The kingdom is now

[WhiteWings]

Jesus said the kingdom is at near or similar depending on the translation.
Imo in the Jewish mind that simply means the kingdom is here right now (2000 years ago)

Just a few random thoughts to get the converstation started:
- The millenium kingdom allready started.
- First/overcomer resurrection already took place.
- Satan is still god of this earth.
- No resurrections before the resurrection of Jesus.
- Kingdom starts at His return. When He spoke those words He was still there.
- ......


Thoughts?

[lomarah]

I don't know much but I know that the Kingdom is attainable now (and in the time of the disciples)...

And I know that He is returning in us...

I'm not sure about millennial stuff and whatnot. I know that many things represent the spiritual so I have no idea if that is a literal 1000 years or what, I really have no idea.

Satan is def still the god of most of the earth...

What do you think?

[peacemaker]

The knowledge of man runs to and fro, in opposition to the Spirit.

[lomarah]

The knowledge of man runs to and fro, in opposition to the Spirit.

Ain't that the truth.

[WhiteWings]

(Job 2:1) Again it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before LORD, that Satan came also among them to present himself before LORD.

(Job 2:2) And LORD said to Satan, From where did thou come? And Satan answered LORD, and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.

[jabcat]

May have more to say on this, including an interesting scrip.  But to throw this out for consideration;  I believe there are some differences between kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, and even God's kingdom reign of "All in All".  For instance, Jesus said His kingdom was in/among us, but still prayed for God's kingdom to come.  I believe one is about relationship/closeness/obedience.  I've wondered if "those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom" is not about heaven/"hell" as popularly taught, but about the peace and joy from living in close relationship with Him, i.e., the "kingdom that is now"... :2c:

[lomarah]

I've wondered if "those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom" is not about heaven/"hell" as popularly taught, but about the peace and joy from living in close relationship with Him, i.e., the "kingdom that is now"...

Ohhhh I like that!! Good line of thought! And I'm sure it lines up with the true meaning way more than the traditional view!!  :thumbsup:

[Molly]

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh,
when no man can work.
--John 9:4

[jabcat]

I've wondered if "those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom" is not about heaven/"hell" as popularly taught, but about the peace and joy from living in close relationship with Him, i.e., the "kingdom that is now"...

Ohhhh I like that!! Good line of thought! And I'm sure it lines up with the true meaning way more than the traditional view!!  :thumbsup:

:)

This could be talking about one kingdom, two, (or all 3)?   :dunno2:


John 3:1-8 Christian Bible - Now there was a human named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a chief of the Jews.  This one came to Him by night, and said to Him, "Rabbi, we are aware that you come as a teacher from God, because no one can do these signs that you are continually doing unless God is with him."  Yesu responded and said to him, "Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever hasn't been born from above, can't notice God's Kingdom".   Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a human be born when he is elderly?  He can't enter into his mother's belly a second time and be born, can he?"  Yesu responded, "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hasn't been born of water and the spirit, cant enter into God's Kingdom.  Whatever is born a child of the flesh, is flesh;  and whatever is born a child of the Spirit, is spirit.
You must not marvel that I said to you, "You have to be born from above!"

[jabcat]

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh,
when no man can work.
--John 9:4

wonder what that means exactly?  in this realm/age?  because connected to the kingdom(s) discussion, in Revelation when the gates of the city are open day and night and the kings are bringing their treasures into it, I think of a couple of things;  1, there's "work" going on, and 2, those "without" that kingdom are being brought in (by those who were already part of the first kingdom?  those who had been spiritually reborn and in relationship in this age?)..  several questions there... :)

[jabcat]

has anyone done a good study on the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven (we already talk quite a bit about "the kingdom of" God being All in All...?    I believe much of Christianity uses the terms interchangeably..not sure they always are..

[jabcat]

If there are at least 3 kingdoms...those spiritually reborn would be in the first one ("now", "God's kingdom is in you"),  and they would also be taken into the second one by virtue of saving grace (kingdom of heaven)...then all others would be brought into that kingdom (ultimate reconciliation/salvation of all)...then, God's kingdom of All in All is established? 

(Or maybe someone has solid evidence they are all one and the same?)

