The Kingdom of God and the New Birth - A Matter of Timing

Why write an article on the topic the kingdom of God and the new birth? The answer is
really quite simple. As long as people today have a desire to be saved in the way Jesus
saved some during his personal ministry on earth - by faith without baptism - there will
be a need to show the error of that position. On this subject timing makes all the
difference.

When did Jesus become a king with a kingdom over which to rule? When Jesus was
talking to Nicodemus in John 3:3 and said to him, "unless one is born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God" and then later in verse 5 expands on that by saying, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God" was Jesus already a king with a kingdom? Was he speaking of what
already existed and speaking in the present tense or was he speaking prophetically?

He was speaking prophetically. Much of the teaching Jesus did while on earth related to
the coming kingdom over which he would become king. It was yet in the future but it
had been prophesied from days of old. Daniel spoke of it when he said, in interpreting
Nebuchadnezzar's dream, "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed … and it shall stand forever." (Dan 2:44)

Israel and Judah of the Old Testament were ruled by kings but both nations ended up in
captivity and the kingdoms were destroyed. The Jewish nation into which Jesus was
born, into which he came, had no king. They were ruled by the Romans.

We need to trace the history of the kingdom that was established by Jesus. When the
angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the events about to overtake her here is what
he said, "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall
call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the
Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house
of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:31-33 NKJV)

When John the Baptist comes on the scene and begins his ministry his message is that
"the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 3:2 NKJV) This then which was at hand,
meaning not here yet but getting close, was the kingdom of God that both Daniel and the
angel Gabriel said was to stand forever.

One chapter later we see Jesus preaching the exact same message, "From that time Jesus
began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" (Matt. 4:17
NKJV)

How close was that kingdom? Jesus said in his preaching to an audience in Mark 9:1,
"Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste
death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power." (NAS)
Two points need to be emphasized here regarding this passage. (1) The kingdom still had
not yet arrived but it would be doing so within the lifetime of some of those standing
there. (2) When it came it would arrive "with power." Put another way you would know
it when it happened for there would be power with its coming.

When Jesus spoke these words the kingdom did not yet exist and if Jesus is to be the king
of it he does not yet have a kingdom. But, one might object the New Testament speaks of
Jesus as being a king already before this kingdom of which you speak has arrived. True.
But, can a person be a king before he sets on the throne and begins to rule? We would, I
think, all agree that he could. If it is certain he is to be king we can call him king.

What do we know up to this point in time that can help us determine when the kingdom is
to arrive? We know it is a matter of just a very few years and we know that when it
comes there is power that will come with it making it recognizable as having arrived.

The New Testament gives us all the information we need to determine the exact day the
kingdom of God became a reality. Since it came with power if we know when the power
came we know when the kingdom arrived. Can we know? Yes.

In Luke 24:49 Jesus told the apostles, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon
you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
(NKJV) This was just before his ascension.

Luke explains this a little more when he says, "He commanded them not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard
from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now.'" (Acts 1:4-5 NKJV)

Now look the two passages over carefully and compare them. The promise of the Father
was the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5) but Luke (Luke 24:49) says the promise is
with power. The power comes with the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Remember what Jesus
said in Mark 9:1? The kingdom of God was to come with power. When the Holy Spirit
fell on the apostles in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost the kingdom of God arrived with
power.

Let us take a look at what happened at that time. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from
heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of
them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4 NKJV)

Note the reaction of the crowd that had gathered. "Then they were all amazed and
marveled." (Acts 2:7 NKJV) Now let us go back to Luke's quotation of Jesus in Acts 1:8.
Speaking to the apostles Jesus had said, "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you." (NKJV) The kingdom had arrived with power. All recognized
power had come down from heaven, from God himself.

What had they seen and heard that day? They had heard the sound that came from
heaven "as of a rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2 NKJV) which is why they had come to
gather together. Whether they had seen the "tongues, as of fire" (Acts 2:3 NKJV) that sat
upon the apostles one cannot say with certainty but they most assuredly had heard the
sound and then witnessed and heard the apostles speaking in tongues that they (the
apostles) had never learned. There was little doubt in their mind that a higher power than
that which was merely human had arrived.

