What is the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God was at the center of Jesus' preaching. He announced at the very beginning of His ministry, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
What did He mean by the kingdom of God?
Jesus did not mean to announce that He had now established a new territory over which He was going to rule as the term "kingdom" would lead us to believe. Jesus' kingdom was not a domain won by conquest or purchased with money. In fact, Jesus said that His kingdom did not come in a visible way or with visible signs.
Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; (Luke 17:20)
If Jesus' kingdom was not visible, then what does it mean to say that it is "at hand" or that it has come?
Jesus' kingdom comes when people submit to God's rule and bow before Him as their king. This is why it is invisible. It is something that takes place deep in the heart of a man or woman and is not something that can be seen with the eye.
Did no one before the coming of Jesus submit to God's rule?
Yes, they certainly did in that anyone who is saved from sin submits to God's law. In this sense, the kingdom of God has always been. The kingdom of God, however, has a specific meaning in redemptive history as that time prophesied in the Old Testament and which began with the coming of Jesus who is the King of the kingdom.
What do you mean by "redemptive history"?
This is the history of God fulfilling the promise He made originally to Adam and Eve in the garden:
I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." (Genesis 3:15)
and afterwards to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; (Genesis 12:2)
Previously, you said that the coming of the kingdom was prophesied in the Old Testament. Where can we read these prophesies?
The first prophecy was that given in Genesis 3:15 where God promises that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the seed of serpent.
Moses and all the prophets foretold its approach. Its King was described, in the garden of Eden, as the seed of the woman; and as both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one, (Heb. 2:11,) its subjects are included in the appellation. The wife is called by her husband’s name, Isa. 4:1. A model of the kingdom was exhibited in Israel; and the wars and victories of David, and the peaceful reign of Solomon, foreshowed the opposition it should encounter, and its ultimate triumph. “Think not,” said the Lord, “that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace on earth but a sword.” This holy doctrine is like water thrown on a burning furnace. While its certain effect is to quench the flame, in doing so it excites a great commotion. We have an illustration of this in the child brought to our Lord, Mark 9:20. When he came into the Lord’s presence, the spirit tare him, and he wallowed, foaming; but the Lord lifted him up, and he arose. All the opposition excited by Satan in attempting to maintain his usurped dominion, shall issue in his destruction, while the people of God shall inherit the kingdom for ever.
J. A. Haldane, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Galatians: Showing That the Present Divisions among Christians Originate in Blending the Ordinances of the Old and New Convenants (Edinburgh: William Whyte and Co., 1848).
Where can we find Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of God?
We find this in His speeches, His parables, and His miracles.
What do we learn about the kingdom of God from Jesus' miracles?
Jesus' miracles are signs marking the arrival of the kingdom of God.
Before you had referenced Luke 17:20 that the coming of the kingdom of God does not come with visible signs?
you” (Luke 11:20).