[Molly]

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh,
when no man can work.
--John 9:4

wonder what that means exactly?  in this realm/age?  because connected to the kingdom(s) discussion, in Revelation when the gates of the city are open day and night and the kings are bringing their treasures into it, I think of a couple of things;  1, there's "work" going on, and 2, those "without" that kingdom are being brought in (by those who were already part of the first kingdom?  those who had been spiritually reborn and in relationship in this age?)..  several questions there... :)

Jesus says it referring to Satan's hour of darkness, and the period between his being handed over to Satan until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit is given [or even earlier maybe when he breathes the Holy Spirit into them.]

When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."--Luke 22:53

But that is for believers. For non believers the darkness has lasted 2000 years.

We are in that darkness now and it's just getting darker until the end of the age, imo.

...for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.  Eph 1:8

[Molly]

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
--John 12:46


When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."--John 8:12


But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.
--Prov 4:19


"Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light.

It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."

--John 11:9,10


Jesus gives us night vision. :winkgrin:

[Molly]

"Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, Forever"
by T. Austin-Sparks

Chapter 2 - The Kingdom Of Light In Conflict With The Kingdom Of Darkness


"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:1-3).

"But and if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that are perishing: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them... Seeing it is God, that said, Let there be light, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, 6).

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness overcame it not" (John 1:1, 4-5).

We proceed to consider a little further what the Kingdom of God is. We have seen that from the beginning there has been a great conflict in this universe as to WHO shall have the dominion. The New Testament speaks of two kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, the Kingdom of the Son of God's love and the kingdom of that one who wants to usurp the place of God's Son, and all through the history of this world those two kingdoms have been in deadly conflict. As to the Kingdom of God, we have said that it is the sovereign rule of God. We speak of 'entering the Kingdom of God', and in that way we think of the Kingdom of God as being a sphere of God's rule, but there is something about which we must be very clear, although it is not easy to explain.
GOD RULES BY HIS OWN NATURE

We could think of a kingdom being just a place, and a number of people in that place, and then we could think of some person, a dictator, an autocrat, having dominion in that place over those people. We could say that Egypt is the kingdom of Mr..., and that China is the kingdom of someone else, but that is not the idea of the Kingdom of God. You see, God does not rule just as an autocrat or as a dictator. God's Kingdom is composed of those who are like Himself. That is what it is going to be at the end. The Kingdom is coming now, and when it has fully come it will just be, and only be, people who are like God Himself. I wonder if you understand what I mean when I say that God rules by His own nature? God's government is on the basis of what God is. That is how He is ruling now. When we say: "Thy will be done", we have to go on immediately and say: "As in heaven, so on earth." The Kingdom of God is according to that which satisfies the nature of God.

We have, then, two things to consider. The first is this: that to belong to the Kingdom of God we have to be reconstituted according to God. You know, the door is closed to every man and woman who has not been reconstituted according to God. Let us think of it like this: Someone wants to be in the Kingdom of God and they come to the door, and on that door they see the word: "Cannot." 'You cannot come in here. Something has to happen in you before you can come in here. This realm belongs to people who are altogether different from what you are by nature.'

You remember that the Lord Jesus told a parable of someone who made a great feast, and in order to attend and participate in that feast the guests had to wear a certain garment. Well, the people came with the garments on, but when the master of the feast came to look over the people he found one man without that garment. He said to that man: 'Friend, how did you get in here without the garment on?' In effect he said: 'You have no right here.' The master of the feast said to his servants: 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him out!' It was in that parable that the Lord was expounding this very principle: if you are going to be in the Kingdom of God something has got to happen that makes you suitable for that Kingdom.

Now, of course, you know that I am talking about the third chapter of the Gospel by John. I am quite sure that this man, Nicodemus, would have had an awful shock if he had been told that he was the man without the wedding garment, but this chapter makes it perfectly clear that it was Nicodemus. The only difference between Nicodemus and the man in the feast was that the latter got in and was thrown out, but the unborn-again Nicodemus never got in at all. Now, you note that it was about the Kingdom that Nicodemus was concerned. He was a very religious man, and highly educated, a man held in high esteem amongst the men of this world. Perhaps you would have found no fault with him, but Jesus said to him, without any hesitation: "Except a man be born from above, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God" (John 3:3), and: "Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot ENTER into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Far from being able to ENTER, he cannot even SEE!

