DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
The Kingdom of God is the family of God ruling as the
government of God. It is a future world ruling government to be set up
on earth by Christ at His return, with Jesus as King and the resurrected
spirit-composed saints in positions of corulership with Him. The Kingdom
of God referred to as a "mystery" in the New Testament-was first
preached and explained by Christ, then by His Church; it shall be
established on earth for a thousand years following Christ's return; and
shall be completely fulfilled when new Jerusalem and God the Father come
down out of heaven to dwell on the new earth.
DOCTRINAL OVERVIEW
The Kingdom of God is, in its most narrow sense, the
immediate family of God, composed now of only two
beings (the Father
and the Son, Jesus Christ). In a more general sense, it includes every
being and every thing which is under God's sovereignty, governmental
control and influence. Within this definition, the entire universe can
be considered under God's sovereignty and hence part of His empirical
Kingdom. But in a prophetic sense, the meaning of God's Kingdom is much
more specific. It is the world-ruling government of God to be set up on
earth at Jesus Christ's return. Christ, together with the resurrected
saints, shall rule over all nations and peoples. Even more specifically,
the strictly spiritual Kingdom of God shall
comprise only the
spiritual members of this world government-died, born again,
spirit-composed sons of God who rule with Christ as members of His
family over the physical earth during the thousand year period and
eventually over the entire universe. This spiritual Kingdom of God is
the goal of all true Christians.
The story of the Bible, in a very real sense, is the
record of God's working with man so that he might learn to understand
and obey and, as a result, qualify to enter God's Kingdom and family.
The Old Testament prophets spoke at great length concerning that Kingdom
(Is. 2: 11; Mic.4; Zech. 14).
"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the
mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of
the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations
shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: Come, let us go
up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: that
He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For out of
Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He
shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and
they beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning
hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war any more" (Is. 2:2-4).
Likewise, the patriarchs envisioned it and waited for
it as "strangers and pilgrims" (Heb. 11:13) on this earth, since they
knew God's government would replace man's. They sought this Kingdom just
as many men might seek a land-country or homeland-of promise (Heb, 11:
14-15).
"These all died in faith, not having received what
was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having
acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For
people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If
they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they
would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better
country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be
called their God, for He has prepared for them a city" (Heb. 11:13-16).
Jesus Christ was a member of God's family, of the
godhead, and hence of God's Kingdom, from eternity. But He divested
Himself of His godhead and rulership to become human, in order that He
might announce the coming Kingdom of God and qualify as its chief
executive officer, as both King and Lord. Jesus-as the primary messenger
of the coming Kingdom and the heir to its throne-was in a sense the
personification and embodiment of that Kingdom on earth during His
physical lifetime and ministry. This is why He stated, "The time is
fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe
in the gospel" (Mk. 1:15). The Kingdom of God was indeed "at hand"
because Jesus Christ, as its King and Lord, was right there. Jesus, in
fact, spelled this out when He told some that His being among them was
equal to the Kingdom being in their midst. "Being asked by the Pharisees
when the Kingdom of God was coming, He answered them, The Kingdom of God
is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, Lo, here it
is! or there! for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you" (Lk.
17:20-21).
The message of "good news" or gospel which Jesus
brought to this world has, as its focal point, the announcement of the
coming Kingdom of God, the description of how it shall be established on
earth and the explanation of how mankind might enter it as sons of God.
Christ through His death and resurrection became the "firstborn" member
of this prophetic spiritual Kingdom.
Christians who follow in the footsteps of His life
will likewise follow in the reality of His resurrection. They shall be
raised from death to rule with Him in His Kingdom. Through this process
God shall increase or build His Divine family and spiritual Kingdom from
the present two members to multiple billions (and perhaps, ultimately,
even more).
In one sense, those begotten of God's Spirit are part
of the Kingdom of God already, since they actually have the essence of
that Kingdom, God's Holy Spirit, dwelling within them. Furthermore,
Christians today, like Jesus during His physical human life, are
representatives of that Kingdom since they, like Jesus, shall be kings
and priests. Paul wrote that God "has delivered us from the dominion of
darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col.
