Various Scriptures Thy Kingdom Come 

   

As humans we are very interested in kingdoms. Just consider the concept of a fairy tale. Among other things, the requirements to meet that genre includes some battle with good and evil and royalty. A kingdom that has something wrong that needs to be made right by a hero. 

• Narnia 

• Arendale 

• Neverland 

• Wonderland 

• The Pride lands 

What compels people to keep writing these kinds of tales? What makes them so interesting to children and adults alike? We even call these timeless classics. Why? Because they transcend generations. And even continents. They have universal, wide appeal. 

Why? Where does this originate? 

I believe it is because this reflects the indelible imprint of the image of God in man. We establish kingdoms because God is a king with a kingdom who delegates authority to humanity. And we understand that corruption spoils this kingdom and we want to be in a kingdom with a good king, and joyful subjects and vanquished evil, where everyone lives happily ever after. 

Take your favorite fairy tale off the shelf this afternoon and go read it and you can predict how the story is supposed to end.  

The kingdom is one of the key themes in Scripture.  

The concept of kingdom is all over the Scriptures.  

From a statistical point of view, all but three books in the Old Testament speak of the kingdom. In the New Testament the kingdom is spoken of in all but six books. All in all, 57 of the 66 books of the bible have the theme of the kingdom.1 

So kingdom language is found at the beginning and end. The story begins with God as King and man’s right to rule under Him. It then culminates with God on the throne and man reigning under Him over a new earth.2 

The Bible’s storyline shows how the kingdom created goes to the kingdom fallen, which then leads to the kingdom restored. This storyline is centered and anchored in Jesus the Messiah.3 

I want to set before you this morning the thrilling reality of Jesus the coming King. He is going to be revealed as king and this is to be our great hope. 

Last week we saw that the coming kingdom is not connected to the rise and fall of America. It is not brought about through moral or immoral leaders. It transcends any earthly legates.  

Jesus is bringing about a kingdom that you get the privilege of belonging to. And it is a kingdom that can never be threatened or hastened by wars and rumors of wars. It isn’t guaranteed by the constitution, or a peace treaty, and you lie against Christ, you can imprison and kill his people, but the kingdom will come. 

As we saw last week, this confounded Pilate. Jesus told him straight up, that his kingdom did not originate from this world. 

My ambition over the next minutes together is to fill your mind with truth about the kingdom of God. And that as that truth engages your mind, you will be filled with joy… expectation… comfort… hope… anticipation. We are to pray for this kingdom to come. We are to anxiously await the revelation of this kingdom. We are to live as though we belong to this kingdom. We are to invite others to enter with us into this glorious kingdom. 

This is going to confront some ways that we think wrongly about the coming kingdom. It exposes a lack of faith: 

• Misplaced hope in seeing the kingdom here and now on your own terms—political peace, relational peace, etc. 

• Discontent from trying to find contentment in this current life with a groaning creation—if I could just get to …. If I could just … then I’d be content. 

• Lies abounding… censorship of Christian ideas… immoral men and women ascending to high positions of leadership in powerful organizations and government… tend to get fearful and fret 

Whether you pine for the good stuff or just want less of the bad, it is within all of our hearts. But how you handle that desire or that fear is very important. 

Jesus taught his disciples to pray: 

Matthew 6:9–10 (ESV) Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 

What are you praying for, exactly? Are you asking God to save more people? To expand the church? To expand his rulership over all of creation? We get a clue about his will being done on earth as it is in heaven… a clue that the kingdom being spoken of here is looking toward a day where God’s will is not merely decreed and coming about in that manner in the world. But it is being manifested. A time when you could look around and say, “I see that this and this and this and this is according to God’s will.4 

If you are anything like me, often times it is a bit fuzzy. I can point to aspects of this kingdom, but it isn’t always the clearest concept with clearly defined lines. We know that one day Jesus will be revealed as the king: 

Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

We are to be like Joseph of Arimathea in Luke 23:51 who was waiting for the kingdom… 

I want to introduce this with a couple of definitions and then we are going to look at several passages beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation. 

First, it seems rather obvious, but what is a kingdom? 

The concept of “kingdom” includes at least three essential elements: Ruler—a kingdom involves a ruler with rightful and adequate authority and power. Realm—a kingdom involves a realm of subjects to be ruled. Rulership—a kingdom involves the exercise of ruling. All three elements are needed for a kingdom, including active ruling.5 

This bears itself out. A kingdom requires a ruler (one with authority), a realm (a place to rule over), and a reign.6 

J. Alvin McClain 

There can be no kingdom in the truest sense without the ruler, the realm, and the reigning function.7 

Consider then a kingdom isn’t really a kingdom unless you have each of these three components..  

