How important is it?
The kingdom of God is mentioned about a hundred times in the four Gospels.
It was the subject of the announcement of Jesus’ birth (Luke 1:32).
It was the theme of Jesus’ preaching.
It is the first request in the Lord’s Prayer (“Thy kingdom come”).
It is a primary command of Jesus: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”
It was the subject of the 40 days of post-resurrection teaching of Jesus (Acts 1:3).
It was the subject of the final question His disciples asked before His ascension.
It was the subject of the preaching of the apostles (Acts 28:31).
The above eight points all pertain to the New Testament. What about the Old? There we see that the kingdom of God was the central theme of the message of the prophets. We see that the advent of the Messiah was to bring it about. We also see that it was the subject of the most solemn promises of God in the Bible. Promises He confirmed by oath. “Because He could swear by none greater, He sware by Himself.” (Hebrews 6:13) This subject, therefore, is of utmost importance to every Christian. Yet, it must be one of the most neglected and most misunderstood subjects in the Bible.