1:13), indicating that Christians are already considered part of God's
Kingdom. Obviously, no human being can really be a part of God's Kingdom
since "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God nor does the
perishable inherit the imperishable" (I Cor. 15:50); this must wait
until the resurrection when "the perishable puts on the imperishable and
the mortal puts on immortality" (v. 54). Paul is thus just reiterating
what Jesus Himself had told Nicodemus.
"Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus
said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I
say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John. 3:3-7).
Much confusion has arisen about the Kingdom of God
because of human reluctance to take the term "kingdom" literally. The
prophet Daniel was very clear in his statements to Nebuchadnezzar that
the Kingdom which God would eventually set up would be an actual kingdom
on earth in the same sense as the previously world-ruling kingdoms had
been. "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a
Kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be
left to other people. It shall break in pieces these kingdoms and bring
them to an end, and it shall stand for ever" (Dan. 2:44).
Scripture reveals that God's Kingdom on earth is
indeed to be a kingdom in every sense-having territory, laws, subjects
and rulers. At Christ's return the saints shall be changed from physical
flesh or be resurrected from the dead to spirit bodies.
"But we would not have you ignorant brethren,
concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do
who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen
asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who
are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede
those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from
heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the
sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always
be with the Lord" (I Thess. 4:13-17).
The resurrected saints shall sit with Christ on His
throne (Rev. 3:21), and rule under Christ on earth with power over the
physical nations. "...and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on earth" (Rev. 5: 10). "He who
conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power
over the nations" (Rev. 2:26).
In another sense, God's Kingdom shall have two parts:
the ruling body of spirit beings and the physical nations under that
government and control. This combined physical-spiritual Kingdom shall
replace man's governments. It shall conform to God's laws and commands
and over a period of time introduce and establish His way of life in
every nation for every person. The entire fabric of society shall be
eventually changed and reformed to comply with the precepts and concepts
of God Almighty. It shall be a government under which all human beings
can lead a happy, healthy, prosperous life. All persons alive at that
time shall have an opportunity to be saved and to have God's Spirit
living in them. God shall make a new covenant with His people through
which He shall change mankind's very nature by writing His law in man's
heart.
"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of
Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant
which they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is
the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write
it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall
be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each
his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer. 31:31-34).
In God's Kingdom, warfare shall finally be eradicated
and the implements of war shall be turned into farm tools because "the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea" (Is. 11:9).
"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the
mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of
the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills; and peoples shall
flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: Come, let us go up to
the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may
teach us His ways and we may walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go
forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge
between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations afar off; and
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more; but they shall sit every man under
his vine and under his fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid; for
the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken" (Mic. 4:1-4).
Christ shall judge with "righteousness" and "decide
with equity for the meek of the earth"-Indeed the whole earth shall be
dramatically altered by the rulership of Jesus Christ-even the nature of
wild animals shall be changed.
"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of
Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of His roots. And the spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the
Lord. And His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not
judge by what His eyes see, or decide by what His ears hear; but with
righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the
meek of the earth, and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His
mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the girdle of His waist, and faithfulness the
girdle of His loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard
shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling
together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall
feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw
like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and
the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not
hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the
root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; Him shall the
nations seek, and His dwellings shall be glorious" (Is.11:1-10).
Food and drink shall be in abundant supply (Is.
25:6), the lame shall walk, and the nations who were previously staunch
enemies shall live at peace. Israel, Egypt and Assyria shall even set
the example of peace and godly harmony for others to follow (Is.
19:23-25). Throughout this time, many humans shall be qualifying to
enter God's spiritual Kingdom and family. Using Israel as the example,
God's spiritual laws for worshipping Him shall be taught to, and
followed by, all nations. "From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath
to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord"
(Is. 66:23).
