Kingdom of God Bible Seminars
Part 3, Presentation 1
The Kingdom of God: Man’s Only Hope for Survival!
Introduction:
Today’s world is a picture of contrasts wherever you look. It is like the time described by
Charles Dickens in his novel The Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst
of times . . .”
On one hand the globalized world of technology has created an interconnected world of
commerce and communication that has raised the standard of living for much of the world to the
highest in human history. It is a time of great wealth.
And yet it is potentially the worst of times. Nuclear war is still a threat, particularly in the Middle
East. Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons while Israel decides whether it will act to prevent
the development of this ultimate weapon of mass destruction that can easily wipe out Israel. A
nuclear armed Middle East is more frightening than the Cold War standoff between the Soviet
Union and the United States, since, as the Arab Spring has shown, many of these nations are
unstable, and terrorism—perhaps even nuclear terrorism—is a huge threat to the world.
The world economy, while generating vast wealth, is also going through a crisis created by the
enormous burden of debt owed by the most powerful regions, the United States and Western
Europe. This debt could create economic meltdowns much like the Great Depression and a
realignment of world power blocs that would change the world geopolitical structure—bringing
down existing major powers and creating new ones.
We also see the moral fabric of society being shredded with assaults on the family and
morality, creating a culture that would be unrecognizable to our parents and grandparents only
a generation or two ago. Homosexual marriage, the culture of abortion with its murder of 70 to
80 million unborn babies killed over the past several decades in the United States alone, and the
continual assault on morality and decency in our popular entertainment have created a culture of
evil that will not acknowledge and admit God—and that openly defies His Word, the Bible.
Our courts have stripped prayer out of our schools and from public life. We have reached a
critical crossroads of religious and spiritual confusion that will bring this world to the brink of
destruction unless we repent and turn things around. This world is heading for the precipice—a
time of world trouble of unprecedented proportions.
Jesus Christ Himself said of world conditions just before His return: “For then there will be great
tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will
be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of
the elect those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:21-22, English Standard Version).
But there is a solution, and it is in the real hope of the coming Kingdom of God—the only
realistic solution for the world problems we see around us. The prophesied Kingdom of God,
long foretold in your Bible, is real—and it is coming. You are here at this seminar to understand
-1-
what you can do to prepare in advance of this Kingdom. The revealed knowledge in this seminar
will allow you to make a difference in your life now and prepare you for a role in that coming
Kingdom. Listen to what is said, and ask yourself if you are ready to make a change in your life.
Body:
What did Jesus Christ focus on while on this earth?
Jesus preached the “gospel of the Kingdom of God.” Mark 1:14-15: “The time is
fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
What message did Jesus command His followers to preach?
●
Luke 9:1-2: “Then He called His twelve disciples together and . . . sent them to preach the
kingdom of God . . .”
Matthew 24:14:“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness
to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Was this same Kingdom of God a major theme in Paul’s teaching?
Acts 19:8: “And [Paul] went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning
and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.”
Acts 28:23: “So when they had appointed him a day, many came to [Paul] at his lodging, to
whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning
Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.”
“Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,
preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with
all confidence, no one forbidding him” (verses 30-31).
Paul emphasized the theme of the Kingdom of God, continuing the teaching of Jesus Christ and
the other apostles.
What did Jesus Himself say should be the goal of every Christian?
Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness . . .”
This is the ultimate goal of followers of Jesus Christ—to enter into and share in the Kingdom
of God. But what is that Kingdom? What will it be like? What will Christ’s followers do in that
Kingdom?
Jesus was not bringing a new message. This Kingdom had been long prophesied and was
expected by the Jews of the first century.
●
-2-
Christ’s Message was long anticipated by the Prophets: “Repent therefore and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from
the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you
before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God
has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).
● Daniel had long ago foretold the establishment of God’s Kingdom: “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” (Daniel 2:44).
Will Jesus Christ literally return to earth? And who will come with Him?
Zechariah 14:4-5: “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces
Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making
a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the
south . . . Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You.”
This prophecy describes Jesus Christ’s literal return to earth, where He will meet and be
accompanied by the resurrected saints—those set apart in this age as God’s true followers. They
will descend to the Mount of Olives, which overlooks Jerusalem from the city’s east side.
Other prophecies show that enemy forces will actually attempt to fight them but will be utterly
defeated. After that, Christ and the saints will bring wonderful change to the world.
What role will Jerusalem play after Jesus Christ’s return to the Mount of Olives?
Zechariah 8:3: “Thus says the Lord: ‘I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy
Mountain.’”
Jeremiah 3:17: “At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the Lord, and all the
nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow
the dictates of their evil hearts.”
Isaiah 2:2-3: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s
house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills;
and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to
the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we
shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem, that ancient city over which so much blood has been shed throughout the centuries,
will become the governmental and religious center of the world in the Kingdom of God. Notice
that the Kingdom of God, established by Jesus the Messiah, will take control over the kingdoms
the world. It will be a literal kingdom, replacing the present systems of government, which have
refused to accept and enforce the laws of God.
Revelation 11:15: “And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world
have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”
This godly Kingdom will become a reality at the return of Christ.
-3-
What will be so different about this Kingdom compared to today’s world?
