The Kingdom and the Spirit

This line of thought is not unique to Paul. The author of Hebrews speaks of the present taste of in ure power in Hebrews 6: 4-5. Some “have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.” The “age to come” was equivalent in Jewish thinking with “the kingdom of God.”¹¹ Here the Holy Spirit is closely associated with the present experience of God’s kingly power.

According to Jewish expectation, the outpouring of the Spirit was considered to be one of the prime blessings of the new age, the kingdom of God.¹² The coming of the Spirit was therefore a sure sign of the presence of the kingdom. Though the final triumph of God’s reign is yet future, the power of that eternal kingdom is now present among His people. Through the Spirit the King accomplishes His purpose in the overthrow of demonic forces and the bringing in of salvation. “Where the Spirit is there is the kingdom.”¹³

What are the implications of this understanding of the relationship between the kingdom of God and the Spirit of God? First of all, to deny the Holy Spirit an active role in the life of the local church is to reject the rule of God. To say that the powerful manifestations of the Spirit were for another era is to say that God brought in the initial manifestation of the kingdom, and then reversed that which He had inaugurated.

Secondly, the presence of the kingdom through the power of the Spirit is a guard against defeatism in the church. The progress of the gospel in the world and the outworking of its message in the corporate life of the church and the personal life of the individual were never dependent upon the mere accumulation and use of intellectual, social, emotional and material resources! If the church or individual depends on these alone, defeatism is the natural result, since the need invariably goes beyond the resources. However, the presence of the Spirit and His attendant power is that which makes effective whatever effort is expended for the service of the kingdom. It is the presence of the kingdom’s power that delivers the church from a defeatist approach to service and growth.

Third, this view of the relationship between the Spirit and the kingdom of God keeps us from a triumphalism which regards all the future blessings of the kingdom as present. In the midst of the tremendous power and presence of the Spirit, suffering and pain are also to be found. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, “being full of the Holy Spirit” saw a vision of the risen Christ and was immediately stoned to death for his witness (Acts 7:54-60). Paul’s preaching on the kingdom was wedded with a theology of suffering. He states to the Galatian believers, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). The presence of the Spirit is no guarantee that the down side of life in this age will be avoided.

Tags: kingdom, spirit

Category: Spirit, Spring 1999