In the second week of teaching and sharing on the kingdom of God in the Young Professionals house church, we emphasized that the coming of the kingdom of God is a prophetic revelation of reality.

God speaks and his words powerfully reveal to us answers to the basic questions that mankind has always asked: Where is it all going or what is the destiny of mankind? How does it work and what are the implications for us living in this present age?

There is a story shared by a Vineyard Pastor about two men at work by the roadside and they were carrying warning signs: Beware, the end is near. A car drove by and the driver dismissed the signs as they appeared to be the kind of religious message that most people hardly pay any attention to. A short while later there was the sound of screeching tires as the car desperately braked and attempted to stop. One of the work man turned to the other and said, Do you think we should change our message to say that the bridge is broken?

The story drives home the point that the implications of the kingdom of God are always in play or in operation in all our lives: whether we know it or not; like it or not. It is not a religious message. We ignore this prophetic revelation of reality at our own peril!

The theology of the kingdom is best presented by looking at history, which is basically about events, dates and periods. And the principal events in the history of mankind are the Fall (near the beginning), the coming of Jesus to die on the cross, Pentecost, and the Second Coming of Jesus (right at the very end).

The Second Coming of Jesus will mark the end of history and this event therefore divides the history of mankind into two periods, this “present evil age” and the “age to come” or the “future age”.

The Bible calls this period of time which we live in as this “present evil age”. Gal 1:4. Example of references to the two ages, are Matthew 12:32, Matthew 24:3, Ephesians 1:20-21.

The kingdom of God is the rule of God’s power (the power which is evident and universally at work in the future age) that has arrived suddenly, or broken through, in this present age. The promise of God to put an end to this present evil age was fulfilled when Jesus came forgiving sins, healing sicknesses, driving out demons, and raising the dead. In Jesus’ life, but even more so in his death on the cross, resurrection and ascension was Satan and his rule decisively defeated. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out. 1 John 3:8, Matthew 12:28.

We accept the mystery of the kingdom of God that it is simultaneously here, almost here, delayed and coming in the future and at the end of time because this reality was taught and lived by Jesus. However it becomes clear when we see that the kingdom of God has become present, and was inaugurated and fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus, but without being consummated.

In legal terms, Jesus fulfilled and satisfied all the conditions precedents that will bring in God’s rule on earth. God has the moral right and authority to reclaim what was originally his.

However, in his sovereign purpose and wisdom, it is “not yet” time for a complete end to this age, and God has not taken over completely. This will only happen at the second coming of Christ!

Christians are born from above and have already entered the kingdom of God, according to John 3:3-7. But we are also born into this present evil age. This explains why in our lives we experience the tension of two ages: the future age and this present age.

We live in between ages or times. We are already, not yet people. This is one of the biggest implications of the kingdom of God: We have a role to pray (Matthew 6:10) and to play to bring the kingdom to earth. The people of God (the Church), whether they know it or not, like it or not, are combatants in the thick of a war! We are the instruments of God’s rule to confront and destroy evil by being vessels that God can use to bring the power of the age to come, to invade this present age!