One factor is huge. People don’t realize what is behind nearly all of our problems today. There
is an unseen spiritual power at work. Jesus called this power “the ruler of this world” (John
12:31). And no one is going to be able to solve our problems until the source of those problems
is removed. One thing must be done first before the world can begin to change from the way it is
today. What is one of the very first things Jesus Christ must do?
Revelation 20:1-3: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who
is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless
pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the
thousand years were finished.”
Then, with the cause of so many of our problems removed, the world will begin to be
transformed under the righteous reign of Jesus as the long-promised Messiah. Notice what Bible
prophecy reveals about how the world will be transformed.
The earth’s barren and desolate wastelands will be transformed to become like Eden:
Isaiah 51:3: “For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make
her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be
found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.”
Isaiah 41:18-20: “I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the
wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the
cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know, and consider
and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has
created it.”
Isaiah 35:1-2, 7: “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and
singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it . . . They shall see the glory of the Lord, the
excellency of our God . . The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs
of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.”
The planet will become enormously fruitful and productive:
Amos 9:13: “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when the plowman shall overtake
the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet
wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.’”
The world will see astounding miraculous healings—the blind will see, the deaf will hear,
the lame will leap, the mute will speak:
-4-
Isaiah 35:5-6: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters
shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.”
This is speaking of literal physical healing as well as of people spiritually healed and
transformed through the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit.
Nations will be at peace, and mankind will learn war no more:
Micah 4:3-4: “He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; 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 everyone shall sit under his
vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts
has spoken.”
The world will at last be filled with peace:
Isaiah 65:21-23 (REB): “My people will build houses and live in them, plant vineyards and eat
their fruit; they will not build for others to live in or plant for others to eat. They will be as longlived as a tree, and my chosen ones will enjoy the fruit of their labour. They will not toil to no
purpose or raise children for misfortune, because they and their issue [descendants] after them
are a race blessed by the Lord.”
Even the nature of animals will be changed:
Isaiah 11:6-8: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the
young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put
his hand in the viper’s den.”
The nature of animals will be literally transformed, but this is also speaking figuratively of the
peaceful relations between people of all nations, as the next verse makes plain.
The world will be filled with the knowledge of God:
Isaiah 11:9: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
The Kingdom of God, under Jesus Christ’s supervision, will bring blessings of peace and
prosperity to the world. God will restore to the world what He restricted to only a few since He
expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden in Eden—access to the knowledge of Him through
the tree of life (Revelation 22:1-2). Universal peace will break out all over the world. God will
allow no one, man or beast, to harm any part of His creation.
But as we saw earlier, Jesus Christ will not come back to earth alone. Let’s notice again a
prophecy we read earlier:
-5-
Zechariah 14:4-5: “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces
Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making
a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the
south . . . Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You” (compare Revelation
5:10).
We see here that Jesus Christ will come back to earth, and He will be accompanied by His saints!
What’s going on here? What is this all about?
Will another miraculous, unprecedented event accompany Christ’s return?
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive
and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep [that is,
who have died]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
Does the Bible tell us anything else about this resurrection?
1 Corinthians 15:50-54 (REB): “What I mean, my friends, is this: flesh and blood can never
possess the kingdom of God, the perishable cannot possess the imperishable. Listen! I will
unfold a mystery: we shall not all die, but we shall all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trumpet-call. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise imperishable,
and we shall be changed. This perishable body must be clothed with the imperishable, and
what is mortal with immortality. And when this perishable body has been clothed with the
imperishable and our mortality has been clothed with immortality, then the saying of scripture
will come true: ‘Death is swallowed up; victory is won!’”
What will those brought up and given eternal life in this resurrection do with Jesus Christ
in His Kingdom?
Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the
second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with
Him a thousand years.”
The return of Jesus Christ will mark not only the beginning of the Kingdom of God but the time
when God will resurrect the dead in Christ and give them eternal life to reign with Jesus forever.
Daniel 7:18: “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the
kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”
Who will be in this resurrection to eternal life in God’s Kingdom?
Revelation 3:21: “To him who overcomes [that is, gains victory in struggling against sin and
Satan] I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father
on His throne.”
-6-
Will the saints have special assignments during the millennial reign of Christ?
Notice what Jesus told the 12 apostles:
Luke 22:29-30: “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow
upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at
My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
And the resurrected King David will reign over all of Israel under Christ (Jeremiah 30:9;
Ezekiel 37:24-25).
And what about other responsibilities? God has been preparing a people to step into this role
since the beginning. Men and women have been prepared for this role since the opening pages of
Genesis.
Luke 19:11-27 shows through a parable that God has given to His servants a calling, knowledge
and abilities that they must act on (represented by minas or talents in Matthew 25:14-30). Jesus
here presents those progressing in service to God in different degrees being rewarded with rule
over various numbers of cities in the future age.
Each person whom God has called and chosen has the responsibility to remain faithful to the end
and to use his or her life to prepare for a role in this coming Kingdom. That is what the calling to
the Christianity of the Bible will produce.
Conclusion:
You can be a part of this Kingdom. You are hearing advance news—the good news (the true
gospel Jesus Christ announced)—of this coming Kingdom of peace. The choice is yours. What
will you do with it?
Can you picture the wonderful future that lies ahead? Our next message will talk about the way
to be part of this future—the response God requires of each of us.
-7-