Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God

Introduction

The Bible is filled with numerous promises. Herbert Lockyer in his book All Promises of the Bible points out that there are 3573 promises throughout the entire Bible. The King James Version of the Bible contains the term “promise” more than 50 times in total. The Bible uses words with a similar meaning throughout, such as bless and covenant. The promise of the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God are two of the most notable, which will be covered in this article.

I. Promise of the Kingdom of God 

God clearly made the theocratic monarchy on earth, which would last forever, a promise during David’s time (2 Sam 7:16). When Jesus was performing his earthly ministry, He instructed His disciples to pray, “Your Kingdom come!” (Matt 6:9-13). There are numerous connotations associated with it. The most desired meaning—one that is also essential to Christianity—is the return of Jesus. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit before ascending into heaven, who would lead and guide his followers into all Truth (Jn 14:16;16:13-15). The disciples therefore will be able to experience the Kingdom of God and its new realms. The Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God will be precisely defined since they are interrelated concepts.

1. The Holy Spirit 

The Hebrew term Qadoshis translated as “Holy” in the English Bible and appears 119 times in 108 verses of the WLC  Hebrew Bible. The word Qadosh literally means “to be set apart for a special purpose.” The root word Qodesh essentially means “to consecrate,” dedicate, set apart, to be different or distinct. The Spirit of God is known as the Holy Spirit in the Bible in several places. Due to the distinctiveness and uniqueness of the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God he establishes will likewise be distinctive in many ways.

The Holy Spirit is a person who has existed since the beginning, who participated in the act of creation before the Church Age (Gen 1:2; Job 33:4; Ps 104:30). He spoke through prophets, guiding and guarding Israel (Isa63:10–14), and this resulted in the creation of the Scripture (1 Pet 1:11: 2 Pet1:20-21). He expressly gave each person in the Old Testament (OT) the ability to perform a certain work by selectively and briefly indwelling each of them (Joseph, Gen 41:38; Joshua, Num 27:18; Saul, 1 Sam 10:9,10; and David, 1 Sam 16:13). To lead the Kingdom of God during the OT era, they were chosen and led by the Spirit of God.

2. The Kingdom of God

The concept of a Kingdom of God is not primarily one of space, territory, or politics, as in a national kingdom, but instead, one of kingly rule, reign, and sovereign control.  The Kingdom of God is the realm where God reigns supreme, and Jesus Christ is King. In this kingdom, God’s authority is recognized, and His will is fulfilled.

According to the OT, God is the King over all of creation and is King over Israel in a unique fashion (Ps 10:16; 2 Chr 20:6; cf. I Sam 12). As is the case with many other teachings, the perception of the kingdom presented in the New Testament (NT) builds upon concepts that were already made apparent in the OT. In his teaching, Jesus refers to the wisdom of the OT (Ps 145:11, 13; 103:19; Isa 45:23; Dan 4:3; Zech 14:9) and Hebrew apocalyptic literature that employs a similar mode of reasoning. The Kaddish, a common synagogue prayer in pre-Christian times, for instance, begins, “May He let His Kingdom rule... speedily and soon.”(France,1964). This indicates that the Jewish people were anxiously anticipating the complete manifestation of the kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God was the main focus of Jesus Christ’s sermons. The following questions will be addressed during the conversation. What does the expression “kingdom of God” mean? How many times does that phrase appear in the Bible? Is the kingdom of God an actual place or just a spiritual reality that is happening now? Who are the people qualified to live in this kingdom? How does the Kingdom of God actually operate?

3. The Occurrences

The exact phrase “kingdom of God” does not show up in the OT although the phrase “kingdom of the Lord” does appear (2 Chr 13:8; cf Dan 6:26). In spite of this, the idea of God’s monarchy is prevalent throughout the OT and is essential if we are to understand what Jesus said when he preached about the kingdom of God.

The Bible contains numerous references to “king, kingdom” (both human and heavenly). The OT has explicit references to numerous topics in 36 of its 39 books, with the exception of Leviticus, Ruth, and Joel. In 21 of its 27 books, the NT specifically addresses the issue, with the exception of Philippians, Titus, Philemon, 1, 2, and 3 John. The kingdom concept is present in 57 of the 66 books of the Bible, or 86% of the total. Almost 3,000 times in the OT and 160 times in the NT are the words “king,”“kingdom,”“rule,” and “throne” used respectively. In the OT, Gen 10:10 is the first and Mal 1:14 is the last reference, while in the NT, Matt 2:2 contains the first occurrence, while Rev 22:5 contains the final occurrence.

II. The Characteristics of the Kingdom of God

Jesus expanded upon and refuted the notions that were previously held within Judaism regarding the Kingdom, demonstrating that it had both a present and a future aspect in His teaching. The Kingdom of God exhibits the qualities listed below.

1. The literal and the spiritual Kingdom

Theologians have different levels of comprehension when it comes to the kingdom of God, particularly when it comes to the question of Jesus’ thousand-year rule. A millennial interpreters insist that the kingdom has a spiritual aspect while Premillennial interpreters contend that there is going to be just one literal kingdom on earth.

2. Kingdom of God as a Spiritual Entity

Among all the groups one thing that is common is the leadership of the Holy Spirit, whether it is OT, NT, or the futuristic period. The unseen spiritual presence is one of the unique qualities of the Kingdom of God. As many have pointed out, the NT emphasizes this spiritual character of the kingdom without contradicting its political and earthly character. In addition, it has been identified with the church as the very present kingdom of God, and in this vein of thought, God has replaced Israel with the church.

