What I believe,and it is the official position of our church, is that Jesus is going to return someday soon to establish His kingdom literally and physically here on earth as the fulfillment of biblical prophecies, and most importantly, God's plan for this world. Having said that, sometimes we sing a song in our worship service that speaks about us being in God's kingdom now or I say something that indicates we are serving God as members of His kingdom today. This unfortunately freaks some people out and confuses others. So I want to clarify this as succinctly as I can for a preacher.
The Bible teaches that the one, true and living God is "King" (Psalm 145:1). This kingdom is from eternity past through eternity future (Daniel 4:34, Psalm 145:13),and His dominion is over all land, sea and people (Psalm 96:3-7). So there is a sense in which we can speak of "God's eternal kingdom." We are all in it and subject to His rule. Although some deny it and resist Him, He is still King and He is still sovereignly in charge of the entire universe (see Daniel 4:34-35). Therefore, it is theologically and biblically correct to worship God as King, obey Him as King, and speak of being in His kingdom right now. But, that is different from the "Millennial Kingdom" which is a future kingdom not yet established by the personal return of Christ to earth (see Revelation 19-20 as just one passage that confirms and describes this truth).
The question some have is this: Is Christ on the throne of David right now in heaven? I don't believe so, although some friends have tried to convince me of it. I just don't see the scriptural evidence. What I do believe is that Christ has already been given "the name which is above every name" (Philippians 2:9), and that name is "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" (Revelation 19:15). I also don't have a problem with the concept of Christ ruling God's eternal kingdom with the Father from the right hand of power and authority. That does not negate the truth that God has always desired His rule to be literally and completely carried out on earth, and since man has failed miserably to do so (and always will), God's plan from the beginning is for His Son to come and complete His rule on earth. That millennial kingdom is not yet. But we can correctly speak of two kingdoms: God's eternal kingdom now and Christ's millennial kingdom in the future.*
*For a Reformed perspective on this issue that I believe has a lot of truth in it see Kevin DeYoung's post on the issue of one or two kingdoms.
Great Post. This is very controversial and I find myself in situations with my reformed friends arguing this topic. Kevin DeYoung is a good example of the "Young, Restless, and Reformed" movement and he even explains a good case for the "two-Kingdom" idea.
ReplyDelete