There are two great systems, economies or divine administrations in the counsels of God respecting the earth. One is based on the responsibility of man In connection with his faithfulness in carrying out that responsibility. The other flows from the purposes and the effectual power of God. The first is the household of the Law, the second the household of the Kingdom. The first, under which man willingly placed himself (Ex. 19:8), began with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai and continued until John the Baptist. The second began with the testimony of the forerunner of the Lord Jesus and was immediately announced by John as "at hand." This message was then taken up and continued by the Lord Jesus and His disciples.
Israel stood on the ground of the law, and had the law been kept and the message of the Kingdom accepted, this kingdom would have been established in power, with accompanying peace and order on earth under the scepter of the Prince of Peace. But we know that man is not capable of keeping the law, and as soon as the true Light began to appear, the deep shadows of darkness began to be visible. The true condition of man, his natural corruption and his enmity toward God became manifest. The witness of John, as that of the Lord Jesus, was rejected; John was beheaded and Christ nailed to the cross.
With this, the setting up of the kingdom in power and glory manifestly became impossible. Daniel's prophesy was fulfilled: "Messiah shall be cut off and shall have nothing." (Dan. 9:26 Marg.) Instead of a time of outward unfolding of power there followed centuries of debasement and rejection for Israel. These times will continue until the "Son of man" returns to take up His rule over all things in heaven and upon earth. In confirmation of this, the Lord told the leaders of the Jewish people on the eve of His departure: "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Matt. 26:64.
Was the kingdom, then, not set up at all? The kingdom was indeed set up, but it had taken on a new, mysterious form. This new form or character is the subject of the well-known parables of Matt. 13, in which the Lord instructs the disciples. To them, and thus to us, it has been given to be led into the "mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens." To the "things old" were added things hitherto unrevealed. Thus the Lord had shown them, that a scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens would bring forth out of his treasures "things new and old.”
Let us examine the meaning of the expression
The Kingdom of God
The expression "Kingdom of God" of itself suggests to the mind a realm or condition in which the ruling power of God is expressed or unfolds itself in the course of circumstances brought to pass in His wisdom. It is the widest, most encompassing designation of the various similar expressions which we encounter in the Word of God. We read of the kingdom, the kingdom of the heavens, the kingdom of My (or your) Father, the kingdom of the Son of man, and the kingdom of the world of our Lord and His Christ.
“Kingdom of God" is a generic or family name under which the others are grouped. The expression has an internal, spiritual or moral meaning and an outward meaning falling more into the sphere of the senses.
When God appeared on this earth in the Person of His Son, the kingdom of God was there because He was there manifested in all His divine power and wisdom. And thus the Lord says to the Pharisees, who in the enmity and blindness of their hearts asserted that He cast out devils through Beelzebub the prince of the demons: "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." Matt. 12:28. (See also Luke 11:20.) Also in Luke 17:20, 21 we read: "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within [among] you.”
If Israel had accepted Christ, nothing would have stood in the way of the kingdom's being established. He who coming after, but preferred before John, was there with His winnowing fan in His hand to thoroughly purge the granary. But consequent upon the rejection of Christ, the establishment of the kingdom in judicial power and glory must be postponed. This establishment is yet future and will only be fulfilled at the second coming of Christ, that is at the appearing of the Son of man when all flesh and every eye shall see Him, even those who have pierced Him. In the meantime He is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high and awaits the time when God will put all His enemies under the footstool of His feet, and send the rod of His strength out of Zion. Then, in "the day of His power," His people (the believing remnant of Israel) "shall be willing" and He will sit as "priest forever after the order of Melchizedek," ruling "from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." (Psa. 110; Zech. 6:13; Psa. 72; Isa. 9:7; etc.)
Faith sees Jesus already glorified above, crowned with honor, and knowing that soon all things will be subjected unto Him. All is secured for faith in the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the slain Lamb who has overcome and is set down on the throne of His Father—not yet on His own throne. (Rev. 3:21.)
In the Gospel of Matthew is the only place where the expression is found:
The Kingdom of the Heavens
The evangelist sets Christ before us primarily as the Messiah and wherever it is used, without exception, the kingdom is spoken of as future. Why? The reason is simple. While the "kingdom of God" necessarily was there as the Son of God walked on earth, or, in other words as God was here, the "kingdom of the heavens" could not exist as long as Jesus was not rejected and had not yet returned to heaven. I repeat, could not. Why not? Because the "kingdom of the heavens" is the result of this return, the setting forth or unfolding of the kingdom of God in its heavenly character. The manifestation followed upon the rejection of the king of this kingdom by Israel and the whole world. Many difficulties disappear when this fact is grasped. One understands immediately why the Lord Jesus could not say in Matt. 12:28 "the kingdom of the heavens is come unto you" or in 21:43 "the kingdom of the heavens shall be taken from you." The kingdom of God was there, and so could be taken away, but the kingdom of the heavens was not yet in existence, as such it was "nigh" but not yet come.