There is something about this Kingdom of God that necessitates having an altogether new constitution. We are hearing a great deal in our times about outer space, and we send men into it. Have you seen pictures of those men? You can hardly recognize that they are men! They are so laden with artificial apparatus that you can hardly see them. They have no natural qualification for living in outer space, and have to have artificial lungs. In a sense, they have to be reconstituted upon another principle. That is just an illustration of John chapter 3. Jesus might have said to Nicodemus: 'Nicodemus, if you got into the Kingdom of God you would die. You have not the equipment to live in that rare atmosphere.' That is very simple. If you had to bring a man or a woman whose life is in this world, to whom this world is everything, into a meeting like this, where we are singing these wonderful hymns and talking about these heavenly things, you know, the eyes of that man or that woman would be on the door all the time. They would be wriggling in their seats and saying: 'I will be glad when this is all over and I can get out. Let me get out of this as soon as I can!' You see what I mean? They are not constituted according to the realm of God.

So the Kingdom of God is what God is in His own nature. It is not just a sphere in which God rules as an autocrat. It is the realm in which God's nature is expressed. Peter spoke about His "precious and exceeding great promises through which ye may become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4), and that is only another way of speaking about the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now we come to the real message for now.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD THE RULE OF DIVINE LIGHT

What is God like? If the Kingdom of God is the realm where God's nature rules, this opens a door to very many things. I only want to speak of one of those things now, but it is a matter of fundamental importance. It is the matter which just went to the heart of Nicodemus' case. The Scripture says: "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5), so the Kingdom of God is the rule of Divine light, but Divine light has always been a focal point of intense conflict.

The Bible opens with a conflict. There is a state of things in nature which God attacks - He begins to make a tremendous assault upon a condition of things, and the first attack of God was upon darkness. "Darkness was upon the face of the deep", and I do not think that God just looked at that darkness and in a very soft voice said: 'Let us have some light.' I believe that there was an angry look on His face and He said: 'Let light be! This is a situation that I never intended to exist and which I will not tolerate. It is a contradiction to My very nature.' So the Divine fiat was uttered in a strong voice: "Let there be light!" Do you think I am reading something into the story? No, I have the whole Bible behind me to support what I am saying. That is why I gave you 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, and if you can listen to the tone in the voice of the Apostle Paul when he is saying those words, you would not find anything very meek and mild - "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving LEST the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should dawn upon them." This darkness is the work of the devil, and God is against it.

I repeat that the first attack of God was made upon darkness, and the natural is a parable of the spiritual. You know that throughout the whole Bible redemption is centred in light, as the redemption of the natural earth was by light. The first phase of the redemption of the earth was by reason of warfare against darkness, or light overcoming darkness.

You can take up that principle right through your Bible. I can only touch on a few points now. We were hearing about Abraham this morning, and Abraham was another movement of God's rule concerning His Kingdom, and that new movement in redemption was on the basis of light. Our brother called it vision, but it is the same thing. Light is vision, and vision is light. It was left to the great martyr Stephen to tell us how this happened: "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia" - if you like, "when he was in darkness" - (Acts 7:2). The God of glory APPEARED, showed Himself. Abraham had his eyes opened to see the God of glory, and all the great redemptive work of God went forward through Abraham on that basis. It was a marvellous illumination! Jesus said to the Jews: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see MY day" (John 8:56). What a light Abraham came into! He was a great key to the whole plan of redemption.

You leap over a few centuries and you see the seed of Abraham, the children of Israel, in the darkness of Egypt. If you want to see what God thinks and feels about darkness, look at the ten judgments upon Egypt! God entered into a tremendous warfare with the darkness of Egypt, and that phase of the warfare headed right up to this: on that fatal night for Egypt, in all the deadly darkness, the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. The first-born sons of Egypt died in the darkness, but the first-born sons of God went out in the light. And that was not the end. All the way through the wilderness journey, in the darkness of the night there was a pillar of fire, and that light above them was in warfare against the darkness around them. They were redeemed from being lost in the wilderness by the pillar of fire, the light in the darkness.

Now, how much of the Old Testament am I to employ to show you how true this was? The Prophets were centres of light in the darkness of the people of God to redeem them from their darkness. If you take Isaiah alone, what an example he is of this very thing! His great ministry took its rise from: "I saw the Lord... high and lifted up" (Isaiah 6:2). Again and again he spoke about the darkness and the light, and at last, with a vision beyond, he cried: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come" (60:1).

