The book of Luke closes with Jesus speaking to His apostles just before His ascension back to heaven.  This was His message to them—

Luke 24:45–49 (ESV)
⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Luke gives us more information about our Lord’s conversation with His apostles in His second book—The Acts of the Apostles.

Acts 1:4–9 (ESV)
⁴ And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” ⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” ⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

The stage is now set for the church to arrive on the scene.  Jesus has paid the price for sin, risen from the dead, and gone back to glory with the Father.  Man can now be redeemed.  The apostles have been chosen and are now in Jerusalem (Acts 1:12), waiting to receive power from on high (Luke 24:49).

To me, the most interesting thing about the statement cited above is that it shows that even at this late stage, the apostles are still unclear about the nature of the kingdom.  It is clear that when they asked, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel,” they believed the kingdom would be a physical, geographical one.   Jesus ignored their misunderstanding, probably because He knew it would be cleared up once they were baptized with the Spirit.  It is very telling that after Pentecost, the apostles never again said anything to indicate that they were waiting for the kingdom to be restored to Israel.

Many people still have a misunderstanding about the nature of the kingdom.  In fact, many do not believe that the kingdom has come yet, and when it does, they believe it will be a physical, geographic one.  It will be in Palestine where Jesus will rule from the physical throne of David.  Before we discuss the arrival of the Lord’s church, let us clear up this little matter.

The kingdom and the church often refer to the same thing in the New Testament.  Jesus once told His disciples that they would not taste death until the kingdom came with power (Mark 9:1).  The power He was referring to was the outpouring of the Spirit, which, as we have seen, the apostles have been sent to Jerusalem to receive, and which we will see them receiving on the day of Pentecost.  So, the kingdom of God and the church of Christ came into being at the same time.  Why?  Because they are the same.

The kingdom that Jesus said would come with power before some of His disciples died, is the same kingdom Daniel said would be established in the days of the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:40-44), and shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14).  It is not something that is coming sometime in the future, but is already here, and everyone who obeys the gospel is translated into it (Colossians 1:13).

This kingdom was never to be a physical one.  It was always meant to be spiritual, and one becomes a member of it by a spiritual birth (John 3:3-5).

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.