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is
left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up
from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep
the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come
up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King,
the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of
Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the
plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to
keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt,
and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of
tabernacles" (Zech. 14:16-19).
Biblical revelation has very little description of
daily life during the thousand year period. Although Micah's description
seems to assign every man to sit under his own vine and his own fig tree
(Mic. 4:4), we should not therefore conclude that the only food
available will be grapes and figs. Likewise, we should not conclude that
the Kingdom of God will be a primitive, wholly agrarian society devoid
of education, arts and sciences. Surely Micah's symbol should be
understood as showing human beings to be both free and fully at peace
(though it may be highly likely that the larger proportion of people
shall be involved in agriculture).
Based on our knowledge of God, who is the Creator of
the human mind, the Kingdom of God shall employ high technology, in its
most sophisticated expression, in every sphere of that society-including
the areas of manufacturing, energy, transportation, communication,
information processing, architecture, city planning, etc. Yet, this
technology, under God's direction, will not produce the debilitating
by-products characteristic of today's world-energy will be clean and
inexhaustible; waste products will be recycled; cities will be safe and
sane; the ecology will be respected and the environment protected.
Growth will not be wildly uncontrolled and encouraged for its own sake,
but rather organized and ordered in accord with God's master plan for
the entire earth.
Increasing levels of scientific knowledge,
technological application and consumer consumption shall, no doubt, take
place. Yet the fundamental spiritual values of life shall always
predominate. Growth shall never eclipse the importance of individual
human beings and human families. Indeed, more people will probably find
their occupations in or near the home environment. Education at all
levels and in all areas shall be a primary activity for all people.
The Millennium shall be a time of the greatest
advances in every field of human creativity, fields such as the arts and in every
sciences. The human mind shall be freed from the inhibitions of evil-no
longer shall warfare and competition dominate the enormous developmental
time, energy and financial resources of countries and individuals. All
efforts shall be devoted to the peaceful edification of society. The
most artistic and dynamic works of human history, the most magnificent
musical compositions and performances, the most beautiful paintings, the
most expressive literature, etc.-shall be created under God's laws.
Although the administration of the Kingdom of God
shall enforce a uniform law for all nations and peoples, and there are
indications that there shall be a universal language (Zeph. 3:9), this
does not mean that cultural differences between people shall be
eliminated. On the contrary, the diverse and unique personality,
culture, music, art, dress and habits of each nation shall be preserved
and encouraged. God's laws are universal in scope and shall be applied
to, and shall strengthen, all peoples in all cultures in all
environments. Travel and cultural exchange shall exist, with the primary
intent-at least initially-of teaching all nations to follow the example
of God's people, Israel. To accomplish this, all nations shall send
representatives to Israel to learn of God's ways and laws (Is.66:18-21,
23; Zech. 14:16-19), and Israel shall send teachers to all countries to
help them apply these new concepts and put them into practice in their
daily lives.
All through the thousand-year rule of Christ, God
shall continue to add to the number of those eventually to be in His
kingdom. At the end of the Millennium all who have ever lived and died
without having a full, first chance for salvation shall be resurrected
as physical beings to live in God's perfect society (Rev. 20:12). Those
who qualify for salvation shall be inducted into God's spiritual Kingdom
while those of this and previous eras who have not followed God's way
shall burn in the lake of fire. Immediately thereafter, the physical
aspect of God's Kingdom on earth shall disappear and be entirely
replaced by the spiritual Kingdom whose population shall have increased
into the billions by this time. Thus, we find God's Kingdom expanding in
steps and growing dramatically from only two beings to an innumerable
multitude through the process begun and made possible by and through
Jesus Christ and His resurrection.
Ultimately, following the thousand-year rule of
Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment, God shall replace the old
earth with a "new heaven and new earth" (Rev. 21:1). This reformation of
heaven and earth is part of the "restitution of all things" spoken of by
Peter (Acts 3:21). The Father shall come to this earth to rule with
Christ who shall then be second in command at His Father's side (I Cor.