So, for example, in Nigeria there are currently many kings—no one has an exact count, but it is estimated to be in the thousands. Every tribe has a king. I met someone who said they were related to the king of Nigeria and I thought, “wow, that’s kinda hard to believe…” then I realized that in Nigeria the kings are tribal leaders. The government in Nigeria has changed and these kings at this point have no real power. One person commented on the irony of referring to kings as such when they aren’t actually ruling: 

[These kings] … have no authority, no armies, fight no wars, bear no responsibility for the development or prosperity of their domain. Yet we indulge in this pitiful fantasy of them being the all powerful as Kings who did all these and more in the days of yore.8 

The point? A king who isn’t ruling over a kingdom is isn’t really a king. A king needs a kingdom to rule over and a kingdom needs a king reigning over it. A ruler, a realm and a reign. 

Seems straightforward enough. But then we go to apply the concept of kingdom to the Scripture, and we find that the concept of kingdom is used in different ways. This answers the dilemma posed by the question—if there is a coming kingdom, then what is God doing right now? If God will be exalted on the throne one day, where is he and what is he doing now? 

Specifically is Jesus raining and ruling right now, and if he is in what sense is he? 

The Bible speaks of the concept of the Universal Kingdom: God’s eternal rule over all creation.9 Goldsworthy writes 

The Bible does not leave the kingdom in the abstract. If God rules, he rules somewhere, even if somewhere is everywhere.10 

This is being a creature in his world. This is my Father’s world. You and I live in it. Recognize or not. Submit to it or not. It is an inescapable reality. And in fact, one day every person will meet this sovereign. As a friend or as a foe. 

J. Alvin McClain 

It is not for men to choose whether or not they will be under the rule of the Universal Kingdom. Whether they like it or not, they are already under it (Ps. 75:4–7).11 

Every activity under the sun is within the realm of this sovereign. You don’t choose to join it. There are no signups. There are no quitsies. No backsies. No exemptions. Every human is created in the image God for his glory and placed within the realm of his creation over which he rules. 

Isaiah 66:1 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? 

Psalm 24:1–2 (ESV) The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 

Psalm 115:3 (ESV) Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. 

This is the Universal Kingdom: God’s eternal rule over all creation. And for the Christian this is a source of great comfort and joy. We know this king. This king is pleased with us. He is on our side. He has told us how we can be reconciled to him. To fellowship with him. To be with him eternally. Even the temporary flourishing of evil and the presence of sin is under his purview. 

Colossians 1:15–17 (ESV) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

From Satan and his demons to every evil potentate, governor, president, judge, commissioner, king, legislator, prison guard, police chief—whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities… they were created through him and for him and he holds all of them together. His invisible reign is in control of every creature and every event. 

No evil deed will go unnoticed or unpunished. Every wrong is accounted for—either paid for by the person who committed the sin, or else by the Savior Jesus Christ in their behalf. The inescapable universal kingdom of God. 

That keeps from freaking out. It stabilizes me. It anchors me. But the universal kingdom of God isn’t the only way the kingdom is portrayed in Scripture. It isn’t all that God has established. 

God is so generous and wise and amazing. 

God wanted to display his glory by delegating his authority to mankind to rule the earth. His glory was to be displayed by people, created in his image, exercising dominion over the domain he has allotted to them. 

Theologians refer to this as the: 

Mediatorial Kingdom: God’s rule on the earth through man who acts as God’s representative. God’s rule on the earth through man who acts as God’s representative. God was pleased to not only rule from heaven directly upon the earth, but to rule from heaven through people ruling on the earth. 

What we see throughout biblical history then is that God delegated an earthly kingdom to Adam who failed. He kept promising that an earthly kingdom would come that would do what Adam failed to do. Jesus the Messiah is that second Adam, he is David’s son. In his first coming he laid the groundwork for the coming of his kingdom, that kingdom that we are still awaiting. 

I want to show you this development. It will leave you with such an appreciation for what God has done and what he is doing and what he will do. We’re gonna do biblical theology this morning. We are going to traverse from Genesis to Revelation and select just a few of the many places to see the development of the kingdom. 

Our outline today is: 

The Hope of King Jesus Revealed in History 

The Development of the Kingdom of God in Scripture… 

1. The preparation for King Jesus 

1. The promise of King Jesus 

1. The preview of King Jesus 

1. The presentation of King Jesus 

Let’s begin of course, at the beginning. Once upon a time. Open your Bible to Genesis 1. I want you to see the design here. The kingdom framework beginning on page one of your Bible. 

