The kingdom of God refers to his saving reign, not to his total providence over all things. in one sense God reigns over all. So you could call everything "God's Kingdom." But that is clearly not the way Paul uses the term. The kingdom of God is God's redemptive reign. His saving reign. When Jesus said to pray, "Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10), he meant that the coming of the kingdom would be the extent of God's rule where his name is hallowed and his will is done the way angels do it - obediently and joyfully. So the kingdom of God is God's reign, not realm; and it is his saving, redeeming reign bringing about the hallowing of his name and the joyful doing of his will.
The kingdom of God is fulfilled paritially in the present and will be consummated at the end of the gae when Christ comes a second time. Paul speaks of unbelievers not inheriting the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9), and so treats the kingdom as yet future. But then he also says to believer s that " He has delivered us from the domain of drakness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son," and so treats the kingdom as already present.
- by John Pipper
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