God’s Eternal Rule

GOLDEN TEXT: “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.”—Psalm 145:13

THE title of today’s lesson, “God’s Eternal Rule,” is a fitting description of the time when the Master’s prayer, “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” shall have been fully answered. It will be true then, as stated in our Golden Text, that God’s kingdom will be everlasting, and universal as well, for there will be no place on earth where the law of God will not be the supreme rule of life.

The original sin of our first parents was, in reality, a rebellion against God and against his laws, and practically the entire human race has been in rebellion since that time. There have been exceptions on the part of a few individuals. Paul lists a number of these in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. The whole Jewish nation professed their desire to serve God, but made only a halfhearted effort to carry out their desire. The true followers of Jesus during the Gospel age have demonstrated their heart-loyalty to the will of God and have stood out against the rebellious attitude of the masses. But the total number in all ages who have not been sympathetic with sin, has been comparatively small. God has not been in the thoughts of the majority in the sense of their having a desire to know him and to do his will.

Through the nation of Israel, God established a typical kingdom in which the kings of Israel ruled as his representatives. David spoke of this,” saying, “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.” (I Chron. 29:11) This typical kingdom arrangement came to an end with the overthrow of Israel’s last king, Zedekiah. “It shall be no more,” the prophet declared, “until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”—Ezek. 21:25-27

The expression, “until he come whose right it is,” is prophetic of Christ and his mediatorial rulership of a thousand years. It will be this kingdom which will re-establish divine law throughout the earth. Jesus came at his first advent to die for the people and to lay the foundation for the building up of his church. The Gospel age has been devoted to the completion of the church, Christ’s body members, who come forth in the first resurrection and reign as kings with him.

REVELATION 21:1-7, 22-27—In this Revelation prophecy we are presented with a beautiful symbol of Christ’s kingdom as it will operate to answer the prayer of the Christian, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” It is referred to as a “new heaven and a new earth,” and also as the “holy city,” the “new Jerusalem.” Each of these symbols implies rulership.

In Isaiah 65:17-20 is recorded a promise of God concerning the “new heavens and a new earth,” and also “Jerusalem.” It is the fulfillment of this promise that John saw in vision. The symbolic new heavens is the divine Christ, and the new earth is human society reorganized under the leadership of the resurrected ancient worthies, who will be the human representatives of The Christ. Just as the literal heavens control the literal earth, so the ancient worthies will serve as “princes” under the direction of Christ and the church, the heavenly phase of the new kingdom.

This kingdom will be to all nations as Jerusalem was to the Israelites, a center of government, the source of divine law. The visible contact of the people with the new kingdom will be through its human representatives, the ancient worthies; and, from this standpoint, the Jerusalem symbolism seems specially to represent the visible phase of the kingdom. Zion was the capital hill of Jerusalem, and seems well to picture the spiritual, or invisible, phase of the kingdom. Taking this viewpoint, the declaration of the prophet that the “law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” is very meaningful.—Micah 4:2

The kingdom of Christ will be a mediatorial arrangement representing God, and designed to bring about at-one-ment between God and men. Thus, in symbol, it implies that God will be dwelling with men, to bless all who obey him and thus become his people. Christ’s reign will put down all enemies of God and of man, and even death itself will be destroyed: It is in keeping with this that the Revelator declares there shall be no more death; nor will sorrow and pain, the concomitants of death, be permitted to continue their blighting effect upon humanity.

The promise is that all things shall be made new, and surely there is a great need for this. A new spirit, the spirit of love, will rule the world, instead of the spirit of selfishness. Righteousness will prevail and ultimately triumph. Thus nothing will be permitted to remain within the “city” that will defile or mar the eternal happiness of the redeemed and restored race. God will manifest his love to all, but those who continue to disobey will be destroyed from among the people.—Acts 3:23

QUESTIONS:

When will God’s eternal rule become a reality?

Has there ever been a kingdom of God on this earth?

When will the prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” be fully answered?

Of what is the new heavens and a new earth a symbol?

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