A kingdom is a king and his people. If there are no people, there is no kingdom. Also, if there is no king, there is no kingdom.
The kingdom of God is God and His people. He appointed the Son of Man to build this kingdom and rule over it. God had spoken through the OT prophets of His coming kingdom. John the Baptist was God’s last messenger sent to announce the soon arrival of the kingdom and to prepare the way for the Son of Man. The Son of Man, the LORD Jesus Christ, is God’s appointed king. He will be crowned king when the kingdom is completely built. The LORD Jesus Christ came to the earth from heaven. He went all around Israel preaching the good news of the Kingdom and displaying the powers of the kingdom. He performed many signs: he healed the sick, raised the dead, freed the bound, commanded nature, changed water into wine, multiplied two loaves and five fishes to feed over 5000 men excluding women and children etc.
God is calling people from all nations of the earth to become His people. John the Baptist, the LORD Jesus Christ, and the disciples preached the gospel of the kingdom. Since the time of John the Baptist, many are forcing their way into the kingdom (Mat. 24.14).
The LORD Jesus laid the foundation stone on which other stones are being built. By His death on the cross, He opened the way for man to enter His great kingdom. The kingdom started as a small mustard seed and continues to grow into the largest tree (Mathew 13.31). It started as a small stone and keeps growing to fill the whole earth. The kingdom of God must pass through two phases: the spiritual reign and then the earthly reign.
Now, God rules in the hearts of men individually (believers). He leads believers personally by his Holy Spirit. There must be a personal relationship between God and the individual – a relationship of trust and obedience. The believer must submit to His leadership by obeying his rules. The heart of man must be devoted entirely to God. Man must worship God in spirit and truth. These believers will be part of God’s kingdom in the world to come.
In the future, God will reign over the whole earth. In the world to come, there will be only one government and kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven. The kingdom of the Son of Man will swallow up all other kingdoms (Daniel 2.44). A foretaste of this earthly reign will be the millennial reign of Christ (Rev. 20.1-10). During the millennial reign, God’s rules will be implemented into all the systems and nations of the earth. Presently, most governments are keeping ungodly rules but during the millennial reign of Christ, all governments will keep godly rules. After the millennial reign, the unrighteous will be cut off and a new world of righteous people will begin. The righteous will be saved from the second death and will inherit God’s kingdom.
To enter the kingdom of God, a person must believe in the Son of God. To believe means to:
1. Believe with the whole heart in the son of God as Savior of the world. He died to take away the sin of the world to reconcile man to God. There is no other name under heaven given unto men by which man can be saved except the name of Jesus Christ.
2. Repent from all sins. Sin separated man from God. Those who want to remain in Him must no longer sin. The LORD Jesus went to the cross take away sins, so those who believe in Him must not continue sinning. Those who continue in their sins will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
a) Obey His commandments. Only those who do the will of the Father will inherit the kingdom (Mathew 7.21-22). Only those who obey the king can be His people.
The LORD Jesus is the way to the kingdom of Heaven. If we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must follow Him.
In Luke 14.25-33, and Luke 9.23-26, the LORD revealed the conditions that must be met by anyone who wants to follow Him:
1) Deny Self (Luke 14.27, Luke 9.23)
2) Love God more than any man (Luke 14.28)
3) Give away your material wealth to the poor (Luke14.33, Luke 12.33, Acts2.45, Mat 19.21)
4) Become a child (Mark 10.15)
In Mathew 19.16-30, even though the rich young ruler had kept the 10 commandments, he was still incomplete. To qualify to follow Jesus unto perfection, he had to deny himself by selling his earthly riches and give the proceeds to the poor. The rich man was unable to deny himself and so forfeited the kingdom of Heaven. Both rich and poor, young and grown must empty their hearts to God. However, it is easier for the poor to enter God’s great kingdom than it is for the rich. It is a child that enters the kingdom of heaven, and not the adult. It is in childlike faith and humility that we can enter the kingdom of Heaven (Mathew 18.3-4). Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God (Luke 6.20).
Those who follow Him unto perfection become born again of Spirit.
To know more about how to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, please check out my other books, “The Way to the Kingdom of Heaven” and “In Christ to Become Like Christ”
The rich young ruler can enter God’s earthly Kingdom, but he cannot enter God’s heavenly Kingdom unless he gives away his earthly wealth to the poor. The Kingdom of Heaven is God’s government over His earthly Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven are a line of priests and kings in service unto God. They will rule the earth with Christ during the millennial reign and after the final judgement.
