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LUKE - Christ, the Savior of the World
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to Luke

PART 4 - JESUS' MINISTRY DURING HIS JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (Luke 9:51 - 19:27)

26. Statements About the Coming of the Kingdom of God and the Second Coming of Christ (Luke 17:20-37)


LUKE 17:20-21
20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

The major aim of Christianity is neither the cross, nor conversions, nor entry into heaven, but the proclamation of the kingdom of God in glory. At the time of Jesus, the Jews were awaiting the coming of this kingdom with longing and anxiety, knowing that the coming king of God would change the world, raise the dead, remove the kingdoms of the world, and set up honor, truth, and glory on earth (Daniel 7:27). The natural man in his spiritual blindness often expects future improvement of situations, and not renewal of hearts. But the kingdom of God, on the contrary, comes and changes hearts first. Then it appears in public.

Christ answered the Pharisees’ question about the coming of the kingdom of heaven to earth in two ways. This kingdom does not come visibly and apparent with horses, chariots, armies, and deadly weapons, but invisibly and spiritually, as a divine power. You cannot perceive the kingdom of God by touch or sight, but you can learn its greatness through faith alone, abiding in the Holy Spirit, the motive of this kingdom.

When Jesus had explained the nature of the kingdom of God, he also answered the serious question about the time of the beginning of God’s dominion on earth, saying: “The kingdom is presently among you”. By this word, he referred to himself, for Christ is the King of kings, and Lord of lords. In him all the power, wisdom and glory of God are found. The love and patience of God are the essence of his kingdom. His Father has given to him all authority in heaven and on earth after he had reconciled sinners with the Holy One.

This reconciliation is the bridge. The Holy Spirit crosses into the hearts of the disciples, and fills all the faithful. Where the Spirit of God dwells, God himself is found. And where God abides in man, the kingdom reveals itself clearly in the man. In this manner, the kingdom of the Lord today is hidden in all true churches, and in individual believers. Are you a newborn member of the kingdom of Christ? Or are you standing outside his kingdom in the darkness? If you are a true member of the kingdom of your heavenly Father, what are you doing to spread and establish the kingdom of love in your surroundings?


LUKE 17:22-25
22 Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His days. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

When the disciples heard that the kingdom of God would appear among them, they rejoiced and distributed positions among themselves. Jesus warned them of earthly aims, and indicated to them their severe suffering as a result of his ascension to heaven. Then they would be forsaken, without the apparent presence and protection of their King, trusting only in his promises, and believing in his power centered in their hearts. The kingdom of God does not spread openly in the world, but is hidden, as it was in Christ. You do not see Jesus’ followers with shining crowns, rich robes or great authority, but instead suffering, distress, contempt, persecution, and few in number, to cry at last while in the painful nightmare, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

The tribulations of the last days will produce in them longing for the coming of Christ, so that they will try to find out every least sign to indicate his arrival, expecting the rapture at any time. But Jesus warns them saying, “Do not be superficial, accepting readily any sign. I shall not come hidden as a ghost or as an ordinary man or as an earthly power, but my second coming is like the explosion of the glory of God in all its power in the midst of the darkness of this age. Then heaven will part, the light of glory of the Holy One will dazzle all men, the appearance of the Son of Man will shine as amazing lightning, and the rays of his glory will pierce the darkness. Even on the other side of the globe, where there is darkness, the light of Christ will shine on them with a new day.

Our comfort in that coming great day is that he who comes is not a strange god, or a destructive angel, but the Son of Man who is Jesus Christ. Christ is not unknown. He became one of our human race. He comes not to destroy the faithful, but to catch them up to himself, for he wants us to be with him for ever. We, who bore his Spirit, character and power in us are the representatives of his kingdom in this unjust world.

Then his disciples did understand Christ’s sayings. They did not at first perceive his suffering and death at all, for they thought of an earthly kingdom, without change of hearts, while Christ explained to them the way to glory leading first to suffering. Without atonement and forgiveness man is not admitted into fellowship with God. The cross is the door to the kingdom of the Lord, for without purification by grace you cannot enjoy membership in heaven. But he who enters the kingdom of God faithfully and thankfully, stands fast today between the truth of complete salvation at Golgotha, followed by the second coming of Christ. Until this present time, all the faithful bear the kingdom of God in their hearts. You can easily know them by their countenance, for the essence of the kingdom is LOVE.

PRAYER: Come, Lord Jesus! For you love your followers, having reconciled us with God the Holy One, and put your Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee of your kingdom. We long for you, and beg you to spread your kingdom around the world that you may find at your coming prepared hearts everywhere.

QUESTION 108: How does the kingdom of God appear on earth (in the past, present, and future)?

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