1. The Kingdom of God
Part 1

2. The Kingdom of God Why talk about the Kingdom of God
What the bible is all about
Defining the Kingdom
Jesus and the Kingdom
Entering the Kingdom
Living in the kingdom

3. Why talk about the Kingdom of God
John the Baptist only preached about the kingdom. He said “repent for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt 3:2)
After John was killed Jesus began his ministry by preaching the same “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.(Matt4:17)
At the end of his earthly stay he preached about the kingdom(acts 19:8)
Through out his ministry on earth Jesus central theme was the kingdom of heaven. His primary focus was “seek ye first the kingdom of God…..”(Matt:33)
When crowds wanted to stop him from leaving, he said “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:43)

4. What the bible is all about
The bible is about
A King
A royal family
A kingdom
A government
A Colonisation project.

5. The King

6. The King
God is the first of all kings. He is the ancient of days. The old testament is full of references to His Majesty the king. They are too many to mention one by one.
When Israel asked for a king God said to Samuel “ do what they have asked for . they have rejected me as king over them.”
When Jesus went back to his father he is seated at the right hand of his father, the king and he has been given the kingdom till the end of time when he will hand over the kingdom back to his father.
The whole bible is about a king.

7. The royal family

8. The royal family
The king has a royal family. Earthly kings have subjects. We are not subjects ; we are sons and daughters of the king. 1 Pet. 2:9 say ‘ we are a chosen people, a holy nation a royal priesthood ….
We are not subjects but members of his house hold hence part of the royal family!! Ephesians 2.19
John says “ to as many as believed in him he gave them power to be children of God. Everyone born into the kingdom is royal. John 1 12;
Rom “ for those who are led by the ….
Corith 5. 16

9. The Kingdom
Territory
King
The Kingdom
Laws
Royal Family

10. The Kingdom of God Kings reign over kingdoms.
A king has territory, has rulership, has laws, has influence….Dan. 4: 17. A kingdom is a country. Heaven is an invisible country of God, hence the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let me define a kingdom. It is the influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his will , his purpose, his intent and creating a citizenry of people who express his will and his nature”

11. The government

12. A government – laws and commandments, constitutions, an army…
the purpose of government is to provide services to its citizens for their livelihoods. If they are struck by any major disaster the government steps in be it disease, famine, war, fire, crime.
Citizens are protected by law anywhere they are.

13. Heaven, Earth and Man Every kingdom wants to extend its rule
God created heaven and earth. Gen.1 1:21 and 25, 26 and 31.
The earth is a colony of heaven. Therefore God wants to extend and establish his kingdom to earth. God wants to colonise the earth.
He wanted man to fill be earth with people who would be just like God. Psalms 8. Heb 2: 2 Corith 5:16.
Every kingdom impacts its colony with its culture , nature, beliefs, its purposes and values. God wants the earth to be just like heaven.

14. Heaven, Earth and Man
What is the will of God. ;; that we may be his children and act just him. We then have his culture , his essence, his way of thinking. Paul says “ I have the mind of Christ” and wants us in the kingdom to have the same mind of Christ in us.
He also wanted man to have dominion over everything that God had created. Man was to be his Ambassador of Christ on earth.
The government of the kingdom protects the citizens of the colony. The colony is as rich as the kingdom. Hence God says in Ephesians 1 3. also God will supply all my needs.
No wonder Jesus says “seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

15. Redemption Plan
Man fell from God’s Kingdom after he ate of the fruit of knowledge. He fell from the Kingdom of light into the Kingdom of Darkness. God was not happy with this and devised the redemption plan.