The Kingdom of His Beloved Son
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14
The church of Christ is the kingdom of Christ. We know this for several reasons:
Are you a citizen of His kingdom?
- It had been prophesied that God would set up a kingdom during the days of the Roman Empire (Dan. 2:1-44).
- During the days of the Roman Empire, John the Immerser and Jesus preached that the kingdom “was at hand” (Luke 3:1-2; Matt. 3:1-2; 4:17, 23).
- Jesus prophesied that the kingdom would come during the lifetime of his followers (Mark 9:1).
- When asked about the kingdom after his death and resurrection, Jesus talked about his apostles receiving power from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:6-8).
- This occurred ten days later on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost, the day the church of Christ began (Acts 2:1-47).
- From that point on, the kingdom is always referred to as having already come and presently existing, and is referred to interchangeably with being a part of the church (Acts 8:12; Col. 1:13; 1 Thess. 2:12; Rev. 1:4, 6, 9).
Having established that the kingdom is manifested in the church, let us examine the high honor and privilege it is to be a part of the kingdom of Christ, his church. Today’s Scripture shows us how blessed we are to be a part of his kingdom, in that God took us out of the darkness of our sins (Eph. 2:1-10) and put us into his Son’s kingdom, thus redeeming us and forgiving us.
He did this when we obeyed the gospel, when we acted on our faith by obeying his commands to repent and be baptized into his Son’s kingdom which is his body, the church of Christ (Acts 8:12; 3:19; 2:38-41; 1 Cor. 12:13; cf. Col. 1:18). We remain in this kingdom by being penitently obedient (1 John 1:7-10; Matt 13:41-43; 2 Pet. 1:5-11), and thus will be a part of it when it is returned in glory to the Father for all eternity (1 Cor. 15:24).
Are you a citizen of the kingdom of Christ?