If a man repents and believes in the LORD Jesus with all heart and confesses with his mouth, then he is made righteous. All righteous people are rightful heirs of God’s earthly kingdom but not all will inherit.
“If it is hard for a righteous man to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly sinner?” (1 Peter 4.18)
"Not everyone who keeps saying to me, 'LORD, LORD,' will get into the kingdom from heaven, but only the person who keeps doing the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'LORD, LORD, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn't we?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who practice evil! (Mathew 7.21-23).'
He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom from heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the crop came up and bore grain, the weeds appeared, too. The owner's servants came and asked him, 'Master, you sowed good seed in your field, didn't you? Then where did these weeds come from?' He told them, 'An enemy did this!' The servants asked him, 'Then do you want us to go and pull them out?' He said, 'No! If you pull out the weeds, you might pull out the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, "Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles for burning, but bring the wheat into my barn (Mathew 13.24-30)."'"
Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and asked, "Explain to us the parable about the weeds in the field." He answered, "The person who sowed good seed is the Son of Man, while the field is the world. The good seed are those who belong to the kingdom, while the weeds are those who belong to the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes others to sin and those who practice lawlessness and they will throw them into a blazing furnace. In that place there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. Let the person who has ears listen! (Mathew 13.36-43)."
The wheat and the weeds are all righteous people. The wheat is sown by God (true Bible preachers) while the weed is sown by the devil (false teachers and fake Bible Preachers). Both the wheat and the weed believe in God and the LORD Jesus. The wheat are believers who obey God’s commandments and teaches others same. The Weeds are believers who disobey God, practice lawlessness, and teach others to do same. Both the wheat and the weeds are on the earth growing together. But at the end of age, the wheat will be gathered to eternal life while the weeds will be burnt. The weeds may seem to belong to the kingdom of God, but they do not. They belong to the devil. Only the wheat belongs to God’s kingdom.
"Again, the kingdom from heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea that gathered all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen hauled it ashore. Then they sat down, sorted the good fish into containers, and threw the bad ones away. That is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, cull out the evil people from among the righteous ones, and will throw them into a blazing furnace. In that place there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Mathew 13.47-50)".
The fishes in the net are all the righteous people. The good fishes are believers who obey God while the bad fishes are believers who disobey God. At the end of age, the LORD will separate the good fishes from the bad fishes. He will keep the righteous people who do good and throw away the righteous people who do evil.
Then he began to tell them many things in parables. He said, "Listen! A farmer went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on stony ground, where they did not have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once because the soil wasn't deep. But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they did not have any roots, they dried up. Other seeds fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew higher and choked them out. But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown. Let the person who has ears listen! (Mathew 13.3-9) "
"Listen, then, to the parable about the farmer. When anyone hears the word about the kingdom yet doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on the stony ground, this is the person who hears the word and accepts it joyfully at once, but since he doesn't have any root in himself, he lasts for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls away. As for what was sown among the thorn bushes, this is the person who hears the word, but the worries of life and the deceitful pleasures of wealth choke the word so that it can't produce a crop. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word, understands it, and produces a crop that yields 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown (Mathew 13.18-23)."
The seeds that fell among thorns and grew to maturity but produced no fruit to perfection are believers who are bad. They care much for money, the riches and the pleasures of this life.
The seed that fell by the wayside and on rock are the unbelievers.
The seed that fell on good soil are the righteous people who are good. They obey God enduringly and in due season, they produce fruit to perfection. The fruit from the good soil will be gathered to eternal life while the fruitless tree will be dug out of the ground and burnt.
When the LORD returns, he will repay everyone according to his deeds.
Let the one who does what is evil continue to do what is evil. Let the filthy person continue to be filthy. Let the righteous person continue to do what is right. And let the holy person continue to be holy. "See! I am coming soon! My reward is with me to repay everyone according to his action” (Rev. 22.11-12).
The righteous man (believer) who is holy will be saved to inherit God’s kingdom. The righteous man who is not yet perfect in holiness can still be saved if he does not commit deadly sins (see chap. 2).
The holy and some righteous people will inherit God’s kingdom and eternal life. When the righteous and holy people shed off their earthly bodies, they remain with the LORD in Paradise. The Holy people will receive the first resurrection. The righteous will receive the second resurrection.
The filthy and unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom. They will never be resurrected. They will only be awakened for judgement only to go to death. They will perish in the lake of fire and brimstone.