Genesis 1:26–28 (ESV) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  

God eternally pre-existent. No beginning. No starting point. No need to create man. He wasn’t lonely. He didn’t need us. He was fully self-satisfied in his existence. And yet according to his own good pleasure, our Trinitarian God (let us) wanted to make man in his own image. Wanted to magnify his glory by putting it on display in creating. And the very first responsibility… the first form and structure to this creation comes in the second part of v. 26— 

And let them have dominion… 

Dominion. Almost sounds like a kingdom. This word is used in fact of royalty ruling in the Psalms. It means to rule, to govern. It is the work of a king. It is the role of a king. He didn’t say let’s make man to just be our royal subjects or to have playdates or to be little robots or to live passive lives on the earth. Let’s make man to rule. To have dominion. To govern. To take charge… 

… over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, 

This is instruction is to go and conquer the earth. Fill the globe with people. Bring it into submission. 

Subdue is a raw word. It means to bring something into subjection. Even by force. In person-to-person usage in the OT subdue sometimes involves violence and bringing someone into subjection against his or her will.12 The idea is to dominate and subjugate. Enslave. 

This isn’t some license to abuse the earth, but it is the instruction to go and conquer.  

What a wonderful plan! God shares dominion. He gets glory by sharing glory. He rules. He creates man in his image to rule. The King of kings and the Lord of lords delegating authority to human beings, created in his image.  

We each have our realms: 

Psalm 115:16 (ESV) The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.13 

As a side note, whatever station of life you are given dominion, you are conquering for his glory. 

Whether you work in the home or outside the home. Fixing your car. Mowing your lawn. Balancing your checkbook. Sweeping the floor. Wiping a snotty nose. You are bringing the earth into subjection.  

And he looks as says, this is good… very good (v. 31). 

And then Eve believes the lie that God is withholding something good from her and she has a better way to find fulfillment and happiness. And in pride she is deceived and eats of the tree. Adam takes the fruit and eats of it as well. 

The result? You failed to rule in the way God designed. Adam blew it. He was a failed ruler. And so, this realm, this world that man was supposed to rule over as God’s regent, is cursed.  

It’s why we have desires to exercise dominion and why we want to see a good kingdom—it was the original design. But in our corruption we simply aren’t able to maintain this kingdom. 

The good kingdom gets so bad by Genesis 6 that God starts all over. 

He destroys every human and every land animal on the planet except one family and the animals he could fit on a boat. Noah comes out and what is he called to do? Repeat of Genesis 1:26-28. 

Genesis 9:1 (ESV) And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 

What’s humanity do? Mankind, instead of multiplying and filling the earth tries to multiply and stay in one place. Man wants glory for himself. 

And so, what does God do? 

He scatters them at the tower of Babel. He is forcing them to fulfill his plan to spread out over the earth. His kingdom plan keeps getting stymied by sin. Adam isn’t the perfect king. Noah and his family didn’t provide the kingdom of perfect righteousness. 

But God hasn’t given up… and so alongside this failure is also… 

The Hope of King Jesus Revealed in History 

1. The preparation for King Jesus 

1. The promise of King Jesus 

Remember there is a promised seed in Genesis 3.14 

Genesis 3:15 (ESV) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 

There will be one born of a woman who will succeed. These two kingdoms are going to be at war with one another. One kingdom ruled by Satan in his realm. The other kingdom is going to be led by God’s son. 

You can trace Satan’s enmity through all of human history. 

• The famine that almost wiped-out Israel and his sons, but God preserved his people through sending Joseph to Egypt. 

• Pharaoh trying to kill the Hebrews boys in genocide, yet God delivered them through the Exodus and into the Promised Land. 

• Saul attempting to kill David before he was even had children. 

• Haman trying to kill all the Jews in Persia, yet God preserved his people through Esther. 

• Herod attempting to kill Jesus by slaughtering the baby boys in Bethlehem. 

• When that failed, Satan tried to get Jesus to sin and abandon his mission. He incited hatred in the hearts of the people of Israel at that time to reject Jesus. 

The story is of a Messiah, God’s anointed facing opposition through all of his history. But God promises in Genesis 3:15 that this seed will prevail. He will crush the serpent. 

Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV) Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 

Here’s the promise. Built upon Genesis 3:15 and now expanded with greater clarity. You are going to get a nation. A people group that is blessed of the Lord. And you will have offspring. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed through this seed. 

