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The Kingdom
of Christ
Chapter 6
The
prophecies considered in Chapter One indicate that we are at the end
of the age, therefore the selection of the church is nearly
completed. The great time of trouble foretold in Daniel 12:1 and
Matthew 24:21 is upon us. Haggai 2:7 contains a thrilling promise
that we should cherish in these troubling times.
Speaking of this “Time of Trouble” Haggai prophesied,
“And
I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations will come.”
How
comforting! The legitimate desires of all nations or peoples shall
come.
The
Scriptures show that one of the reasons for the “Time of Trouble” is
that the various segments of society are demanding both just and
fancied desires from each other. And nations are superimposing their
desires upon other nations. The result is the disintegration of our
present evil world. But all people have legitimate desires that God
will fulfill after the tribulation demonstrates that selfish man
cannot establish his own utopia.
What
are some of these desires the Kingdom will fulfill? If we asked the
working man struggling to keep his head above water, “What is your
desire?” his answer would be, “If only we had economic security.”
Speaking of the Kingdom, Isaiah 65:21-23 says,
“They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant
vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another
inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. They shall not labor
in vain nor bring forth for trouble.”
There
will be no unemployment problem, fear of automation, inflation,
depression or any economic problem. In the Kingdom, all will have
economic security as symbolized by these words of Isaiah 65:21-23.
If we
stopped a man on the streets of Harlem and asked him what he
desired, he would reply, “Why, if the needs of the poor and
minorities were only understood, and if we could only be assured of
justice, then life could be beautiful.” The Kingdom will satisfy
these desires. Then “He [God] will defend the cause of the
poor, deliver the needy and crush the oppressor.” (Psalms 72:4)
Isaiah 9:7 again tells us,
“Of
the increase of his
[Christ’s] government there will be no end.... It will be
established with justice and righteousness forevermore.”
If we
asked one of our elderly in our crime ridden cities what is his
desire, he would probably reply, “If only there were no more crime
and violence.” This desire will also come, for in the Kingdom we
read,
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain
[Kingdom], for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)
What
would be the desire of patients in hospitals? Of course, they would
say, “If only there were no sickness and crippling diseases, no
cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy. If only the blind
could see, the deaf could hear and the crippled walk.” Oh! Thank
God! These desires will be fulfilled! Of the Kingdom we read in
Isaiah 33:24, “And no inhabitant will say I am sick.”
Isaiah
35:5,6—“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of
the deaf unstopped, then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and
the tongue of the dumb sing for joy.”
And
what would be the desire of youth? One of their many idealisms is,
“Can’t there be a world without war? And why can’t the billions of
dollars and the cream of technology that is wasted on the armament
race be harnessed for peace and human needs?” In the Kingdom we read
in Isaiah 2:4,
“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither
shall they learn war anymore.”
If we went to the sub-Saharan drought belt of Africa where over a
million have starved to death in a recent six-year period, and ask,
“What is the one desire in life you want?”— with one accord they
would say, “Oh, if only the rains could be depended on, so that we
could be assured that the land could bring forth food to feed our
children.” The climatic conditions in the Kingdom will be ideal. The
earth will bring forth in abundance. In Isaiah 35:1,7, we read,
“The
desert shall blossom as a rose.... And the parched ground shall
become a pool and the lands springs of water.”
Think
of the countless millions who have lost loved ones in death. Their
one desire is the return of these dear victims. And in the
Kingdom they will be united with their loved ones.
Speaking of all that died, Hosea 13:14 says,
“I
will ransom [deliver]
them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O
death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be your destruction.”
Is it any wonder Jesus taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?
Is Man Too
Selfish?
Well,
someone might say, God will wonderfully bless mankind in the
Kingdom, but there is still the problem of man. If history has
taught us anything, it is that man is too selfish to permit an ideal
society. This has been true, but the reason the Kingdom will work is
that God intends to change man’s selfish heart of stone into a heart
of love.
