Kingdom of God

     The core of the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven according to testimony in the Gospel of Matthew. Main teaching or preaching about the Kingdom of God in the biblical witness is always voiced by the evangelists, the apostles and the preachers of today. What does the Lord Jesus Christ meant about the phrase or the phrase "kingdom of God"?. If we look at the Jewish community a place where the Lord Jesus grew up, that there are some assumptions and opinions concerning the Kingdom of God itself. The term in Aramaic word "kingdom of God" which means king's reign. 

     This term is used to describe an authority or act in a dynamic sense and not referring to a place or region in terms of static. We often have the notion that the kingdom of God it is something that illustrates the power of God is not limited by anything. In addition we also assume that the Kingdom of God as the fruit of obedience to God's people, this example is written in Deuteronomy 6:4 that: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the Lord is one!. 

     Our assumption also that the kingdom of God as a hope, faith or the final goal of the faith, as stated in Isaiah 52:7 that: "What a Beautiful visible from the top of the hills coming news bearer, who described the news of peace and preach the good news, who proclaim the news congratulations and saying to Zion: "God is King!". Is the opinion of the Lord Jesusin the synoptic Gospels of the Kingdom of God? In the synoptic Gospels, Jesus emphasized that the Kingdom of God has been started or have started there. To his disciples Jesus said, "Tell Me has been given the secret of the kingdom of God ..." (Mark 4:11). To the Pharisees He said, "... the kingdom of God is with you" (Luke 17:21). Lord Jesus also taught in Luke 6:20 that: "Blessed are you who are poor, because you're the one who owns the kingdom of God." 

     According to the Lord Jesus Christ that the kingdom of God is not a mood or hope in the future, but an act of God in the entire history of human life. Kingdom of God is something that is not yet visible, but already there and are working in every people and the world as a whole. Testimony in Luke 11:20 that: "But if I cast out demons by the power of God, then actually the Kingdom of God is come unto you." This testimony provided evidence to us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the proof of the presence of God's kingdom. 

     One question for us is: if indeed the kingdom of God is already come, Why did the Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to pray: "Our Father which art in heaven ... your kingdom come ..."(Matthew 6:9 - 10)?. To discuss this we see more of the following: 

1. Kingdom of God has already begun, but has not been fulfilled or have expanded existing, but not yet complete. 

2. Authority to make or bring the Kingdom of God rather than our humanity, but the heavenly Father. Kingdom of God not because of achievement of our faith, but as a gift of God or grace of the heavenly Father. In other words God himself would be present or manifest the kingdom of God and not us humans. 

3. Kingdom of God is a gift or a gift for us who believe in humanity, therefore we are invited to respond with great humility and openness in the form of begging the Kingdom of God. 

     So, the point is the kingdom of God is not a church or fellowship of believers, for the kingdom of God can’t be characterized by the presence of people. Kingdom of God is also not a person's mood, for the kingdom of God or God's rule is not dependent on the human condition. In other words, the Kingdom of God is not a human product or this world, but the product of the heavenly Father. 

     We must also underlines that the kingdom of God is not an afterlife or life after death, for the kingdom of God in the beginning and till now on this earth. Kingdom of God is also manifested by the Lord Jesus Christ in his gait and work. For the apostles that the Lord Jesus Christ that the kingdom of God. The early church until today no longer bear witness about the Kingdom of God, but immediately gave testimony about the Kingdom of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Hence also the kingdom of God is identical with Christ. We always ask in prayer that: "... Thy kingdom come", meaning we always ask "came the reign of Christ."