I’m gonna promise to send one who does what I gave Adam to do in Genesis 1. He is going to be a source of blessing to the entire earth. He is going to be a descendent of Abraham. 

And so, we see that Israel and Israel’s land is a microcosm of what is going to happen worldwide in the church and for all of the people groups of the earth. This was Israel’s hope and consolation. This was Israel’s comfort. God’s covenant with Abraham started to make the picture a little clearer. 

Then we get even more specific. He will be the second Adam. He will be Abraham’s son. A descendent of Isaac, the son of promise. The son of Israel (Jacob, the little brother, not Esau the older one). And then as Israel is blessing his sons we read of the next narrowing prophesy about this coming one: 

Genesis 49:8–10 (ESV) “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 

Fast forward to David. 

David is of the tribe of Judah. Judah was also given a promise. 

2 Samuel 2:4 (ESV) And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah… 

David is the anointed. 

2 Samuel 7 (ESV) 

1 Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” 4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. 18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God. 25 And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” 

Davidic Covenant15 

Prophets 

The Hope of King Jesus Revealed in History 

1. The preparation for King Jesus 

1. The promise of King Jesus 

1. The preview of King Jesus 

I want to show you how connected the reign of Jesus was to his arrival and his mission. He came as Savior, but also as the promised king. 

Matthew 1:1 (ESV) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 

The seed in whom all the nations would be blessed and the Son who would inherit an eternal kingdom. It wasn’t just how Matthew framed things up in his gospel. Look at how the angel Gabriel framed up the son whom Mary would bear. 

Luke 1:31–33 (ESV) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. 

Simeon. Anna. Zacharias. John the Baptist. All saying the same thing.  

He came bringing a preview of the kingdom. 

People think that Jesus did miracles because he was compassionate. Of course, he had compassion on people afflicted in this cursed world. And the miracles attested to his ministry. Just consider: 

Matthew 4:23–24 (ESV) And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 

Mark 1:32–34 (ESV) That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 

Isaiah 35:5–7 (ESV) Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water… 

Matthew 12:22–23 (ESV) Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 

This wasn’t the beginning of the kingdom. It was a taste. A sample. Like Costco. Chips and salsa for the family. I had a taste. 

Every blind person had their eyes deteriorate and their ability to focus clearly wane as they aged. Every deaf person who regained hearing lost it as the sensory hair cells in their ears were damaged. Every paralytic he gave movement to would one day be lifeless in the grave. It was a taste, but it was only a taste. 

The Christ is the Messiah. The Anointed One. 

This kingdom motif opens up so many passages. So many places Jesus gives a little taste. A little foretaste. A sample. A preview of what’s to come. Just consider the mount of transfiguration. 

Matthew 17:1–9 (ESV) 1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”  

Peter is no dufus. Why’s he so excited and ready to set up booths for Moses and Elijah and Jesus? Because he believes it’s the revelation of his kingdom. You say, how do you get that out of Matthew 17? Peter’s own commentary on this passage. 

2 Peter 1:16–19 (ESV) 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 

We saw his majesty. We saw his power and glory. This is what is on Peter’s mind when he asks in Acts 1—will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? 

Where is Jesus right now? 

Psalm 110:1–2 (ESV) The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 

Acts 2:33 (ESV) Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 

That is still coming. We are waiting for the day that he is on the throne.  

Present Age: Jesus is in heaven and the nations do not yet submit to Jesus as King. 

Typology in the OT—David when he was anointed was in fact given the right to rule over Israel. But there was a period of time between his anointing as king and his ascendency to the throne. In a like manner, Jesus is now exalted to the right hand of the Father and given all authority. But he is not yet reigning on David’s throne. 

It is worth noting that the establishment of David’s kingship occurs in progressive stages. He is anointed as the rightful king by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16. Much later, in 2 Samuel 2:4, he is anointed king over Judah. Only after a long war between his house and the house of Saul (2 Sam. 3:1) is he anointed king over all Israel (2 Sam. 5:3–4).16 

All authority at the Father’s right hand, awaiting his kingdom. 

The Hope of King Jesus Revealed in History 

1. The preparation for King Jesus 

1. The promise of King Jesus 

1. The preview of King Jesus 

1. The presentation of King Jesus 

What still remains to come? 

He himself said:  

Matthew 25:31—When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 

He came as David’s true Son. He was and is the Messiah. He came bringing the kingdom and it was rejected and so all that is Israel got was a preview.  

Just as David was anointed and waited receiving the promised kingdom. So we wait for the glory to be revealed when Jesus returns.   