We have
seen in the chapter on the permission of evil that the basic lesson
God is now teaching man is the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Man
alienated himself from God by disobeying and man without God results
in selfish havoc.
The
Kingdom of Christ will rule in righteousness. The knowledge of the
Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the deep so that all
will know the Lord. (Isaiah 11:9) Satan will be bound so that he
cannot deceive the people. (Revelation 20:1-3) The love of God will
abundantly bestow blessings of life, peace and happiness upon all.
The very spirit or influence of this Kingdom arrangement will have
an overwhelming transforming effect on the hearts of men.
Of this
mighty working of the spirit we read in Ezekiel 11:19-20,
“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within
you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will
give them a heart of flesh. That they may walk in my statutes, and
keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and
I will be their God.”
The Iron Rule
For many an iron rule
will at first be required in order to change their heart of stone
into a heart of flesh. The laws of the Kingdom of Christ will be far
more exacting than those of any previous government and the
liberties of the people will be restricted to a degree that will be
galling indeed to many now clamoring for an increase of liberty
without responsibility.
Liberty to deceive, to
misrepresent, to overreach and to defraud others, will be entirely
stopped. Liberty to abuse themselves or others in food or in drink,
or in any way to corrupt good manners, will be totally denied to
all.
Liberty or license to do
wrong of any sort will not be granted to any. The only liberty that
will be granted to any will be the true and glorious liberty of the
sons of God—liberty to do good to themselves and others in any and
in every way. Nothing will be allowed to injure or destroy in all
that holy kingdom. (Isaiah 11:9; Romans 8:21)
That rule will
consequently be felt by some to be a severe one, breaking up all
their former habits and customs, as well as breaking up present
institutions founded upon these false habits and false ideas of
liberty. Because of its firmness and vigor, it is symbolically
called an iron rule, “He shall rule them with a rod of iron.”
(Compare Revelation 2:26, 27; Psalms 2:8-12, and 49:14.)
Thus will be fulfilled
the statements, “Judgment will I lay to the line and
righteousness to the plummet. And the hail [righteous judgment]
shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters [truth]
shall overflow the hiding place,” and every hidden thing
shall be revealed. (Isaiah 28:17; Matthew 10:26)
Some will feel rebellious
against that perfect and equitable rule. Now under the influence of
Satan, they lord it over their fellow men. In the Kingdom, these
will attempt to live wholly at the expense of others without
rendering compensating service. This present life-style of
self-indulgence and gratification will naturally demand and receive
many and severe disciplines under that reign, before such will learn
the lessons of that Kingdom of equity, justice, righteousness.
(Psalms 89:32; Luke 12:47,48)
But, blessed thought!
When the Prince of Life has put in force the laws of righteousness
and equity with an iron rule, the masses of mankind will learn that
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people.” (Proverbs 14:34)
They will learn that
God’s plan and laws are best in the end for all concerned, and
ultimately they will learn to love righteousness and hate iniquity.
(Psalms 45:7; Hebrews 1:9) All under that reign who have not learned
to love the right, will be counted unworthy of everlasting life and
will be cut off from among the people. (Acts 3:23; Revelation 20:9;
Psalms 11:5-7)
Revelation 21:4
beautifully sums up the work of the Kingdom:
“God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the
former things are passed away.”
At the end of the
thousand-year Kingdom of Christ, as mankind stands at the threshold
of eternity, they will look back upon this present life of
suffering, sickness, sorrow and death. Though this experience seems
dark and interminable at present, then, by contrast with eternity,
it will seem trifling.
With this grand
perspective, what this world is coming to now is seen as only a
necessary bridge that passes over into life everlasting.
Men will thank their God
for this experience with sin and evil, and at that time all
creatures in heaven and every creature on earth will raise their
voices in that grand Hallelujah chorus recorded in Revelation 5:13,
“Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him
[God] that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb [that was
slain] for ever and ever.” Amen.
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