).

Many thousands of other saints throughout history (perhaps including you) will serve in Christ’s Kingdom in roles likely under God’s servants—like Abraham, David, Daniel, and the Twelve Apostles. The parable in Luke 19 indicates that saints will be given varying levels of responsibility, such as having authority over five or ten cities (Luke 19:17–19).

The Territory of God’s Kingdom Will Be Earth

Which brings us to our next aspect of a kingdom: The territory.

2. The territory will be earth.

Revelation 5:9–10 describes a song sung by the saints of God, which says:

And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.

Revelation 2:26 reveals that Christ will give overcomers “power over the nations.”

Matthew 5:5 explains that the meek will inherit the earth.

The prophet Zechariah was inspired to write:

The Lord shall be King over all the earth (Zechariah 14:9).

Zechariah 8:3 and Isaiah 2:3 show that Christ will rule from Jerusalem.

And God also inspired many of His servants to prophesy about the peace, health, and prosperity that Christ’s Kingdom will bring to this earth.

• Isaiah prophesied that deserts would blossom like roses; the blind would see; the deaf would hear; the dumb would sing; and the lame would leap like a deer (Isaiah 35:1–6).
• Micah foresaw that nations would transform their weapons into farming tools, no longer learning the way of war, and that everyone would sit peacefully under his own fig tree (Micah 4:3).
• Amos was inspired to write about how there would be such abundance that the farmer starting to plant would overtake the one harvesting the previous crop (Amos 9:13).

All of it will be the result that the knowledge of the one true God will cover the entire earth, and thus no one will “hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain [which is a metaphor for Kingdom]” (Isaiah 11:9).

God’s Commandments Will Govern His Kingdom

The next aspect of a kingdom is largely what will bring about the utopian result for mankind. And that is:

3. The laws of the kingdom will be the laws of God.

Isaiah 2:3 explains that after Christ returns, God’s laws will be spread throughout the world from Jerusalem.

Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3).

God’s laws have always described His way of life and His character—and even summarize much of the Bible.

Jesus explained that all of God’s laws “hang” on the two great commandments.

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… and ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:36–40).

The Bible shows how the two great commandments can be broken down further into the Ten Commandments, with the first four showing how to love God and the last six showing how to love your neighbor.

Notice Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:17–19.

“Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17).

Then the young man He was speaking with asked Him, “Which ones?”

[And] Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 19:18–19).

Jesus explained that to “enter into life,” which means to obtain eternal life in the Kingdom of God, the young man had to keep the Commandments, and then listed several of the Ten Commandments.

1 John 4:6 and verse 16 explain that “God is love,” and in chapter 5 verse 3 we see that His laws describe His love.

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).

Humans Will Be the Subjects of the Kingdom

Now that we know about the ruler, territory, and laws of the Kingdom of God, who will be the subjects under it?

4. The subjects of the kingdom will be human beings.

During the end-time events described in Revelation, sadly, large portions of mankind will die.

Revelation 6:8 says that the four horsemen will kill one fourth of the earth’s population, and Revelation 9:18 says that another third of mankind will be killed by some of the plagues.

A portion of mankind will live through the terrible events described in Revelation, as Zechariah 14:16 explains.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16).

This verse describes that there will be people left among the nations who survived the end-time events. And they will go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Isaiah 2:2–4 also explains how human beings among the nations will learn God’s way of life on earth.

The Kingdom of God describes the government that Christ will establish and rule over when He returns.

And like any government, Christ’s Kingdom will consist of four main components in which He rules as King on earth, while administering His laws, and doing so on behalf of the human beings living under that government.

The Kingdom of God Becomes the Family of God

But the Kingdom of God describes more than the government of God, because it gets to the heart of why God made human beings—which brings us to the second main point.

Point number two: The Kingdom of God describes the family of God that the saints will be born into when Christ returns.

In John 3, Jesus explained, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God,” and “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (v. 3–5)

But He didn’t stop there. He continued to explain in verse 6:

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).

The government that Jesus establishes at His second coming will be composed of all the saints—God’s true servants throughout time, who will be born into God’s family as spirit-composed beings, like God and Jesus Christ.

Paul explained it this way in 1 Corinthians 15, also known as the resurrection chapter.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, 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 (1 Corinthians 15:42–44).

And a few verses later he said:

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50).

Notice this important point, that physical human beings cannot inherit or enter into the Kingdom of God.

… nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:50–53).

Paul explained that physical human beings cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The saints who have lived throughout history will be born into the family of God at Christ’s return at the last (or seventh) trumpet. The dead will be raised in the first resurrection and those alive at the time will rise to meet Christ in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17).

So how does this relate to the first point? The government that Christ establishes will be composed of His saints. As full members of God’s family, they will reign under Jesus Christ within a hierarchical structure mentioned earlier.

Initially, Christ’s reign on earth will last a thousand years as He and His saints reign over the nations of the earth (Revelation 5:10; 20:4–6), still composed of physical human beings.

After the 1,000 years, those raised in the second resurrection will [also] have a chance to be born into God’s family as eternal spiritual beings, and inherit the Kingdom of God.

(You can access our video about the second resurrection in the description).

This is the ultimate fulfillment of the Gospel that Jesus Christ preached; that human beings can be born into the family of God as full children of God, composed of spirit and possessing immortality.

Why We Pray “Thy Kingdom Come”

In summary, the Kingdom of God is the ultimate hope of every person who ever lived!

It will bring all the things that every generation has hoped for and tried to find over the centuries: Peace, health, and prosperity.

It is what Jesus Christ focused on [most of all] in His earthly ministry, and His disciples continued preaching about throughout the New Testament, and it’s what His Church preaches today.

And it is the fulfillment of the reason that God made mankind, to be born into the kingdom and family of God.

As we’ve explored a small taste of the magnificence of the Kingdom of God, we can better understand why Jesus taught His disciples to pray often, “Thy kingdom come!”

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