Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus Christ told His disciples about a future time of upheaval and unrest unparalleled in human history. It would be marked by religious deception, warfare, earthquakes, famines and disease epidemics, along with other terrible events (Luke 21:7-28). Jesus made it plain that the Kingdom of God was not here yet.

He said that, after these events, people "will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory... When you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near" (Luke 21:27; Luke 21:31). Christ clearly said that the Kingdom of God will not be set up on earth until after His triumphant return in power and glory.

Christ also made this plain other times. The familiar words of the Lord's Prayer were given by Jesus Christ in response to the disciples' request that He teach them how to pray.

"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come" (Matthew 6:9-10). This well-known prayer acknowledges that God's Kingdom is not here now and that Christians are to fervently pray for its arrival!

Near the end of His life, while being questioned by Pilate before His crucifixion, Jesus clearly stated: "My Kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36).

Pilate then demanded to know if Christ were a king. Christ replied: "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world" (John 18:37).

Hebrews 11 summarizes the experiences of God's faithful servants. Hebrews 11:13-16 tell us:

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."

Even Abraham, the father of the faithful, "waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). Although God's people today experience a foretaste of God's coming Kingdom in their lives (see "How Are We 'Translated Into the Kingdom'?" in the booklet The Gospel of the Kingdom), many scriptures make it clear that the Kingdom of God is not here now, but will be established on earth in the future.