Kingdom of the God centres on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, its coming king.

The 'mysteries' (μυστηρια, Matt.13:11) of the Kingdom of God arise from the separation between the presence of the Kingdom in Jesus before the physical appearance of His Kingdom when it comes visibly.

The presence of the KIngdom arrived in this world (invisibly / its mystery form) when the humanity of Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit as Israel's Messiah at His baptism by John in the Jordan when God declared Him to be His Son in whom He was wellpleased..

presence of the Kingdom in Jesus Christ has no bearing at all on His deity. The word 'kingdom' refers to the rule, reign, or authority of God. This is what was, for the first time ever, shown in the perfect human obedience toward God of Jesus in response to which the Holy Spirit's infinite power and authority meets with the man Jesus as He arises from the obedience of baptism.

This was no anointing such as prophets and priests had experienced in times past. In this event, John the Baptist observed, concerning the sign of messiahship of which he was the chosen witness –

This was no anointing for a particular task. This was an anointing without limit!

is made clear for instance, when the Pharisees were speculating about the source of Christ's authority over unclean spirits, the Lord Jesus explained this essence of the Kingdom, for those willing to hear, as –

invisible immediate presence of the Kingdom in Jesus, was made physically visible on the Mount of Transfiguration to three selected disciples.

In anticipation of the special event, Jesus had publicly said concerning them –

"...'I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.'
Now about eight days after these sayings He took with Him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as He was praying, the appearance of His face was altered, and His clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with Him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."

presence of the Kingdom in the person of Christ had simply been made visible to the selected audience of His three disciples. The distinction between the presence of the Kingdom and its appearance is the essence of the Mystery of the Kingdom of God.

The Jewish expectation of this Kingdom, as revealed to the prophet Daniel (Chapters 2 and 7) of it displacing the fourth kingdom after Babylon, the Roman, had often led to such speculation and political insurrection that Jesus needed to say to their religious leaders –

"The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you."

The term 'kingdom' (βασιλειαν) does not refer to a realm or territory, but to God's absolute rule, reign, or authority. The presence of this Kingdom among humanity walked in Jesus. But the New Testament teaches us that Christ the King will only establish His rule over all at His visible return, when the mystery of the Kingdom is no longer a mystery.

This separation between the presence of the Kingdom in Christ and its physical appearance at His return is the Mystery. This Mystery continues in His Church, His Body today!

distinction was completely hidden from all Old Testament revelation. Remember, Jesus had said –

This is why John the Baptist quite rightly expected the Jesus whom he had baptised to judge Israel, dividing the 'wheat' from the 'chaff' in the harvest of God's judgment to institute the KIngdom (Matt.3:11-13). But He did not. The hidden time was approaching, of which both angels and all Old Testament prophets knew nothing. Even though John had witnessed the descent of the Spirit on Jesus as a 'dove' signifying the new beginning which had now come in the Messiah (as the dove was the sign to Noah of the new beginning), Christ's behaviour simply did not match John's inspired expectation. And so from his prison cell he sends to disciples to ask Jesus if He really is the one – the Messiah!

season of sowing had begun in His 3½ years of public ministry (Matt.13), but what John was expecting would be the eventual harvest of that sowing; a sowing which, by the Spirit, continues today in the Christian Church.

For this reason, the Apostle Paul refers to it as the hidden time, hidden from the very beginning, this core reality of his Christian ministry –

This hidden time of the Kingdom of God continues today, and will do so until Christ's Church has fulfilled its obedience.

Some theologians have foolishly concluded that Jesus simply had a different view of the character of the KIngdom of God from the Jews; that is – instead of a political Kingdom it would be a moral Kingdom. Not only is this view untrue, it does violence to the character and unity of Holy Scripture. The unexpected, hidden from all previous generations, was the distinction between the presence and the appearance of God's Kingdom.

As with Himself, Christ's gift of the Holy Spirit to His people enabled the continuance of God's Kingdom presence in His Church, to do the works He had done. Hallelujah!

hidden time, or mystery of the Kingdom, will conclude when His disciples have concluded the task He gave them to do –

completion of this task fulfills the identity of Christ's Church as His Body, His presence, the final witness, the Elijah-time of confrontation; and climactic the end-time, in which Christ shows His people to the world in resurrection glory.