Putting It All Together
Throughout this course we have asked one question:
What does the Bible actually teach about the Kingdom of God?
Rather than beginning with theories or religious systems, we began with the Scriptures themselves and allowed the story to unfold one step at a time.
We saw that the Kingdom was not a New Testament invention. God promised it centuries before Jesus was born. Through the prophets He announced the coming of an everlasting King whose Kingdom would never be destroyed.
When Jesus came, He declared,
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand." (Mark 1:15)
He was announcing that God's promises were reaching their fulfillment.
After His resurrection and ascension, Jesus received all authority in heaven and on earth. Peter proclaimed Him as the risen Lord and Christ, seated at God's right hand. From that time forward, the apostles preached Jesus, not as a King who was still expected, but as the King who now reigns.
We also learned that the New Testament describes believers as people who have already been transferred into Christ's Kingdom. The church is called the Kingdom because it consists of those who gladly live under the authority of their King.
Jesus' parables remind us that His Kingdom grows differently from the kingdoms of this world. It spreads through the preaching of the gospel, changes lives one heart at a time, and continues to grow as men and women submit to Christ.
Yet the story is not finished.
Christ is reigning now, but one day He will return. The dead will be raised, every person will stand before His judgment seat, death itself will be destroyed, and Christ will present the Kingdom to the Father. God's purpose, begun in Genesis, will reach its glorious completion.
When we put all of these passages together, one picture emerges.
The Kingdom is not merely a future hope.
Neither is it only a present experience.
It is God's saving reign through Jesus Christ—promised by the prophets, established through the risen King, experienced by His people today, and destined to be revealed in all its glory when Christ returns.
That is the story of the Kingdom.
And it is the story of the King.
Continue Your Study
The Bible is more than a collection of individual books.
It tells one great story.
From creation to the cross, from the empty tomb to the new creation, God's purpose has always been to redeem a people for Himself through Jesus Christ.
In our next course, we'll follow that story from beginning to end and discover how every part of Scripture points to Christ.
Related Bible Studies
What Is the Church?
Why Does the Bible Call the Church the Kingdom of God?
The Temple Story from Genesis to Revelation
Understanding Revelation
Companion Video
Putting It All Together
Read First. Conclude Later.