Introduction to Bible Basics
Lesson 12
The Kingdom of God
A real kingdom, on this earth, with Jesus as king. What it will be like, and how a person comes to be in it.
Lesson 12
By the end of this lesson
You will be able to:
- Say what the first work of Christ will be when he returns
- Describe the conditions the Bible promises in the kingdom, and name a passage for each
- Explain the order of belief, baptism and a changed life, and why it is that order
- Say how a believer seeks forgiveness, and on what grounds
- Explain why salvation is called a gift rather than a wage
Part 1 of 5
The first thing he does
Lesson 9 showed that his return is near. This is what happens in the first phase of it, and it is not what most people expect.
First work
He raises the dead
When Christ returns - and an earlier Study has shown this will be soon - his first work will be to raise the dead. To wake people up.
“Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake”
Daniel 12 v 2
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first”
1 Thessalonians 4 v 15 to 16
Check your understanding 1 of 10
First work
And then the judgment
The judgment will follow, and the reward of everlasting life will be given to the righteous who will then help with the government of the kingdom of God.
Select each point, in order.
First, the dead are raised
“Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” Daniel 12 v 2. Nothing else can start until this has happened.
Then the judgment
Lesson 8 set this out. Some awake to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12 v 2.
Then the reward
The reward of everlasting life, and a part in the government of the kingdom of God. Not a rest. A job on this earth.
Then the reign
The Bible promises that the reign of Christ will see the end of the evils which at present corrupt the world. There will be no oppression (Psalm 72 v 4) and no more war (Isaiah 2 v 4).
Part 2 of 5
Conditions in the kingdom
The prophets are specific about this, and none of it is figurative. These are things you could photograph.
Conditions
No oppression, and no more war
There will be no oppression and no more war,
“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”
Isaiah 2 v 4
Conditions
The verse on the wall, with two words missing
Put the words back.
Put the missing words backSelect a word, then select the gap it fills
“They shall beat their into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn any more”Isaiah 2 v 4
Conditions
A king who cannot be fooled
The reign of the King will be righteous and just.
“He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth”
Isaiah 11 v 3 to 4
Conditions
Two more, and both of them physical
Open each one.
The curses of illness removed
Sickness will be controlled and the curses of illness and disease will be removed,
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing”
Isaiah 35 v 5 to 6
Water in the desert
Many countries today suffer famine and thousands of people are dying daily from hunger. In that day there will be no famine. Springs of water in the desert will enable crops to grow where they cannot today.
“In the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water”
Isaiah 35 v 6 to 7
“There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon”
Psalm 72 v 16
Conditions
And last of all, death
Finally, death itself will be destroyed.
“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”
1 Corinthians 15 v 24 to 26
The last book of the Bible describes the same moment from the other side, as a list of things that will no longer exist. What do you think is on the list?
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”
Revelation 21 v 4
No more deathno more pain
Check your understanding 2 of 10
Conditions
Salvation
No oppression. No war. No disease. No famine.
It is clear why this teaching about the kingdom of God is called the Gospel - we have learnt that the word means ‘Good news.’ After his resurrection, Jesus sent his disciples out with these instructions, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”. Mark 16 v 15 to 16.
Conditions
Who promised what
Match each promise to where it is written.
Match themSelect one on the left, then its partner on the right
Which passage promises which?
Part 3 of 5
How a person comes to be in it
The course has covered every part of this already. Here it is once, in order, as the study itself sets it out.
Salvation
The same sentence, for the third time
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”
Mark 16 v 15 to 16
It will be seen that baptism must follow a belief of the gospel. The verse continues - “He that believeth not shall be damned.”
Salvation
The early responders
On the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter spoke about the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of his Second Coming. The people who heard the address were moved by what they heard, and asked what they should do. They were told to repent and be baptized.
To repent means, to change your mind - to make a fresh start.
“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized ... And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers”
Acts 2 v 41 to 42
Notice the same order - understanding and belief (that is, faith), followed by obedience in baptism.
Check your understanding 3 of 10
Salvation
Then follows a changed life
The order, one more time
- Understanding and belief, which is faith
- Obedience in baptism
- Then follows a continued effort by the believer to live his life in a way that pleases God.
Then the baptized Christian, who is spoken of as “risen with Christ”, can wait confidently for the coming of the Lord.
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory”
Colossians 3 v 1 to 4
Check your understanding 4 of 10
Part 4 of 5
When you get it wrong
Which everybody does. The study answers that plainly, and then says something about the whole arrangement that is easy to miss.
Forgiveness
An advocate who knows what it is like
If, during the time of this waiting for Christ, the Christian does wrong, he knows that Jesus is a sympathetic advocate on his behalf, because he knows what temptation is like. In the Letter to the Hebrews, we are reminded that our High Priest was tempted in the same way as we are, although he was able to resist and did no sin. Hebrews 4 v 15. The Christian can be confident that his prayers will be heard.
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”
Hebrews 4 v 16
Check your understanding 5 of 10
Forgiveness
The gift of God
We cannot manage by our own effort. It is only by the love and the mercy of God that we can obtain salvation through Christ. So the apostle Paul wrote,
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”
Ephesians 2 v 8
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”
Romans 6 v 23
Check your understanding 6 of 10
Part 5 of 5
The next step
You have now completed the twelve Studies of this stage of instruction. The study closes by describing two groups of people who heard the same preaching, and asking which one you are.
The next step
Two towns, one preacher
You have read in these Studies a brief outline of what the Bible teaches about God and His purpose with the earth. Open both.
We will hear thee again
You may be like some of the people of Athens, who listened to Paul and
“And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter”
Acts 17 v 32
In other words, they had been glad to listen, but were not very interested in continuing their studies.
They searched the scriptures daily
You may be like the people of Berea that the apostle visited, who
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so”
Acts 17 v 11
Check your understanding 7 of 10
Check your understanding 8 of 10
The next step
Either way, it happens
To whichever group of people you belong, the purpose of God will still be fulfilled. Peter wrote that in the last days people would scoff at the idea of the return of Christ. Peter said that they mocked at the preaching of Noah, but when the appointed day came, the rain began.
In the same way, whether people take notice or not, “The day of the Lord will come”.
2 Peter 3 v 9 to 10.
Check your understanding 9 of 10
Before you go
A question the study leaves with you
“What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?”
2 Peter 3 v 11
This question must be left to each individual student to answer. We trust that you will
“Be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless”
2 Peter 3 v 14
You have now completed the Introduction to Bible Basics Course. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Check your understanding 10 of 10
Before you go
Passages for Bible reading
Read these passages
- Isaiah 65 v 17 to 25
- Isaiah 66 v 1 to 2
- Romans 13
- Ephesians 2
- Ephesians 5
- Colossians 3
- 2 Peter 3
Have a question?
Ask your tutor
You have finished the course
You looked at what Christ does first when he returns, at the conditions the prophets promise in his kingdom, at the order of belief and baptism and a changed life, at how forgiveness works, and at why the Bible calls all of it a gift.
All twelve lessons complete