I want to get this right home. All that is truth which may be objective, but let us come back to this: There is a tremendous conflict between these two kingdoms of light and darkness. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 we are brought right to the very work of the devil: "The god of this world hath blinded." What, then, is THE supreme work of the devil? It is not that he makes good men bad men, nor that he drags good men down into the mire of sin, nor that he brings strong young men and beautiful young women down into moral corruption, nor makes atheists and infidels. Those are only by-products. They are the results of something else, and that is: "The god of this world hath BLINDED." Remove their blindness, open their eyes, and these things will be dealt with quite simply. The work of the devil is to keep people in the dark. Light is the most fatal thing to the kingdom of Satan; he fears light more than he fears anything else. He is the "prince of darkness". He has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, and why has he done so? It is a precaution against something, and one little word explains it: "LEST the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine." 'If those people get the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, MY kingdom is gone. The battle is over for me. I am lost.' So that Satan will do anything to keep us from having light.

There is a real touch of genius in Bunyan's "Holy War". Satan and his kingdom are making their assault upon Mansoul in order to capture it - the city of Mansoul is besieged by the powers of darkness. Satan says to his captains: 'There is one man that you must capture. If we capture that one man the city is ours. Focus all your attention upon the Lord Mayor!' What is the name of the Lord Mayor? His name is Mr. Understanding. 'When you have captured Mr. Understanding put him down in a dark dungeon so that he does not know what is happening. The rest of the battle will be easy.' That is the genius of John Bunyan, but where did he get it? He got it from Paul. Do you remember this little phrase of Paul's: "Being darkened in their understanding" (Ephesians 4:18)? Paul is speaking there about all the moral evils of the Gentile world, and he says they are due to one thing: their understanding is darkened.

Now, dear friends, you perhaps wonder why I am speaking to you like this. You may say: 'Well, we are not in the dark. We are saved people.' I will ask you to explain one thing to me: Why is it that invariably when we are going to have a conference where the Lord is going to give more light, we have to come to it through so much conflict? That is quite true of this very conference. All kinds of things arose to get in the way. But that is only a simple example of a great truth.

We have spoken of the prophets, and they were points of light in the darkness of Israel. Will you tell me that they were not in a conflict? Because they were points of light they were points of the most vicious assault of the evil powers. Jesus said: "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12), and every day and everywhere Jesus was in conflict because He was a light. It was true of the apostles. Wherever they went, even without beginning to preach, they found themselves in conflict. It is as though the devil and his powers said: 'We will not have this in our kingdom!', and they will stop at nothing to quench the light. And the Lord says: "Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). Here is the challenge. Divine light is POSITIVE. You cannot have Divine light and be neutral. If God has shined into your heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, your life is a challenge to the kingdom of Satan, and his attitude to you will be: 'We will get you out as soon as we can!' You will find that Satan will stop at nothing to quench that light. You see, Divine light is not just teaching and theory; it is a menace to the kingdom of Satan. Are we in the Kingdom of God? That is what it means. Individual Christians are to be like that - their very existence disturbs the kingdom of Satan.

And what is true of the individual is true of the little companies of the Lord's people. Satan does not mind you organizing communities of people called Christians. I don't think he troubles about them very much, for the simple reason that they don't trouble him, but if any little company of the Lord's people anywhere are really in the light and are focal points of the significance of Jesus Christ, Satan will do everything to destroy that little company.

I must add this as I close. Remember that this is not only an initial matter in the Christian life. Every fresh step of advance in the spiritual life is the result of some new light. We only make progress in the spiritual life by more and more Divine light, and the evil one does not want us to advance to the fullness of light. As soon as we think we have got all the light, then death will set in.

Well, I must leave it there for the present.

[WhiteWings]

If there are at least 3 kingdoms...those spiritually reborn would be in the first one ("now", "God's kingdom is in you"),  and they would also be taken into the second one by virtue of saving grace (kingdom of heaven)...then all others would be brought into that kingdom (ultimate reconciliation/salvation of all)...then, God's kingdom of All in All is established? 

(Or maybe someone has solid evidence they are all one and the same?)

