1) It is the sovereign rule of God.
2) It is according to an order of things which takes its character from God.
3) It is a realm where His order and nature freely operate and are expressed.

We can enter this realm, but not apart from the other two aspects. So God’s kingdom is where God rules sovereignly, according to an order which expresses His character, and in a realm where everything operates according to His nature.

In other words, there is the fact of God’s absolute Lordship. And, by some mighty work of God, we have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4), which means that the very nature of God has been made available to us and is introduced into us, thereby setting up a new order of things. This defines the kingdom of God.

The Battle Contending for God’s Sovereignty
The Bible unveils the plans and purposes of God in creation, but by man’s subsequent Fall, all of creation fell out of correspondence with these plans. The Fall made necessary the eventual redemption, which returned creation back to God’s eternal purpose. In His Word, God reveals what happened in eternity past, that His sovereignty was coveted and challenged by a cosmic angelic being. Since then, there has been a severe cosmic warfare over the sovereignty of this universe. Who must rule? God? Or, some other independent and rival being?
In God’s eternal purpose, mankind was first destined to be the expression, representation, and manifestation of His sovereignty in the material world. Consequently, humanity was a very precious commodity, either for God or for this other entity known as Satan.

In Genesis 1:26-28, we read of God’s intention in creating the human race: “Let us make man in Our image according to Our likeness; let them have dominion.... So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion....’”
Inasmuch as Satan was vying for the kingdom, he was also contending for the vessel of its expression, namely mankind. If he could gain this vessel as an ally, he would eventually possess it and establish his own sovereignty over the earth, and then export it to the rest of creation. Thus, the battle began. And mankind became a decisive factor in this controversy.

The battle over the vessel began when Satan approached Eve and said, “You will be like God!” And when Eve accepted the lie and dragged Adam into its deception, the Fall of creation took place. On the surface, Satan had succeeded — but only on the surface. The Spirit of God will not allow a complete breakdown. He sought individuals who were sensitive to God’s voice and called them to maintain His sovereignty over this world. Humanity as such had lost the understanding for the divine reasons behind man’s creation and existence. Consequently, the human race had fallen into a dark state of mind. They had surrendered to a different order, the end of which was total chaos — death! But in the midst of this chaos, God had those who allied themselves with Him, who acknowledged His sovereignty, who accepted the order which took its character from God, and who claimed the whole world as the realm in which this order, void of death, would find expression.

The Altar Committed to God’s Character
The means by which these people proclaimed the sovereignty of God was through a simple object called the altar. It represented God’s sovereignty and character. God’s sovereignty was the bedrock on which every action of God was displayed. And every type of sacrifice proclaimed a different truth.

Initially, those who erected an altar offered a “burnt offering,” which indicated their total allegiance to a God Who is their Sovereign Ruler. Such were the cases of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These individuals were called to maintain the testimony of the sovereignty of God and their allegiance to Him. Their consecrated act simply made a statement to the whole universe that here is the place where “God rules.” Then, later on, after God called Moses and the children of Israel out of Egypt, He instituted the tabernacle worship. The sacrifices offered on its most holy altar declared a testimony that a new order according to God’s character had arrived. And finally, as God led them into Canaan, He appointed a realm where this order would find full expression.

The Remnant Expressing God’s Testimony
Since Israel had failed to maintain this testimony, God called others to do so. These were either individuals or small groups called out of the majority who became identified as “the remnant.” They were the ones who faithfully stood on the ground of the sovereignty of God and passed on the torch of this testimony to the remnant of the next generation, until God’s testimony would find full expression in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and the Son of man.
Jesus Christ as a human being was not only the full expression of the Person and character of God, but He was also the realm in which this new order was expressed. Subsequent to Christ’s death and resurrection, the Church, as a corporate living Body consisting of regenerated individuals, became that expression.

Unfortunately, the Church also lost sight of her calling and strayed into the same digressive footsteps of Israel. However, as in the case of Israel, God found in the Church a remnant who did not lose sight of its individual and corporate calling. Faithfully, they kept the fire of the altar (a type of the Holy Spirit who operates on the basis of God’s sovereignty) burning.
What follows within the covers of this book is a detailed look at those individuals or small groups called “the remnant” in the Old Testament; later, in another volume, we will consider the remnant in the New Testament.

It is my prayer that every one of us will recognize the sovereignty of God in our own individual lives. Then, as we find like-minded believers, we come together, and by whatever means, proclaim His kingdom. God must rule in our lives according to a new order which takes its character from Him. We must allow ourselves to become the realm in which and through which God expresses Himself and His sovereignty. There will come a day when this order will find its full expression universally, and then Revelation 11:15 will come to pass: “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.”

Breaking the Silence - Fred Saleh
Acts 13 Christian Ministries