3. The Identity of the Kingdom

According to Lk 17:20–21, the Holy Spirit’s constant presence is a sign of the kingdom of God. The Pharisees wanted to see visible signs, but Jesus told them that the Kingdom was already among them, that is, it was manifest in His person and work. Members of the Kingdom of God are guaranteed the Lord’s presence till the end of time (Matt 28:20).

4. The Hidden Rule of God

The Holy Spirit’s Temple is the heart of a believer, which has been described as the kingdom of God. This is the place from where God rules secretly (I Cor 3:16). A child of God is empowered by the Holy Spirit to take the initiative in addressing ethical issues in social life, such as the eradication of poverty and the establishment of justice. (Nichols, 2012). 

5. The Eschatological salvation

The salvation of humanity in the eschaton is the ultimate aim of the Kingdom of God. This also entails the elimination of sin and its causes. The Kingdom feast or the great banquet mentioned in Lk 14:23–24 contains a future component as well, providing a glimpse into what will happen in the eschatological Kingdom. Jesus’ listeners would have been familiar with this idea (Isa 25:6f; 64:3; 65:13f; Ezek 39:17-20). The word “feast” is used in this context as a typical Hebrew metaphor for eschatological deliverance (O'Toole,1988).

6. The Inclusive nature of the Kingdom of God

Eschatological salvation was universal in scope. The practical part of the feast’s meaning in the kingdom of God was what Jesus was attempting to apply. When Jesus invited gentiles, tax collectors, and other sinners, to eat with him, the Pharisees were greatly outraged (Matt 9:9-13; Mk 2:15-17; Lk 5:27-32). In other words, the Kingdom’s final membership will not be limited to a single nation but will also include Gentiles (cf. Isa 45:6; 49:12). Only the Holy Spirit has the power to transform gentiles.

7. The Resistance towards the Kingdom

Jesus foretells that members of the Kingdom can anticipate opposition (Carson,1984). The phrase “Kingdom of God” refers to a multi-ordinate concept that encompasses every component of Jesus’ public ministry, including the cross, which the Gospels do not explicitly state is necessary for the establishment of the Kingdom in some form. Now it suffers violence, is resisted, and requires total commitment to enter it; yet its growth is not the work of man, but of the Holy Spirit(I Jn 5:4). (Ladd, 1986).

8. Secrets of the Kingdom of God

The parables Jesus told illuminated truth about the Kingdom of God: “And he answered them, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given’” (Mtt 13:11). The members can only be illuminated by the Holy Spirit to comprehend the mysteries of the Kingdom. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the only source of knowledge (Jn 16:13-15; 1 Cor 2:12¬).

9. The stages of the Kingdom

In the NT, the Kingdom of God is described as having essentially two phases. The stages are described using the words Realized and Futuristic Kingdom. Matthew refers to it as having both a present-day and an eschatological form (Mtt 13). The phrase“at hand” used by Mark in (Mk 1:14–15) alludes to the coming of the kingdom foretold in the OT in a spiritual form (Mk 4:12). According to John, having a new birth experience makes it possible to enter God’s kingdom (Jn 3:3-5). Only with the assistance of the Holy Spirit is such a birth possible (Acts 10:44–48, 11:15–17).

10. The style of living in the Kingdom of God

Apostle Paul points out that the Kingdom is part of our present spiritual life: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17).This shows that the Holy Spirit influences the culture of the kingdom of God, making it unique.One cannot function in God’s kingdom without the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Similar to this, the present “power” of God’s kingdom is described in 1 Cor 4:20.

III. The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Kingdom of God

1. Makes us more like Christ our King

The Holy Spirit’s work is to make us more like Jesus.  It’s a process known as sanctification, where the Holy Spirit helps us strip away our sinful habits and brings us into the holy character of the citizen of the kingdom of God (Col 2:11).

2. Gives us power to witness about our King

The Holy Spirit enables believers to effectively witness Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). To put it another way, this kind of witnessing draws people to the King and the Kingdom of God.

3. Enlightening the constitution (Scriptures) of the kingdom

 Members are taught by the Holy Spirit, who does so in Jesus’ place by revealing to them the meaning of the Word. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (Jn 14:26).

4. Uniting the citizens in the Kingdom

The Holy Spirit destroys all barriers to unity based on gender, ethnicity, color, or creed in order to bring all persons who are subjects or citizens of the kingdom together (Acts 4:32).

Conclusion

Even though there are many facets of the kingdom of God to discuss, the study just touches on a few of them. This covers the outline and traits of the kingdom of God. The detailed discussion of the Holy Spirit’s involvement in establishing the kingdom of God also distinguishes it from other kingdoms of this world. As a result, the kingdom of God may also be referred to as the Holy Kingdom. To honor the name of the King of the Unique kingdom, one should be genuinely committed to yielding to the Holy Spirit and following the rules laid out in the Bible. This is what it means to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. As a member of this kingdom, one must be prepared to suffer for the sake of the kingdom, exhibit the fruit of the spirit, exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and be willing to share the love of Jesus with people of all races and tongues.This kingdom, which is spiritual in essence, will soon see its full embodiment. Everywhere you look, you can see the beginnings of this kingdom. Thus, it is vital that Christians who believe in and follow Christ get ready for the coming of God’s kingdom in its comprehensive form.