“Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever more. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” Isaiah 9:7
In this passage, Isaiah speaks of the coming Messiah and of the kingdom He will inaugurate. I did not have time in last week’s sermon to speak to the important hope of the coming government of the Kingdom of God. I spoke last Sunday about the necessity of striving for limited government in this fallen world because the unlimited government of sinful people will always come into conflict with the final perfect authority of God. If we are always striving to keep civil government in check, how is the idea of the unlimited government of God a blessing? It’s worth considering!
At the second coming of Christ, Jesus will return as a conquering King. The Kingdom of God will not be a democracy, but a perfect monarchy with a perfect King. Monarchy, as a form of government, never works in this fallen world because the king is always sinful. As Lord Acton famously stated, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!” He’s right because no king that has ever ruled has been able to escape his own corrupt heart. Apart from real accountability, sinful people will abuse power for their own self-interest. In contrast, the perfect kingship of Jesus will work in the opposite direction. Jesus in His glorious redeeming perfection will be worthy of worship – unlike the hollow praise directed toward human monarchs.
Jesus will not use His throne to enrich Himself. Instead, from His inexhaustible perfection and riches will bestow upon His people places of inheritance prepared for them (John 14:1-3). King Jesus will go well beyond the material to fully glorify the body and souls of His people. In the Kingdom of God our hearts will be rid of the presence of sin and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. King Jesus will conquer Satan, our great adversary and accuser, ushering in an eternal reign of peace. To His reign of peace there will be no end. There will be no enemy from without or within that can come against King Jesus. In the eternal living triune existence, Jesus will never grow old, tired, or senile. He will forever be wise, good, and just.
This same glorious coming reality is hinted at throughout Scripture. In 2 Samuel 7:13 King David is told by the prophet Nathan that the Lord God will establish the throne of his kingdom in a way that will never end. David rejoices in this news but cannot understand from his perspective how this could be. All the dynasties of earthly kings come to an end. But in Matthew 1 we are given a tracing of the linage of Joseph, the “the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16). Jesus is the fulfillment of the word of the Lord to David. In Luke 1:32-33 this is clearly spelled out. Jesus will reign “forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
In Daniel 7:13-14 we read about Daniel’s vision of the “Son of Man” (the most common name of Jesus in the gospels) being given everlasting dominion over all the nations. The dominion of Jesus is an authority that will not pass away and cannot be destroyed, but this dominion will be for the blessing and joy of those that are brought into His kingdom. In verse 27 we are told how the saints of God will reign with the Son of Man in this coming kingdom.
We are not used to hearing of the Kingdom of God in our day. Most of the emphasis of the “good news” of the message of Jesus is related to benefits in this life. But this was not so in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus was constantly directing people to consider the coming Kingdom of God – the divine, promised, and eternal rule of God. Most of the parables of Jesus worked to relate known realties to the unknown reality of the Kingdom of God. It is very important that we reset our thinking about heaven to relate to this idea of eternal life. Heaven is over and over expressed as the eternal reign of the resurrected and glorious King Jesus, not a nebulous undefined endless existence.
Let’s hear the command of Jesus and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Let’s be reminded that the corruption of the governments of this world will one day come to an end. We struggle now against evil and those that reject the authority of Jesus – but it will not always be this way. Render to Caesar the tax due Caesar, for in the end these earthly things will all pass away. Live in service to Jesus to gain an eternal reward that nothing can destroy. Be grateful and offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe for receiving by grace alone a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:27-29). Let us walk by faith, never losing hope in the coming of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ!
As Jesus has come once, He will come again,
Pastor Vic