Jesus tells us to pray to our heavenly Father "Your kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10). He also tells us to "seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness" (verse 33). What is the Kingdom of God that
it should be our highest priority in life? Is it simply a new or different
administrative system directed by faithful servants of God? Or does it
exceed our previous concepts of what a kingdom is?
The apostle Paul went right to the heart of the matter by explaining
that "flesh and blood"-physical human beings-"cannot inherit
the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 15:50). The Kingdom of God is the family
of immortal beings -God and all His children. Those whom God
adds to His family will inherit and oversee "all things" God has created
(Revelation 21:7).
Speaking of this destiny of man, the book of Hebrews tells us: "For in
that He [God the Father] put all in subjection under him [man], He
left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see
all things put under him" (Hebrews 2:8). Revelation 21-22 describes the
time when "all things" will be under those who enter the Kingdom of God.
How, then, does a human being enter the Kingdom? Paul explains: "This
perishable body must be clothed with the imperishable, and what is mortal
with immortality. And when this perishable body has been clothed with the
imperishable and our mortality has been clothed with immortality, then
the saying of scripture will come true: 'Death is swallowed up; victory
is won!'" (1 Corinthians 15:53-54, Revised English Bible). The Kingdom
of God is something human beings can enter only by receiving the gift of
eternal life as children of God.
