John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Apostles of the Lamb all preached that the Kingdom of God is at hand and soon will come to the earth. The Kingdom of God is the doing of God's will in the earth as it is in Heaven. When the Kingdom comes, all lawlessness and injustice will be done away. This is the true Christian Gospel.

The creation of the Kingdom of God is God's solution to His problem of rebellion.

What procedure will God follow in putting an end to the rebellion against His will?

First He sent the Lord Jesus Christ. It was Christ's obedience to the Father that has made it possible for God to put into operation the plan of salvation—the program that releases people from the guilt, the bondage, and the effects of the rebellion.

Before the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it was written of Him:

I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8)

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Psalms 45:7)

Jesus stood out among all others as loving the Father's Person, will, and ways. Therefore God anointed Him with the oil of gladness.

When Jesus began His ministry He was tested at the hands of Satan. What was the issue? The issue was obedience to the Father, the performing of God's will. Christ Himself learned obedience through the things He suffered.

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (Hebrews 5:8)

Finally in Gethsemane the will, the obedience of Christ was tested to the ultimate degree. In an agony of committal and subjection Christ cried out, "Not my will, but thine, be done."

Christ's perfect obedience to God is in contrast to the pride and willfulness of Satan, Satan's angelic followers, Adam, and the children of Adam.

Christ is the beginning of the Kingdom of God. Christ always is perfectly obedient to the Father. He comes to do the will of God. At unimaginable cost to Himself He performed the will of God in the earth just as it always is performed in Heaven.

Christ was revealed for the purpose of totally destroying the rebellious spirit and works of Satan in the earth. This is the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

If Christ is the first stage of the Kingdom of God, of putting down rebellion against the Father's will, what is the second stage?

The second stage is the perfecting of the victorious saints, the overcomers, in obedience.

We must make a distinction between the victorious saints and the balance of the believers in Christ. It appears that (at least in the present hour) the victorious saints are few in number. Most Christians still are part of the rebellion against God's will.

If this previous statement seems to be too strong, ask the believers whom you know if they are doing God's will. You no doubt will hear in reply every sort of unclear, confused answer.

To be continued.