15:27-28), and God's entire family shall rule the entire universe.
(Christ shall deliver the Kingdom to His Father, I Cor. 15:24.)
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the
first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no
more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a
loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling of God is with men.
He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself
will be with them; He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and
death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor
pain any more, for the former things have passed away. And He who sat
upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Also He said, Write
this, for these words are trustworthy and true. And He said to me, It is
done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the
thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without
payment. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God
and he shall be my son" (Rev. 21:1-7).
"And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is
the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun
or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its
lamp is the Lamb. By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of
the earth shall bring their glory into it, and its gates shall never be
shut by day and there shall be no night there; they shall bring into it
the glory and the honor of the nations" (Rev. 21:22-26)
"Then he showed me the river of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of
the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its
fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God
and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall worship Him; they
shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And night
shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God
will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev.
22:1-5).
Revelation 21 and 22 are surely a complex amalgam of
literal description, awesome imagery and representative symbolism. Yet
with all of this, the Bible only gives us a hint of what God shall do
after His plan for mankind has been completed and He has added so
dramatically to expand His family and Kingdom. But indications are that
God shall in one way or another continue to expand His family forever.
"For to us a child is born, to 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 of peace there will be no end... "
(Is. 9:6-7).
The scope of God's family shall literally be "all
things"-that includes the whole universe. "Thou hast put all things in
subjection under His feet. For in that He put all in subjection under
Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we see not yet
all things put under Him" (Heb. 2:8).
The incredible majesty of God's Kingdom-the fact that
man is to become part of God's family and rule the entire universe-is
called a mystery in the New Testament. Jesus called it the
"mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" in Matthew 13:11, and "the mystery
of the kingdom of God" in Mark 4:11. This mystery includes several
concepts "which [have been] kept secret since the world began" (Rom.
16:25) and "hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to His
saints" (Col. 1:26)-for example, the opportunity for gentiles to
participate in the Kingdom of God (Rom. 11:25) and become fellow heirs
of the promise of Christ (Eph. 3:6); the uniting of all things in heaven
and earth in Christ according to God's plan and purpose (Eph. 1:9); the
relationship of Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:32). But the most
important aspect of the mystery of the Kingdom of God is the fact that
man has literally become God (I Cor. 15:51 ff). This
mystery, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27), is
ordained for "our glorification" (I Cor. 2:7) and shall be fulfilled at
the resurrection when the seventh trumpet, sounds (Rev. 10:7).
The Bible states that the purpose of human life-the
ultimate goal for all human beings-Is to eventually be born into the God
family, to eventually become equal with the Creator of the universe.
This remarkable fact is surprisingly easy to prove. There is no
difficult exegesis involved. In one sense, all that is required is a
four-step process:
1) The Creator of the Universe is the one who became
Jesus Christ (John. 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16; Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2).
2) Jesus Christ is equal with God (John. 5:18; Phil.
2:6).
3) We are joint-heirs with Christ, and as a sure
result, we shall all be glorified together with Him (Rom. 8:17).
4) Whatever glory God the Father has given Christ-the
position of Creator-Christ shall eventually give to us (John. 17:11 and
22). In other words, every converted individual shall eventually enjoy
the same relationship to Christ-God the Creator-as Christ presently
enjoys with God the Father.
In another sense, all that is required is a
word-by-word reading-without interpretation-of Genesis 1:26. Here God
succinctly gives the purpose of human life: Whereas animals reproduce
after the animal kind, man reproduces after the God kind! Or, more
properly phrased, human beings are the instruments through which God is
reproducing Himself.
Human beings shall always retain their individually
distinct minds-they shall become individual personalities in the
Father's God family. Man shall do what God does. Man will feel, act,
enjoy and experience at precisely the same presently incomprehensible
level of awareness at which God feels, acts, enjoys and experiences. And
man shall not lose his unique awareness and his individual personality.
"Man will not be diffused into the cosmic consciousness," man will not be
absorbed by the "infinite intelligence," and man will not be swallowed
up by "universal love."
