Part 1
Why is it so important to know how a Kingdom is built and how it functions?
Because the Bible, all the time, speaks of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus also spoke of the keys of the Kingdom.
He said to Peter:
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 16:19
Jesus shows us that the Kingdom has keys.
And if we want to understand how these keys work, we must know the Kingdom.
Therefore, follow me carefully.
Because, if we don't understand the basic things the Bible talks about, how can we understand what comes next?
THE KING IS THE AUTHORITY
So, we are always talking about:
The King.
And:
The Kingdom.
What is important to know is that the King is the Authority and His Word is Law.
It is not a system of democracy, where citizens vote and change laws.
In a Kingdom, what the King says has authority.
That is why it is very important to understand that what God has written and said is not something we can change according to our will.
Jesus said it very clearly:
Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Matthew 5:18
Not even a stroke of a pen.
Remember this.
Because, if we want to understand how the Kingdom works, we must first understand:
Who is the Authority?
And:
What is the value of His Word?
WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?
Now let's go back to the beginning once again.
After the Fall of Adam, something very important happened to what God had established from the beginning.
God had created man to live with Him on Earth.
Man was created to live under God's direction and to exercise the authority and responsibility He had given him.
But, after the Fall, this reality was overturned.
To understand it better, think of a Kingdom that extends its authority to another territory and establishes its governance there.
Even if the King is not physically in that territory, it continues to be part of His Kingdom.
The governance that the King has established there continues to function according to the authority, laws, and way of functioning of the Kingdom.
And the King's word has authority even in that territory.
This is just an example to make the idea more understandable.
God created the Earth.
And He placed man upon it with the responsibility He had given him.
But, after the Fall, man no longer continued to live in that relationship and under that direction as in the beginning.
Later, when the Devil tempted Jesus, he said:
To You I will give all this power and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
Luke 4:6
And Jesus said:
Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out!
John 12:31
So, something had changed.
What God had established in the beginning was no longer functioning in the same way.
And now we must see:
What did God do to restore His plan?
THE BIG PICTURE
I want to pause here for a moment on the big things.
On the panorama of the entire Bible.
Because, if we don't understand this view, we might miss the essence of what we are talking about.
In the Old Testament we see:
Creation.
The Fall.
The Kings.
The Prophets.
And the prophets speak of the One who was to come.
Of the King.
Of the Kingdom.
Of the coming of the Kingdom of God through Jesus.
Then comes the New Testament.
And it begins with the coming of Jesus.
But before Jesus comes the messenger of the King:
John the Baptist.
And what was John the Baptist's message?
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Matthew 3:1–2
Look how direct the message was:
The Kingdom is at hand.
“REPENT”
The word “repent” is very powerful.
It's not just about us saying:
Lord, forgive me.
It has to do with returning.
Returning from the path we have been on.
And returning to what God had planned from the beginning.
To return to God.
To return to His will.
To begin to live life according to the Kingdom way that God had established from the beginning.
That is why John's message was so powerful:
Repent, for the Kingdom is near.
And then Jesus came.
JESUS' MESSAGE WAS THE KINGDOM
With the coming of Jesus, the message did not change.
Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying:
The time has come, the kingdom of God is near; repent and believe the gospel.
Mark 1:15
And Jesus did not proclaim this in just one place.
He went everywhere preaching the same message.
In fact, He said:
I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.
Luke 4:43
So, Jesus went everywhere preaching the Kingdom of God.
And here I want to pause for a moment.
Because it is very important to understand the Great Plan that God was implementing.
THE MEANS ARE NOT THE END
Miracles are not the Great Plan.
Healings are not the Great Plan.
Deliverance from demons is not the Great Plan.
Nor is rebuking the storm the Great Plan.
No.
These are part of what Jesus did, but they are not the Purpose itself.
Jesus performed miracles.
Jesus healed.
Jesus delivered.
Jesus calmed the storm.
But we should not stop only at what He did.
We must see why He came.
We must see what He proclaimed.
We must see God's Great Plan.
Because, if we do not understand the essence of what we are talking about — what the Kingdom is and what God's Plan is — we will not be able to understand either:
Who we are.
Why we are here.
What is our purpose.
Where are we going.
And:
What should we expect.
THE MISSION OF JESUS
The life and mission of Jesus on Earth proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God and showed what the Kingdom of God looks like here on Earth.
He did this through the preaching of the Word and through everything He did.
His life was a demonstration of what it means to live under God's guidance.
But Jesus' mission did not end only with the proclamation of the Kingdom.
His mission included restoring man to God and opening the way for him to enter the Kingdom of God.
And for this to happen, the rest of the mission had to be fulfilled:
Death.
And Resurrection.
Because through them it would be possible for us to receive what God had prepared for us in Christ.
INHERITANCE
To make it more understandable, let's look at an example.
When a person leaves a will, the inheritance specified therein becomes enforceable after the death of the one who left it.
The Word says:
For where there is a will, there must also be the death of the testator. For a will is in force only when someone has died; it is never in force while the one who made it is still alive.
Hebrews 9:16–17
This helps us understand the connection between Jesus' death and the inheritance.
Through His death and Resurrection, the part of the mission related to salvation and the inheritance that God gives to people in Christ was fulfilled.
Therefore:
The mission was the restoration of man to God and his entry into the inheritance of the Kingdom.
“IT HAS PLEASED THE FATHER TO GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM”
Now look at something very interesting.
During the time Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God before the crucifixion, He spoke of a Kingdom that the Father would give them.
Jesus said:
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
Luke 12:32
To give you.
So, Jesus was talking about something that was promised and that would be fulfilled.
And then came the crucifixion.
Death.
And Resurrection.
Now we see something very important.
After the Resurrection, Jesus stayed with the disciples for forty more days.
And what did He do during these forty days?
The Bible says:
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:3
Even after the Resurrection, Jesus continued to speak to them about:
The Kingdom of God.
And then He gave them a clear instruction:
Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from me. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:4–5
And then:
But when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will receive power and will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8
Here we have an extraordinary moment.
Because now we see how what Jesus had proclaimed about the Kingdom is connected to the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus had come.
The King had been proclaimed.
The Kingdom had been proclaimed.
The mission had been fulfilled through the cross and the Resurrection.
And now the disciples were preparing for the next step.
They would not just stand by waiting.
They would receive power.
They would become witnesses.
And they would carry the news of the Kingdom:
From Jerusalem.
To Judea.
To Samaria.
To the ends of the earth.
So, the story had not ended with Jesus' ascension into heaven.
On the contrary.
Now a new phase was beginning.
The Kingdom that Jesus had proclaimed needed to be made known.
And people needed to learn not only about the King, but also how to live as citizens of the Kingdom.
And precisely here arises the next question:
How does one enter this Kingdom?
Who becomes its citizen?
And what changes in his life when he enters?
Here begins the next discovery.
Where you can continue
Next chapter: 08 · How do we become citizens of the Kingdom?.