The "certain nobleman" whose kingdom was "not of this world" has gone to a distant land to receive a kingdom for Himself and return. During the time of His absence He maintains only a spiritual connection with His kingdom here below. Every outward connection is severed and every claim to the outward recognition of His kingly rights has been given up. At the same time a new work has begun, the calling out of the bride of the Lamb from every people of the earth, the gathering of the congregation of the living God whose beginnings we see in the remnant of Israel. "And the Lord added to the church [assembly) daily such as should be saved" Acts 2:47. All, yes all (converted or not), who profess Christ today, find themselves in the kingdom of the heavens, and are held responsible to observe the principles laid down in Matt. 5 to 7.
The Keys of the Kingdom of the Heavens
Were given to Simon Peter. Following the Lord's well-known words "on this rock I will build My church [assembly)" He says: "I will give unto thee [Peter] 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." The keys are of the kingdom and not of heaven or of the Church. Acts gives us the fulfillment of the first part of this saying. In chapter 2, Peter reopens the door of the kingdom to the Jews who had lost all right to the kingdom by rejecting their Messiah. Then in chapter 10 he opens the door to the Gentiles in the person of the centurion Cornelius, his friends and relatives. Two keys were placed in the hands of His disciple by the Lord, and both were used by Peter.
The second part of the Lord's word quoted above, introduces quite a distinct thought. Keys are used to unlock and lock; binding and loosing have as little to do with keys as with the previously mentioned building of the Church. The latter part of our expression does speak of a power or authority, but connected with the administration of the kingdom here below. Acts 5 gives us a solemn illustration of the exercise of this authority in connection with Ananias and Sapphira. Power flowing from the delegated authority binds the sin of the unhappy couple on them, and the apostle's act is ratified by heaven. Both expire immediately.
The kingdom of the heavens will be transformed into:
The Kingdom of the Son of Man and the Kingdom of the Father (of the Righteous)
Jacob's dream will then be fulfilled; heaven and earth will be joined together and the heavenly inhabitants will serve as channels of blessing to those of the earthly kingdom below. Then will begin, as announced in Rev. 11:15, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ." It will no longer be ruled from the heaven; the King Himself shall there enter into His dominion. "Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven." Psa. 85:11. "The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness." Psa. 72:3. The will of God shall be done on earth as in heaven.
Now a word on the controversial portion in 1 Cor. 15. The Apostle Paul says in verses 25 and 26: "He [Christ] must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." Our exalted Lord must and will reign in righteousness and peace, as never a king has reigned, to the glory of God. In humiliation He glorified His Father; thus also He will perfectly glorify Him in the day of His exaltation. The government will then rest on His strong shoulder, and "of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end." That is, this creation endures according to the will of God as long as sun and moon remain. (Isa. 9:7; Psa. 72:7, 17; 89:29, 36, 37; Dan. 2:44; 7:14; Luke 1:32, 33.)
“His day" will last a thousand years, and then as the days of His government are over and "the end" is come, (in other words, when heaven and earth have passed away and the eternal state begins) He gives up the kingdom to Him who is God and Father. He who in this, too, has demonstrated perfection will lay down His government in order finally (now as man) to be placed in subjection to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, that God may be all in all—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All rule, authority and power connected with this creation will be put away. From the hands of the perfect Man, into which God had placed it consequent on His obedience to the death of the cross, the government will be laid in God's hands again, following a faultless, perfect administration. Already at the present time our exalted Lord has been given all power in heaven and on earth, however, He has not yet entered fully into that dominion, nor taken up the inheritance. The possession is "acquired" but not yet "redeemed" (Eph. 1:14). He is the mysterious Man of God's counsels, the only Son by whom and for whom all things were made, and who as the dependent and obedient Man accomplished redemption. As that Heir of all things, He has set Himself down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. God has highly exalted this One and already given Him a name which is above every name. Yet a very little time and we shall see Him come, uniting in His mighty hands all authority, power, and dominion. And then, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:10, 11. Tr. by H. Vedder