Jesus said 2000 years ago the Kingdom if God is now.
Almost at the same time He said He will return to rule His own Kingdom. To me that means Father steps back from the throne for a while.
All-in-all can't be now because it's after the millenium reign. No matter how that reign is seen it can't be finished because nobody can deny that many people are not Christians.

[jabcat]

If there are at least 3 kingdoms...those spiritually reborn would be in the first one ("now", "God's kingdom is in you"),  and they would also be taken into the second one by virtue of saving grace (kingdom of heaven)...then all others would be brought into that kingdom (ultimate reconciliation/salvation of all)...then, God's kingdom of All in All is established? 

(Or maybe someone has solid evidence they are all one and the same?)

Jesus said 2000 years ago the Kingdom if God is now.
Almost at the same time He said He will return to rule His own Kingdom. To me that means Father steps back from the throne for a while.
All-in-all can't be now because it's after the millenium reign. No matter how that reign is seen it can't be finished because nobody can deny that many people are not Christians.

I agree.  IMO, that's 3 "kingdom events"/types of kingdoms.

[WhiteWings]

http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/coldfusion/booklet.cfm?PID=117

[jabcat]

I was just talking to someone recently who used the "inherit the kingdom" verse to mean people wouldn't "go to heaven".  I believe the kingdom she was referring to had to do with relationship, living in fellowship and joy.    Plus there are the other 2 mentioned already.   :2c:

I need to look at how the phrases kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God are used, and if it can be clearly differentiated or not.

[jabcat]

http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/coldfusion/booklet.cfm?PID=117

Hmm, seems he's starting back with creation itself as a kingdom.  I'll have to think about that.  I've never thought about the earth/creation as being one of the kingdoms God or especially Jesus talked about.   :Chinscratch:

[WhiteWings]

That guy often has solid articles. I didn't read this one so can't say this is one of them.
Consider this:
a- Jesus was killed 2000 years ago but elsewhere we are told it was before creation.
b- Someone (a King) owned earth from the very start.

Perhaps the Kingdom reference has the same weird "time-twist" as the crucifixion reference?

[WhiteWings]

Also note that Jesus was given all things in His hands.

[Molly]

Psalm 24:1 Of David. A psalm. The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."
1 Cor 10:26


This is what God owns.  He names his children as beneficiaries of his will.  God dies on the cross.  His children inherit under the will.   We are co-inheritors with Christ.

And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory.  Rom 8:17

Galatians 3:29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.


Revelation 21:7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

[Molly]

THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS
The New Testament presents God as Father, Christ as Son, and the saints as children of God. Christ is also the "first-born among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). Just as in a human family, the father provides an inheritance for his children (Prov. 13:22), so it is in the family of God:


Rom. 8:16-17: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."

The saints, then, are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Whatever Christ inherits, the saints will inherit also. What do Christ and the saints inherit together?

All Things (The Universe)
In Heb. 1:2, we learn that Christ has been "appointed heir of all things". The saints will share in this inheritance, for in the book of Romans, we read:


Rom. 8:32: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

The Greek word, pas, translated "all", means "all, every, the whole" (Strong's Concordance). The following scriptures show that "all things" refers to the universe:


Eph. 3:9: ... "and to make all people see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ" ...

Heb. 1:3: "He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power." [RSV]

Thus, with Christ, the saints inherit the universe.

The World
As the seed of Abraham, the saints inherit the world:


Rom. 4:13: "For the promise that he would be the heir of the world (Greek: kosmos) was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

Gal. 3:16: "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds', as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed', who is Christ."

Gal. 3:29: "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Why is "the world" stated as the inheritance of the seed of Abraham? The Greek word "kosmos" means "orderly arrangement" (Strong's Concordance); and thus refers to the world as an ordered system in all its variety of created things (both animate and inanimate), and including all of its inhabitants. The original promise made to Abraham is noteworthy:

Gen. 22:17: "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore;" ... [KJV]

Thus, it is only in Christ that Abraham's seed will be so multiplied. This vast number refers to those redeemed in Christ, which in the fullness of time will include all humanity (1 Cor. 15:22). There is a connection here with Christ's words as recorded in John's gospel:

John 3:16: ... "for God did so love the world, that his Son -- the only begotten -- He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during." [Young]

God so loved the people of the world that He sent his Son to save them from sin and death. In context, this mention of the world -- the kosmos -- refers to all the people of the world throughout the ages, and confirms God's plan for the salvation of all mankind. As heirs of the world, the saints will judge the world (1 Cor. 6:2). Thus, the first-born saints participate in God's plan for the salvation of all mankind.

