Topical Studies
God's Kingdom
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Psalms 21:1 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
There will be everlasting joy when God's Kingdom is established on earth. Joy and gladness are not only deep inward feelings, but they are also expressed in visible celebration when God's people gather together. Speaking of the future church, Isaiah 60:15 says, "Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one went through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations." In the meantime, the apostle Paul advises us to "rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4)
Martin G. Collins
Joy
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Daniel 2:28-30 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Through this dream God was revealing to this world-ruling, human king that there is a God in heaven—that God is Supreme Ruler over all nations, governments and kings—that God rules the universe! Although during the past 6,000 years God has left the nations generally to their own devices, God was giving Nebuchadnezzar a special opportunity to accept His rule. The main purpose of this dream was to reveal God's government—the fact that God rules and the truth of the coming Kingdom of God, which is the one and only true gospel of Jesus Christ. And, secondly, to reveal—preserved in writing for us today—what is to happen "in the latter days" or the end time.
What Is the True Gospel?
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Micah 4:1-3 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Beginning with Israel, God will take a much more direct and visible role in governing the nations. Representatives of nations will flow to Jerusalem to learn God's ways. They must begin at ground zero and prepare their lives to reflect the image of God, just as we have had to do. That these people come to God is an acknowledgment that they and their forefathers had made a mess of things before Christ returned, and now they want to learn from God and His people how to do things properly.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Preparing to Rule!
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Mark 1:14 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The message God sent by Jesus Christ was the "gospel of the Kingdom of God." The Kingdom of God is the government of God that will rule all nations. But also it is the Family of God into which we may be born—the divine Family that will become a spirit-nation, ruling all nations on earth as a world-ruling government! Jesus was sent merely to announce that message—not force men to accept it, believe it, and act upon it. Never did Jesus plead with a single one to be converted. He just announced the good news of the Kingdom of God, and then left it to the Father to call, through that announcement and His Spirit, those whom He would select (John 6:44). Christ did not come then to convert the world! He did not start a "soul-saving" crusade. He came to announce the gospel—the good news—of His coming Kingdom on earth!
What Is the True Gospel?
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Mark 1:15 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The conditions for entering God's Kingdom are simple in concept: "repent and believe in the gospel." Repentance is a complete turning or changing of the mind and way of life to follow God. And God's way of life is defined by His commandments (Matthew 19:17). We repent by quitting our former sinful way of life and keeping God's commands. Believing the gospel encompasses both believing in Christ as well as believing what He said (John 8:30-31). Millions believe that He came as their Savior and now lives eternally as their soon-coming King, while paradoxically rejecting the very message He brought to save them!
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The True Gospel
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Luke 13:23-28 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Many will seek to enter the Kingdom of God but be barred from it because of flagrant sin. Jesus will refuse to answer the knock of unruly sinners who have rejected salvation, though they weep and grind their teeth when they find out they cannot enter God's Kingdom. When the third resurrection arrives, all humanity will have had the opportunity to be saved; everyone's ultimate destiny will have been eternally set. It will be too late for anyone who, after coming to the knowledge of the truth, sins willfully and thereby rejects eternal life. Those who reject God and His way of life must then reap the consequences of that decision—the second death following the third resurrection to judgment.
Martin G. Collins
Basic Doctrines: The Third Resurrection
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John 18:36 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Before His resurrection, Jesus made it clear that His Kingdom was not at that time, nor ever would be, "of this world." Therefore, the churches of this world cannot constitute God's Kingdom, as so many seem to think. This "world" or system (Greek cosmos) encompasses all that is characteristic of the age of man. And certainly, as history reveals, the churches are a part of this age! They have engaged in political struggles, ruled empires, caused the shedding of much blood, especially in the Middle Ages. Therefore, if the churches of Christendom constitute God's Kingdom, then that kingdom is a part of this world, and Jesus did not know what He was talking about! Jesus stated plainly: "But now is My Kingdom not from hence" [did not begin at that time]—though His spiritual church (Matthew 16:18) did begin on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). So Jesus Christ Himself emphatically denied, in advance, the false concept that later formed the basis for church-political dominance in the Middle Ages.
The Sensational Return of Jesus Christ!
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Acts 1:6-8 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Despite spending three-and-a-half years of intense training with Jesus, the apostles retained the common Jewish concept of the establishment of God's Kingdom. Paraphrased, Jesus said, "God is working it out. You need to focus your attention on another area at this time." The work of God was about to make a dramatic turn, occasioned by something that had never occurred before in the history of the earth. God would give His Spirit, visibly manifesting His power in many, and simultaneously launching His church and the preaching of the gospel! His Family was about to make its greatest numerical advancement to that time. It was a unique time in history. It has not happened in that manner since.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Preparing the Bride
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Acts 1:6 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
The scene is the ascension of Jesus Christ, after forty days of being with the disciples (verse 3). The day of Pentecost is just about to occur (Acts 2). It is interesting to note, in this profoundly significant time in the lives of the apostles, what was on their mind. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." They were seeking to know about the Kingdom of God and seeing it established immediately! We should not be unfamiliar with that kind of an attitude. If we are at all like them, we, too, would like to see God's Kingdom established right now.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Trumpets Is a Day of Hope
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1 Corinthians 15:50 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
No human can inherit the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is not a human kingdom. There are no humans in it! It is a Divine Kingdom—the God Kingdom! Jesus explained it to Nicodemus in John 3:3-8: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus couldn't understand that. Not many today can understand it! Jesus continued that except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh," continued Jesus, "is flesh." Yes, we were all born of the flesh, therefore Jesus said we are flesh—yes, flesh and blood. And flesh and blood cannot inherit—cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. "That which is born of the Spirit," said Jesus, "is spirit." When we are born of the Spirit, then we shall be spirit—so said Jesus. Did Jesus know what He was talking about—or do some of us think we know better, today?
Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
What Is the Reward of the Saved?
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Philippians 3:20 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
While some may spiritualize this fact away, Paul's words come across as literal and real to those who understand that God has called us out of this world (John 15:19) and transferred us into His Kingdom (Colossians 1:13). Having our citizenship (conversation, KJV) in the Kingdom of God by definition makes us aliens in the physical country in which we live. Like ambassadors of a foreign government, we cannot participate in the politics of another country, a practice that would distract us from our real spiritual goal. However, we realize that the apostle Paul has challenged us to be ambassadors for Christ: "Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (II Corinthians 5:20).
Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Persistent Friend
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Colossians 1:13-17 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus Christ is not only our Savior but also our Creator. He is the subject of the powerful description in Isaiah 40:9-18, and it is into His Kingdom we have been translated, meaning conveyed or transferred. Paul must mean that this translation is spiritual because God's Kingdom has not yet literally been established on earth. God "calls those things which do not exist as though they did" (Romans 4:17). We are to conduct our lives and represent God before the world as though we were literally a part of it even now. Philippians 3:20 reinforces this: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." The Kingdom of God is still in heaven and will be established on earth at Christ's return. However, we are already considered its citizens. Thus, our loyalties and submission go to it before everything else.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sixth Commandment (Part 2): War! (1997)
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1 John 3:2 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
This verse does not mean that we do not know what we are going to be in the Kingdom. We know what we will be in the Kingdom, "kings and priests" (Revelation 5:10). We will have these dual responsibilities of rulership and mediation. We do not know how extensive our authority will be, nor what our exact position in the Family will be. But that is not what John is talking about here. By saying that it does not yet appear what we shall be, he means that we are simply not able to comprehend it. We cannot, literally, see it yet! But it is very clear that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him! God could not make it any clearer. He does not say we are going to be a shadow of Him—we will be like Him! He is God, and we are going to be God too! Full-fledged members of the God Family!
John W. Ritenbaugh
We Shall Be God! (Part 2)
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Revelation 5:10 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Just like the apostles and Jesus Christ, we, too, are going to be kings and priests on earth, where the Kingdom will be located. Thus, we find that God is producing a community, and that community is a nation as well as a Family. The members of that Family are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, and we all have a common Father—the great Creator of everything that is. Like the apostles and Jesus Christ, we are being drawn to a place where we will rule in that Kingdom.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 1)
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Revelation 11:15-18 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
This last—seventh—trumpet announces the coming of Christ, the establishment of God's Kingdom, the judgment upon the nations, and the rewarding of the saints. They occur simultaneously! The last trumpet sounds when Christ returns, not 3½ years before! If we compare verses 11-13 (the resurrection of the Two Witnesses) with verse 19, the "great earthquake" ties the resurrection of the saints with the beginning of the Kingdom (see also Revelation 16:18). In addition, an angel tells John in Revelation 10:7 that when "the seventh angel . . . is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished." There will be no more mystery about man becoming God when the saints are resurrected or changed to eternal spirit beings! Matthew 24:30-31 also verifies this scenario, showing that the trumpet sounds to send the angels to gather the elect from all over the earth to meet Him upon His return. To clinch the argument, verse 29 very plainly says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days. . ."! Isaiah 27:12-13, Joel 2:1-11 and Zechariah 14:3-5, 9 also confirm these events.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Caught Up in the Rapture
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Revelation 11:15-18 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus Christ will return to earth for the purpose of setting up the Kingdom of God and judging the nations. This time, He will not come meekly but with God's wrath against a rebellious mankind! The nations' political rulers will be furious when they realize that Christ has come to abolish the governments of this world and to establish the Kingdom of God, which will rule over all the earth from headquarters in Jerusalem. Note also that all English translations of the first part of verse 18 speak of "the time of the dead, that they should be judged. . . ." This is an error and is disproved by Revelation 20:5, which shows that the time of the dead to be judged is after the 1,000 years are over. The later Greek manuscripts do have the expression "the dead" in Revelation 11:18, but earlier manuscripts and the official printed Greek text of the Greek Orthodox Church have "the time of the nations that they should be judged. . . ."
Feast of Trumpets: Why the World Won't End in Cosmocide
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Revelation 21:1-4 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Following this time of judgment, God will create "a new heaven and a new earth"—a clean, pure world fit for God the Father Himself. For all eternity, "there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." All those who have accepted God's way will have been glorified as members of the God Family, and they will live forever. Like God, they will create, beautify, and spread God's rule over the entire universe! With this wonderful potential ahead of us, we can eagerly echo the apostle John's words in Revelation 22:20: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
Martin G. Collins
Holy Days: Last Great Day
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