As a matter of fact, just the opposite is true: The
members of God's family in tomorrow's world shall be more distinct from
one another than members of the human family are distinct from one
another in today's world. All shall have their own individually specific
memories, abilities, personality traits, jobs, responsibilities,
preferences and ideas. But there won't be any competition or conflict.
Because the old culprit-self-centered human nature-shall have long since
been eliminated.
When mankind is promised to be made "equal with God,"
that of course means that individual human beings shall eventually
become qualitatively equal with God-and obviously does not
mean that individual human beings shall eventually become
quantitatively equal with either God the Father or Jesus Christ.
Being "equal with God" only means that we shall be in the same God
family as the Father and Christ are in, and has nothing to do with an
equality of power, authority, intelligence, etc., within the family.
In other words, those people who shall be resurrected
or changed "in the twinkling of an eye" (I Cor. 15:52), shall share the
exact qualities of life which today are only possessed by God the Father
and Jesus Christ.
For example, one of God's qualities is that He has
inherent life-He generates eternal life intrinsically within Himself,
because God is life. "For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He
given to the Son to have life in Himself" (John. 5:26). Consequently,
since the two original beings in the God family created all mankind to
grow to become qualitatively like themselves, when individual human
beings are changed into new, individual God-beings, each of them shall
generate eternal life intrinsically within himself (John. 3:16, 36; 4:14;
6:47; 7:38; 10:28; 17:2, etc.).
Every individual person has been created to grow
toward divine sonship (Rom. 8:1-15)-to become a literal son of God- a son
who is in every way qualitatively equal to his Father, yet a son who is
always in thankful and gracious submission to his Creator Father.
But quantitatively, man shall never equal God the
Creator, just as surely as God the Creator (Jesus Christ) shall Himself
never quantitatively equal God the Father (John. 14:28).
These two original beings in the God family shall
always remain in overall command. Their absolute authority will never be
questioned-although they will delight in sharing progressively more of
their responsibilities with their offspring as the God family continues
to expand throughout space and time.
SUMMARY
READ THESE SCRIPTURES IN YOUR OWN BIBLE.
Hebrews 11:13-16
- We are strangers in this world and look for a better "country". |
Isaiah 2:2-4
- God's
government is coming to this earth and man will learn of war no more. |
Luke 17:20-21
- Jesus tell the
Pharisees that the Kingdom of God was among them for He stood there. |
Colossians 1:13
-
God is in the process of taking mankind from darkness to the Kingdom of
God. |
1 Corinthians 15:50-54
- The
corruptible must put on incorruptible and the mortal must put on
immortality. |
John 3:3-7
- Man must be born of the
water and spirit to enter the Kingdom of God. |
Daniel 2:44
- God is making a
Kingdom which cannot be destroyed. |
Acts 3:21
- The restitution of
all things. |
John 3:5
- Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. |
Revelation 5:10
- The converted
person will one day reign as kings and priest on earth forever. |
Revelation 2:26
- He that
overcometh will receive power to rule over nations. |
Micah 4:1-4
- There will come a time
when God will establish His Kingdom on earth and man will come up to it
to learn of God's ways and laws. None will be afraid. |
Revelation 21:1-7
- There will be a
new heavens and new earth and them that overcometh will inherit all
things and be a Son of God. |
Isaiah 9:6-7
- Of the increase of
His government and peace there shall be no end. |
John 1:3
- All things were made by
Jesus. |
John 5:18
- Jesus is equal with God. |
Romans 8:17
- We can be joint-heirs
with Christ. |
Revelation 5:10
- As kings and
priests, we will reign on earth |
John 17:11,22
- The glory which God
gave Christ, Christ will give us. |
John 4:14
- As spirit beings we will
generate eternal life in us (See John 6:47 and 10:28). |
John 14:28
- God the Father is
greater than Jesus Christ. |
QUESTIONS
1. Which word best completes this sentence: The Kingdom of God is the _________ of God.
a) government of God.
b) family of God
c) creation of God
2. It is also the coming ruling government of God which begins _______
[when?]