Kingdom of God
The saints inherit the kingdom of God. The inheritance of the kingdom is directly connected with the inheritance of incorruption and immortality:

1 Cor. 15:50,53: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. ... For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

Incorruption and immortality are related to eternal (aeonial) life. Incorruption and immortality refer to endless life. Aeonial life refers to the quality of this endless life; for aeonial life is that life which God imparts in accordance with his purpose or plan of the ages:

Rom. 2:5-7: ... "righteous judgment of God, who shall render to each according to his works; to those, indeed, who in continuance of a good work, do seek glory, and honour, and incorruptibility -- life age-during;" ... [Young]

Eternal Life (Aeonial life)
In many translations of the Bible (KJV, NKJV, NIV, etc.) we read of "eternal life". Robert Young (Young's Literal Translation) speaks of "age-during life"; R.F. Weymouth (New Testament in Modern Speech) speaks of "life of the ages"; and Andrew Jukes (The Restitution of All Things) speaks of "aeonial life".

In scripture, God is called both the "King of the Ages" (1 Tim. 1:17; Weymouth) and the "God of the Ages" (Rom. 16:26; Weymouth). As such, He has a "purpose of the ages" (Eph. 3:11; Weymouth; footnote). According to this purpose, He imparts Life of the Ages to the saints.

Titus 3:5-7: ... "He did save us, through a bathing of regeneration, and a renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He poured upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that having been declared righteous by His grace, heirs we may become according to the hope of life age- during." [Young]

Andrew Jukes, in his Restitution of All Things, (pp. 65-68), speaks of "aeonial life":

"Aeonial or eternal life therefore is not, as so many think, the living on and on for ever and ever. It is rather, as our Lord defines it, a life, the distinctive peculiarity of which is, that it has to do with a Saviour, and so is part of a remedial plan. ... Nor does this affect the true eternity of bliss of God's elect, or of the redeemed who are brought back to live in God, and to be partakers of Christ's 'endless life' (Heb. 7:16), of whom it is said, "Neither can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection (Luke 20:36); for this depends on a participation in the divine nature, and upon that power which can 'change these vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue even all things unto Himself'" (Phil. 3:21).

Salvation
By Christ's sacrifice, the saints have been saved from sin and death (Rom. 8:2), and thus inherit salvation:

Heb. 1:14: "Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?"

The Promises
Paul refers to the saints as "heirs according to the promise" (Gal. 3:29). The saints inherit the promises:

Heb. 6:12: ... "that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

There are many promises mentioned in the New Testament, and all the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ:

1 Cor. 1:20: "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."

The Holy Spirit has come by promise (Eph. 1:13). The eternal (aeonial) inheritance of the saints has been promised also (Heb. 9:15).

Sealed with the Holy Spirit
Eph. 1:12-14: ... "for our being to the praise of His glory, even those who did first hope in the Christ, in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth -- the good news of your salvation -- in whom also having believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the acquired possession, to the praise of His glory." [Young]

The indwelling Holy Spirit is the guarantee (earnest) which secures the inheritance of the saints "to the redemption of the acquired possession". Peter refers to the saints as a "people acquired" (1 Pet. 2:9; Young). The saints, then, are the "acquired possession" who will be redeemed "at the last trumpet" (1 Cor. 15:51-54). The saints have been both purchased and redeemed by the blood of Christ:

1 Cor. 7:23: ... "with a price ye were bought, become not servants of men" ... [Young]

Eph. 1:6-7: ... "He did make us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have the redemption through his blood" ... [Young]

Conclusion
By promise, the saints have received both the Holy Spirit and salvation. At the last trumpet, the saints will be changed or raised to immortality and incorruption (1 Cor. 15:51-52), and will thus inherit aeonial life. As heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, the saints will judge the world; and thus participate in God's plan for the salvation of all mankind. Even as Christ now sits at God's right hand in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:20; Heb. 1:3), the saints, with Christ, will reign in the kingdom of God, which encompasses the universe.

[All scriptural quotation are taken from the NKJV unless marked otherwise.]

http://www.sentex.net/~tcc/inherit.html