Millennial Kingdom: Jesus rules the nations on earth and punishes those nations who do not act as they should. 

Revelation 20:1–3 (ESV)  

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.  

Clearly the age we live in is not this kingdom. For starters all the physical promises of peace and prosperity as the curse is reversed have to be taken spiritually… not physical changes in the world around us, but simply spiritual ones. It divides or dichotomizes the spiritual and physical vs. viewing the kingdom involving both. 

But most obviously, Satan isn’t bound right now. Jesus isn’t ruling in all his kingdom glory with the devil bound: 

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV) Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 

1 John 5:19 (ESV) We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 

2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV) In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

Jesus is reigning during this time. He is on the throne according to v. 11.  

Revelation 20:4 (ESV) Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 

We are not living in this living under this kingdom reign of Jesus right now.  

Isaiah 65:17–25 (ESV) 17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. 20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD. 

• Animal kingdom getting along (last time I checked at the zoo the goats and the tigers have a fence between them) 

• No more crying or weeping (you haven’t been in my house this week) 

• No more infant mortality (friends who lost a little one just this past month) 

• Older people not dying early 

• People living long and enjoying what they worked for (friends who have lost businesses) 

• People will build houses and live in them (no evictions) 

• Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of their work (gardens uyielding) 

• Violence will be removed from the land 

• Nations and kings will come to Israel 

Look, that description does not match the world we live in. And neither does it describe eternity. Babies being born and elderly dying.  

This is what we await.  

• A world that has basically no healthcare industry because sickness and disease is suppressed 

• A world where I things work the way they’re supposed to. The creation is being restored. All the stuff that continually frustrates you living in a fallen world is it going to be thriving without the curse. 

• A world where peace and harmony prevail. In families. In neighborhoods. The news will be filled with feel-good stories.  

• A world where God’s people are vindicated. God himself is vindicated.  

This is the beginning of the happily ever after ending that everyone wants. 

Before eternity, God is going to give Jesus, the second Adam the rulership to do what Adam failed.  

This view recognizes that the world itself is not bad. It has just been corrupted. And God is going to redeem not just individual souls, but creation. Well, how does this kingdom relate to eternity?  

Well, they are related. In fact, this kingdom is the opening scene in what the Bible calls the age to come. This kingdom is the first phase of this new era. 

Jesus will hand this intermediate kingdom over to the Father: 

1 Corinthians 15:24–26 (ESV) Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 

Jesus reigns. He rules until the end of his thousand-year kingdom and then he destroys all of his enemies once and for all. And then he hands the kingdom over to his Father and so begins the eternal state.  

Eternal State: The nations do exactly as they should with no need of punishment. 

What a marvelous plan. We are to long for this kingdom. To pray that it would come. To wait for it expectantly. To tell the gospel to those who don’t know this king.   

God created Adam as a son and king tasked to rule over God’s very good creation on His behalf. But with the fall, Adam and mankind failed the kingdom mandate.  

Man’s right and responsibility in regard to this world was not forfeited, but in his sinful condition all he could do was fail. God, though, launched a promise plan by which a coming seed of the woman would be victorious in defeating Satan and restoring the creation.  

Several strategic representatives of God would come including Noah, Abraham, and David, but the fulfillment of the seed promise culminated with the arrival of Jesus the Messiah (Gal 3:16).  

He is the One tasked by the Father to fix this fallen world by ruling over it successfully, fulfilling the kingdom mandate of Genesis 1:26–28, and bringing the creation into conformity with the perfect will of the Father.  

Jesus is the One who will succeed from and over the realm where the first Adam failed. Yet Jesus’ kingdom campaign will cover two main phases. With His first coming Jesus laid the basis for the restoration of all things by dying on the cross in fulfillment of the ministry of the Suffering Servant.  

The second coming will bring complete restoration under the King. When Jesus successfully reigns over the earth He will then hand His kingdom over to the Father so God may be all in all (1 Cor 15:28). This is God’s kingdom program.  

The kingdom of God is the great and grand theme of Scripture. The believer in Jesus can know the kingdom is not a spiritual escape to a cloud in the sky, but a transformed planet earth where the nations serve our great God and King Jesus.  

Having a proper view of the kingdom gives the believer a clearer understanding of God’s purposes for this planet and a real hope for a wonderful future. When one contemplates the kingdom how can we not help but be excited for its coming? How can it not affect how we live our lives? How can we not be motivated to share Jesus with those who do not know Him? May the prayer of God’s people be exactly what Jesus taught:  

Pray then this way . . . “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9–10).  

Amen! Come Lord Jesus