There seems to be a question out there as to if the kingdom of God was established after the death of Christ. We know that it was wished for because when Jesus taught his Jewish disciples to pray in Matthew 6:10, they were to pray for the kingdom to come. We know it was expected soon for as John prepared the way for Christ, he told the people in Matthew 3:2, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus even told some of his listeners in Mark 9:1, "Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." We also know that this kingdom was spiritual and not earthly since he told Pilate in John 18:36, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." Finally, we know that those in the first century accepted that it had come since John stated he was in the kingdom in Revelation 1:9. 

Those who don't believe the kingdom has been established have a major problem. If the kingdom was not established, then Jesus would be a false prophet since in Mark 9:1 he told his listeners that there were some present who would see the kingdom before they died. How do you identify a false prophet? We are told in Deuteronomy 18:22, "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." We are left to conclude that either the kingdom was established or Jesus is a false prophet. It has to be one or the other. 

Charles Royal

Decatur AL