KINGDOM RESTORATION PROCESS

In the workings of God, there is timing and time because God is a patient God. Galatians chapter 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Adoption into sonship of non-israelites is possible because Jesus was adopted into the family of Judah as recorded in Matthew 1:18-25. By blood birth, Jesus came through the lineage of the Levites – the priests. But for the sake of mankind redemption, Joseph accepted the pregnancy of Jesus’ mother and subsequently adopted him into the lineage of Judah in order to fulfil prophecy and actualize God’s plan.

Man’s salvation and restoration are through Jesus Christ (John 3:16-17). God Himself declared Jesus as His Son on two occasions;

1. During the baptism of Jesus Christ in Matthew 3:16 – 27 when God’s Spirit like a dove descended on Jesus and a voice from heaven announced Jesus saying “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.“
2. And also when Jesus was on the mountain of transfiguration with three of His disciples in Matthew 17:5 a voice came from the cloud and said “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him.” Thus confirming the revealed plan of God for mankind’s salvation.

The Old testament of the Bible attests to the fact that he is the coming Messiah mentioned in the books of Psalms, the laws, and the prophets. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that he had not come to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill them. He also said in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures, for in them ye think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me.” Peter the Apostle, in his first sermon in Acts 2:36, said, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” And in another sermon in Acts 4:10-12, “¹⁰ Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even him doth this man stands here before you while. ¹¹ This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. ¹² Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

John the Baptist opened the New Testament of the Bible with the gospel message of repentance and the kingdom of God. He also introduced Jesus as the Messiah that God sent to redeem the world from sin (John 1:29-34). In His earthly ministry, Jesus preached about the kingdom of God and taught His disciples the principles of the kingdom. He also demonstrated the power of the kingdom through the work of miracles, signs, and wonders. He brought in a new dispensation, which is the kingdom of God meant for believers in His name. He also instituted the church with the mindset that God’s redemption plan would be propagated through the church. And the kingdom of God, which is a parallel government to that of Satan’s kingdom, will be established.

The church is the community of those who submit to the rule or kingdom of God. It is called to express/manifest the life of the kingdom i.e., manifest the qualities of the kingdom of God here on earth (Rom 14:17; Matt 5-7). The church is similar to the Ark of Noah because only Noah and members of his family that entered the Ark were saved from the destruction of the 1st world. Similarly, self-righteousness cannot save any man. The story of Cornelius in Acts 10 made us to realize this. Except one is in Christ he cannot enjoy salvation. If one is a genuine believer and a member of the Church it is most likely that he will make heaven because he is already a citizen of God’s kingdom.

Membership in the kingdom of God set up by Jesus is attained when an individual believes in the name of Jesus, the work of salvation that he did through His death on the cross at Calvary, and submits to His Lordship. The membership also makes one a new creation and changes one’s personality from the old nature to a new nature in Christ. Invariably, one is translated from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Light.