Has The Kingdom Been Established? Has the Kingdom of God been established or is to come sometime in the future?

Has the Kingdom been established? There is a very common doctrine taught and believed by many religious people today called premillenialism. Premilleniallist believe when Jesus returns He will set up a physical kingdom based in Jerusalem and reign for 1000 years on earth. They believe Jesus intended to set up His kingdom during the 1st century but was prevented from doing so because the people rejected Him. Since He was rejected Jesus set up the Church as temporary measure until he could come back and establish His kingdom.

Has the Kingdom been established? Our intentions today are to compare this doctrine to the Word of God and see how it measures up to the Truth. We will start off with Daniel’s prophecy of the coming kingdom. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream that caused him to be troubled. He wanted to know the meaning of this dream. After the wise men of Babylon were unable to interpret it for him Daniel does.

Has the Kingdom been established? Da 2:31 ¶ "You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 "This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 "its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 "You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.

Has the Kingdom been established? Da 2:35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 "You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;

Has the Kingdom been established? Da 2:38 "and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all-you are this head of gold. 39 "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.

Has the Kingdom been established? Da 2:41 "Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 "As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.

Has the Kingdom been established? Da 2:44 "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. 45 "Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold-the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."

Has the Kingdom been established? There have only been 4 world wide empires. All of these were represented in the image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream Babylonian Empire: represented by the head of Gold Medo-Persian Empire: represented by the chest and arms of silver Greek empire: represented by the belly and thighs of bronze Roman empire: represented by the legs of iron and clay

Has the Kingdom been established? Daniel says it was in the days of this 4th kingdom (the Roman empire) the Kingdom of God would be established. The Roman empire lasted from about 27 bc until about 476 ad Premilleniallists probably would agree this was God’s original plan but since the Jews rejected Jesus God changed His plan. Daniel did not agree. Remember what Daniel said to king Nebuchadnezzar in vs 45?

Has the Kingdom been established? Dan 2:45 …the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. Daniel says there is no doubt Nebuchadnezzar’s dream would be fulfilled. Was God wrong when He made this prediction? According to this dream and Daniel’s interpretation of it, the kingdom was established during the days of the Roman empire

Has the Kingdom been established? The united Roman Empire was in existence from about 27 bc until about 395 ad. According to Daniel the kingdom of God would have to be established during this time period. If we move ahead to the New Testament and the ministry of John the Baptist we can narrow down the establishment of the kingdom of God even further. John the Baptist lived and died during the days of the Roman Empire.

Has the Kingdom been established? The Gospel of Luke tells us when John the Baptist began to preach. Lu 3:1 ¶ Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,

Has the Kingdom been established? Tiberius Caesar began his reign between 12 & 14 AD. John began preaching in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar. Therefore John must have began his ministry between 27 – 29 AD. Now lets look at one of the things that John preached. Mt 3:1 ¶ In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

Has the Kingdom been established? John says during his ministry that the kingdom had not been established but instead it was “at hand” This means it is not far away. It would not be long before the Kingdom of God would be established. Here we are in the year 2016. If the kingdom is still yet to be established then John was wrong. John was not the only one who preached that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

Has the Kingdom been established? Jesus during His earthly ministry preached the Kingdom of God was near. Mr 1:14 ¶ Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.“ Jesus whose ministry began shortly after John’s, says the “Kingdom of God is at hand” Certainly we would not think that Jesus would be wrong about such an important event!

Has the Kingdom been established? The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand was also the message Jesus sent the 12 Apostles out to teach during His ministry. Mt 10:5 ¶ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

Has the Kingdom been established? Jesus also promised to give the keys to the Kingdom to Peter and the other Apostles. If the Kingdom is still yet to be established then these keys were no good to the Apostles. Mt 16:17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Has the Kingdom been established? Mt 16:19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.“ We need to also notice in this context that Jesus uses the terms Kingdom and Church interchangeably. He was going to build His Church aka Kingdom and Peter and the other Apostles were going to have the keys to it.

Has the Kingdom been established? Keys are used to open things. Peter and the other Apostles used these keys to open the Church/Kingdom on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. As Peter is closing the first Gospel sermon he mentions something we should pay close attention to. Ac 2:32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

Has the Kingdom been established? Ac 2:34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.“ “Lord” comes from the Greek word “kurios” which means “supreme in authority” Sounds like the description of a king doesn’t it. If Jesus is a king then He must have a kingdom.

Has the Kingdom been established? He does, His kingdom is the Church. His kingdom was established on the day of Pentecost around 30-33 ad. Ever since that time the kingdom has been spoken of in the New Testament as being in existence. Paul spoke of Jesus being King when he wrote 1 Timothy 1Ti 6:14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

Has the Kingdom been established? Again you cannot have a King without a kingdom. Paul says he was in the kingdom Col 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, We cannot be conveyed into something that does not exist. John says he was in the Kingdom Re 1:9 ¶ I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion The idea that the kingdom of God is yet to be established is completely opposite of what the scriptures teach. Daniel said it would be established during the Roman Empire and that was sure. John the Baptist preached it would happen soon Jesus preached it would happen soon The Apostles preached before the day of Pentecost that it would happen soon. Jesus gave the Apostles the keys to the kingdom which they used on the day of Pentecost.

Conclusion Ever since that time the kingdom is spoken of as being in existence The Apostle Paul, the Apostle John and other Christians were a part of the kingdom in the 1st century Christ is now its King. To deny that the Kingdom is in existence is to deny what the scriptures teach!