The Return Of The Kingdom

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” Revelation 11:15.

 

When God (re)created the earth in Genesis 1:1-25, He intended for the entire Earthly population of animals, and the coming human race of men, to be one kingdom under the dominion of his man (Genesis 1:26-31). He so valued his human creation that He vested in him the control/dominion over all the creatures that He had created. That dominion was to be a perfect kingdom inhabited by uncorrupted animals and humans, all living together in peace and harmony. There was no fear of animals toward humans and vice versa because sin, rebellion, and disobedience against God had not yet been introduced into the kingdom.

The Failure of the First King

Unfortunately, it was not long before the kingdom was wrested from the hands of Adam, the rightful king, and given into the hands of an evil and sadistic murderer named Satan/Lucifer. It was not God who took the kingdom from Adam. It was Adam and Eve who, in their ignorance, gave the kingdom, their kingdom, away when they obeyed the voice of the murderer when he tempted them with the opportunity to be “like the gods” if they would simply disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit.

As a result of their actions, the entire earth was cursed, along with the entirety of mankind, and the beautiful, perfect environment created by God for man began immediately to deteriorate. As the man continued in his sinful condition, the lust for power and control over other men increased, and entirely new “kingdoms” came into existence, usually ruled by one or more evil dictators. As these kingdoms grew in size and power, the plight of all the people living under the cruelty of their dominion worsened as the evil of men increased exponentially. The result was the death of millions of people and the destruction of more and more of God’s beautiful creation; the entirety of God’s creation is groaning under the weight of the evil that now controls so much of humanity (Romans 8:19-22).

The Responsibility of the King

There is much misunderstanding about kings. For the most part, it has been accepted that the king is the ultimate ruler over his kingdom, which is true to some extent. But, if a kingdom, made up of a multitude of people, is to prosper and stand for long, the responsibility for that prosperity lies with the King. The ultimate responsibility for the welfare of his kingdom, comprised of his territory and subjects, is on his shoulders.

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29:2). A kingdom made up of satisfied, joyful subjects will certainly make a kingdom easier to manage.

However, history has shown that most kings care much less about their subjects than the continuing conquest of new territories; the quintessential hunger for power and control dooms most kingdoms. God allows kingdoms on earth to form and exist, and historically, he has used some of them in beneficial ways, such as the Kingdom of Persia under King Cyrus, who God led to allow the Jewish people to return to their ancestral homeland to rebuild the Temple where God’s Spirit once dwelt.

Also, historically, God blessed the kingdoms of this world that blessed the Jewish people, and their kingdoms prospered for longer periods of time. But, for the past six thousand years, no permanent kingdom has existed on this earth. The billions of people who were born, lived, and died during that time have all longed for a righteous, peaceful, and everlasting kingdom and have endured the cruelty of the many unrighteous kings who have ruled over them.

The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, portrays a parallel to the history of humanity that has awaited the arrival of a true kingdom of peace, with different families of men and other creatures laboring under the weight of evil rulers. The last part of the trilogy is about the final defeat of evil, culminating in the return of a king who will supposedly usher in a long period of real peace. The movie leaves the viewer with a sense of hope and fulfilled longing for that peace.

The Return of the Kingdom

Now, return to the reality of a world ruled by a cruel, murderous tyrant and thief whose only agenda is “to steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10). I have lived in that world for more than eighty years and have seen the results of that thief’s agenda. All my life, as a believer in Jesus Christ, I wondered if I would ever see what the Bible describes in the Book of Revelation as the “apocalypse” or the revelation (Greek apokalupsis, Strong’s 602, ap-ok-al’-oop-sis, meaning to remove the cover, to reveal) of the only righteous king who has ever lived: Jesus the Messiah.

He was born the only begotten Son of the Living God, the Second Adam, who was the original rightful king of the world. When He appeared as a mere human baby, a Jewish child who grew up and lived most of His life as a mere carpenter rather than arriving in thunderous glory, dressed in kingly attire, He was rejected by the very ones He was sent to save: the Jewish people. That rejection by the Jewish people allowed the Gentile nations who chose to accept Him to become the sons of God and be grafted into the olive tree represented by the Jews. Unfortunately, the Jews who were blinded by their own rejection of Jesus are still looking for their Messiah. The day is coming when they WILL recognize and acknowledge Him as such, but until then, they are still looking for their king.

Jesus, who was made king over the entire Earth because of His birth as the Son of the King Most High, the God Who created all things, has never occupied a throne on this Earth, and what is a king without a kingdom and a throne? His throne right now is located in the hearts of all those who receive Him as Lord and worship Him as the rightful King of this World.

In the final scenes of the third part of the trilogy, “The Return of the King” from “The Lord of the Rings”, we see the rightful king of Gondor, who after defeating evil, is crowned as the king and revered and adored by a huge throng of people. As the movie ends, we assume that his throne is established in his kingdom, and all live happily ever after. But that is Hollywood and not reality.

In reality, we who know Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives and hearts are still waiting for Him to assume the role of the rightful king, the Second Adam, over this entire World. But, as He did not receive a throne and a kingdom before He was rejected and crucified, He WILL receive His throne and kingdom when he has finally defeated the evil one, Satan, and bound him for one thousand years, allowing true peace to be established on this Earth finally.

The weight of the governing of all the kingdoms on this Earth will finally rest, and it will NOT be corrupted by greed and lust for power or any sin.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this ” (Isaiah 9:6-7 emphasis added).

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the rightful king, will finally be seated on the Throne of David in the Temple in Jerusalem and “of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end…”

This Earth, which has groaned under the curse of sin, will finally see its true owner and king, the Son of God, and will stop its groaning. The Earth, and what is left of humanity, will finally experience The Return of the Kingdom, the TRUE KINGDOM, ruled by the TRUE KING, and the Earth and all its inhabitants will finally know TRUE PEACE!

Therefore, REJOICE! The King and the KINGDOM are Returning!

“For when they shall say, peace and safety;  then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” 1 Thessalonians 5:3