The question is simple: Did Jesus come the first time to set up a physical kingdom on earth? Many believe that he did. So when the Jewish leaders and most of the Jews rejected him as the Messiah, “they” say that he postponed the establishment of a physical kingdom until his 2nd coming. “They” say that, as a result of this postponement, he established the church as a “backup plan”, a “substitute”, a “stop-gap measure” until his 2nd coming when he will set up that physical kingdom. The church age is seen in this view as a “parenthesis” between the 1st and 2nd coming, but not what Jesus planned to set up to begin with.

The Bible teaches that Jesus did not come the 1st time to set up a physical kingdom. John 18:³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” This statement by Jesus destroys the idea of Jesus setting up a physical kingdom at his 1st or 2nd coming. It refutes the idea of a postponed physical kingdom. Period.

So did Jesus set up a kingdom in the 1st century? Yes. Jesus predicted that the establishment of his kingdom was “near”. Mark 1:¹⁴ Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the gospel.” The Greek word for “near” is eggizó: To draw near, to approach, to come near. It occurs 14 times in the Greek perfect tense (indicative mood) in the NT which expresses “extreme closeness, immediate imminence, whether in distance (as Jesus came “near” to Jerusalem) or time (the Passover was “near”). If Jesus did not set up his kingdom within the next soon after making this prediction, then he is a false prophet.

So if he did set up his kingdom soon in the first century, did he set up a physical kingdom? Of course not. Did he plan to set up a physical kingdom but postponed it? Nowhere does Jesus or the New Testament writers teach that. So if he did set up his kingdom in the first century and if it wasn’t a physical kingdom, then what type of kingdom did he set up. He set up a spiritual kingdom, the church. That is why the church is synonymous with the kingdom in Matthew 16:¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” When did Peter use those “keys” to open up the door into the kingdom of Jesus? In Acts 2 Peter preached the completed plan of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus to those who crucified Jesus. He told them to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins (2:38). 3,000 people obeyed Peter’s message and were saved that day. Acts 2:47 And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” The church is the spiritual body of Jesus of which he is the head. It consists of all who have been saved by Jesus. Acts 2 is the record of the establishment of the church. Notice the connection with the kingdom: when Peter used those gospel “keys” in Acts 2, he opened the door into the kingdom, a spiritual kingdom, the church. The saved are in Jesus’ kingdom. Colossians 1:¹³ For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Revelation 1:5 To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— ⁶ and He made us into a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The church was not a substitute for a failed physical kingdom set up. It was a spiritual kingdom that God and Jesus planned to set up all along. In Ephesians 3 the apostle Paul said that he and the other apostles revealed God’s mystery plan of salvation, i.e. how God united Jew and Gentile believers into one body, the church. He added, Ephesians 3:⁸ To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to enlighten all people as to what the plan of the mystery is which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; ¹⁰ so that the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The church was part of God’s eternal plan of salvation and the means of spreading that message. It was not an “after-thought” or “unplanned substitute” for a failed physical kingdom plan.

So why does this matter? It matters because putting emphasis on a future physical kingdom takes away from the value of the church as part of God’s eternal plan. God is to be glorified in this spiritual body, the church. Ephesians 3:²¹ to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” The value of the church is minimized if it is not the “real thing” but a substitute for the real thing that will only come later at the 2nd coming. My kids are notorious for telling me on my birthday, “here is a little gift but the main gift is in the mail to be given to you later”. That minimizes the value of the little gift.

It is important to clarify what the church is. As stated, it is simply the saved of all nations all over the world. God is glorified when sinners are saved by the gospel and are added to Jesus’ church. Those saved then follow Acts 2:⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” In the first century, they did this in house churches. In persecuted countries like China, they still do it in house churches. God is glorified in those house churches as believers of all races come together to live for Jesus and spread the gospel to others. The confusion comes in when we ask, “is God glorified by all that is done in the name of “church” today”? Unfortunately not. To begin with, any church today that does not support and teach the basic truths of God’s word is not glorifying God. Paul said, 1 Timothy 3:¹⁴ I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; ¹⁵ but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” The LGBTQ supporting churches are not glorifying God, but their own false teaching. The churches that deny the deity, virgin birth, and miracles of Jesus (the Unitarian Universalists, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the United Churches of Christ, the liberal wings of the Episcopal and other Protestant churches) are not glorifying God. The Roman Catholic Church was not glorifying God when it set up its empire. AI: “From an institutional and historical standpoint, the Roman Catholic Church functioned as both a spiritual entity and a physical, temporal kingdom. Over centuries, this fusion of worldly power and religious authority led to documented periods of systemic corruption, financial excess, and political manipulation.” Even the doctrinally conservative churches that spend 80% of contributions on staff and buildings are not honoring how God would want money donated in the name of Jesus to be spent. It is the “church business” that gets the honor with their beautiful, comfortable buildings and paid preachers that draw in members. Sure, they still do a lot of good but are they really honoring God’s wishes on spending his money? Are they setting up what Jesus wanted or are they setting up church businesses that glorify their own denominations and churches?

In conclusion, Jesus will not establish a physical kingdom at his 2nd coming. That was never his plan and will not be part of some future eschatological plan. All the churches and their preachers who put emphasis on a future physical kingdom (and the role of Israel in that kingdom) are distracting people from the here-and-now spiritual work of the true church. It’s like saying, “what we have in the church is not the real thing”. Much money and time is spent promoting pre-millennial and dispensational views of how that physical kingdom will be set up, all of which are false teaching if Jesus never intends to set up a physical kingdom. One last thought: if full preterism is true, then the 2nd coming happened in 70 AD and there is no future coming back of Jesus (I wrote many articles on that in my blog if you care to research that). If there is no future coming of Jesus, then obviously there is no future establishment of a physical kingdom.