3. The Kingdom of God was first preached by _______[whom?]
4. During the 1,000-year reign of Christ who rules with Him?
5. The Family of God currently has ___ [how many] members?
6. In the more general sense, the Kingdom of God includes what?
a) the earth
b) all nations
c) just the US and UK
d) the entire universe
7. The Old Testament never speaks about the Kingdom of God. True or
False?
8. Complete this verse: "For out of Zion shall go forth ______"
[what?]
9. Jesus Christ was a member of God's family, of the godhead from
_______[what?]
10. To become human, Jesus Christ divested Himself of _______[what?]
11. The announcement of the coming Kingdom of God is referred to as the
____ ____ or the _____. [what?]
12. Christ, through death became the _____ member [what?] of this
prophetic spiritual Kingdom?
13. To be in the Kingdom of God we must do what?
14. Today, members of the Body of Christ already have the essence of
the Kingdom dwelling in them. True or False?
15. Can humans, in human bodies, be in the Kingdom of God? Yes or No?
16. Complete this verse: "Unless one is born of _____ and the _____, he
cannot enter the Kingdom of God."
17. God's Kingdom on earth is indeed a kingdom in every sense having
what 4 elements?
18. The first to enter the Kingdom of God after Christ will be those
resurrected at what time?
19. Finish this verse: "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests
and we shall reign __ ___ _____" [where?]
20. Christ and the resurrected saints shall rule over human beings and
physical nations for 1,000 years. True or False?
21. What book and chapter speaks to a new covenant with the House of
Israel where God speaks to writing His Law on their hearts?
22. According to Isaiah 11, in God's Kingdom the knowledge of the Lord
will cover the earth like what?
23. Some will be afraid in God's Kingdom during the 1,000-year reign of
Christ. True or False?
24. In the 1,000-year reign of Christ, there will be few animals left
on the earth. True or False?
25. All nations, even Egypt, will keep the Feast of Tabernacles during
the reign of Christ? True or False?
26. There is strong indication in the Bible that Jesus will do away
with the arts and sciences during His reign. True or False?
27. Jesus will be involved in what we call "high technology" during His
reign? True or False?
28. Immigration will still be an element all nations will deal with in
Christ's reign. True or False?
29. No children will be born during the reign of the Christ. True or
False?
30. Not all humans will receive an opportunity to enter the Salvation
Process. True or False?
31. What great event takes place at the end of the 1,000 years?
32. According to Acts 3:21, the reformation of heaven and earth is part
of ___________ [what?]
33. Revelation 21 speaks of a new Jerusalem. From where will it come?
34. What two beings will live in this new city?
35. For how long will Almighty God and the Lamb rule from earth?
36. Speaking to a time after the White Throne Judgment and on into
eternity Isaiah 9:6-7 says, "of the increase of His government and Peace
there shall be __ ___" [what?]
37. This is a four-part True and False question:
a) The Creator of the Universe is the one who became Jesus. True or
False?
b) Jesus is equal with God. True or False?
c) We are joint-heirs with Christ. True or False?
d) Whatever glory God the Father has given Christ, Christ shall
eventually give to us. True or False?
38. As we are changed to spirit beings, we can look forward to becoming
part of the cosmic consciousness, absorbed by infinite intelligence and
swallowed up in universal love. True or False?
39. As spirit beings we shall retain our own unique personality,
memories, abilities, preferences and ideas. True or False?
40. Which is correct, a) or b):
a) As spirit beings in the Family of God we become quantitatively equal
with God but not qualitatively equal with God.
b) As spirit beings in the Family of God we become qualitatively equal
with God but not quantitatively equal with God.
41. When we become a member of the God Family, each of us shall
generate eternal life intrinsically within ourselves. True or False?
42. God the Father is...
a) greater than Christ
b) equal to Christ
c) lesser than Christ |