Was Jesus now on his throne? Did he now have a kingdom over which to rule? He did if
the kingdom had arrived with power which it had. Hear Peter in his sermon that day. He
says David knew that God "would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne." (Acts 2:30
NKJV) Remember also the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary when he said of Jesus,
"the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David." (Luke 1:32 NKJV)

Peter then says Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of God, "Therefore being exalted
to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy
Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear." (Acts 2:33 NKJV) The reader is
reminded of passages just studied here. The kingdom would come with power (Mark
9:1), the promise was of power from on high (Luke 24:49) but that power promised was
the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). The kingdom came with the baptism of the apostles with the
Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

But, let us look closer at Peter's statement about Jesus sitting on David's throne. Acts
2:29-31 (read paying special attention), "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of
the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of
the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his
throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul
was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption." (Act 2:29-31 NKJV) The point
one needs to get out of this is that for Christ to sit on the throne and thus be king over this
kingdom he first had to be resurrected.

The kingdom over which Jesus now reigns and rules did not exist while Jesus lived on
earth. Daniel had a vision of Jesus being crowned as a sitting ruling king. "I was
watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the
clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before
Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples,
nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed."
(Dan 7:13-14 NKJV) Jesus received the kingdom upon his arrival in heaven for that is
what the text says - "then to Him was given … a kingdom."
The kingdom over which he now rules is "not of this world" (John 18:36 NKJV) but
rather a spiritual kingdom which will never be destroyed. Yes, Jesus is now king in his
kingdom. Every Christian is a subject of the king of kings - Jesus, the Lord and Savior.

Why has all of this been important beyond just being a history lesson? Why bother
writing such? What does this have to do with salvation and the new birth?

Here is the application. When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus in John 3:3-5 he spoke of a
kingdom that was yet to come. Hear the things he said in that passage. "Jesus answered
and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can
he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?' Jesus answered, 'Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God.'" (NKJV) Could Nicodemus become a citizen that day (actually that
night) of a kingdom that did not yet exist? Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of that which was
yet to come.

What does it mean then to be born of water and the spirit which Jesus says is essential to
entering the kingdom of God (thus meaning you cannot be saved without it)? There is no
problem in coming to an accurate understanding. Jesus said to Peter in Matt. 16:19, "And
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will
be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matt.
16:19 NKJV)

The kingdom began on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 with Peter preaching. Did he use
the keys of the kingdom that day to open the door to the kingdom of God to mankind?
Did anyone that day learn how to enter the kingdom? Was anyone that day born of water
and the spirit?

What did men do that day when they became convinced Peter had preached the truth
(thus had developed faith)? What did he, the man with the keys, tell them to do? Did he
not say to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins?" (Acts 2:38 NKJV) The Bible says, "Then those who gladly
received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to
them." (Acts 2:41 NKJV)

It is thus not too hard to learn what a man must do to be born again - listen to the man
with the keys. One is born of the spirit when the spirit working through the tool he uses
(the word of God - "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" Eph. 6:17 -
NKJV) leads a man to faith and repentance and then born of water when he is baptized
for the remission of sins. It is but one birth but has two aspects to it, either part without
the other results in an aborted birth.

The man with the keys of the kingdom is belittled by most who call themselves
Christians. Ask most denominational preachers to get into the pulpit this coming Sunday
and preach just what Peter preached on the day of Pentecost with no addition, no
subtractions, no explanations (explaining how it really does not mean what it seems to be
saying) and you could not get them to do it. I was generous in making that statement. I
said most. I should have said nearly 100 percent. They do not preach it because they do
not believe there is a single ounce of water in a man's salvation despite John 3:5 and the
very words of Jesus. This means they cannot preach what Peter did.

We ought to go with the man with the keys rather than with those who wish they had the
keys. Yes, Jesus could have easily saved us without any water in the plan but he chose
not to do so. Have you ever thought that baptism might well be a test of your faith?
What are you going to do if you are going to be saved by faith but fail the test, fail to
believe?

Water does not save a man but obeying Jesus does. Naaman, the leper (2 Kings 5), was
not cleansed by the water of the Jordan River from his leprosy but until he had faith
enough to go do as he was directed and dip 7 times in it he was not cleansed and never
would have been. Could God have cleansed him from the leprosy some other way?
Sure, had he chosen to do so. The power was not inherit in the water but in believing
enough to do what God said to do. And just so it is with baptism today. When God said
to do it it leaves one who wants to be saved without a choice.

I am going to close this out with this one final comment. Jesus was really the one who
did the preaching on the day of Pentecost. Hear Jesus speaking in John 16:13-14,
"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He
will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will
tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare
it to you." (John 16:13-14 NKJV) The Spirit did not speak on his own authority on the
Day of Pentecost, speaking through Peter, but took what was Jesus' and declared it to
them. One cannot reject Peter's sermon that day without rejecting Jesus.