God set up the principle of submission in the Lord. As a result, God established His authority through Him. In this chapter we want to see how God establishes His kingdom through submission. When the Lord came to the earth, He came empty-handed; He did not bring obedience with Him. He learned obedience through the sufferings He went through, and He became the cause of eternal salvation to all those who obey. His obedience on earth, even His death on the cross, was learned through times of suffering. Through all these sufferings He perfected His learning. The Lord came forth from the freedom of the Godhead to become a man, and He was made a weak and suffering man. Every suffering that the Lord went through bore fruits of obedience. All the sufferings of the Lord did not bring out any murmuring or complaint. However, many Christians pass through many years without learning obedience. Although their suffering increases, their obedience does not increase. When they experience sufferings, words of frustration often come from their mouths. This is a mark of not having learned obedience. The Lord went through all kind of sufferings. His submission was manifested in everything. As a consequence, His submission became the cause of our salvation. Through the obedience of One many received grace. The Lord’s obedience is for the kingdom of God. The goal of redemption is the increase of the kingdom of God.
Have you ever realized how much the universe was affected by the fall of the angels and man and how big a problem this made for God? God desired that His creatures would accept His authority; however, both kinds of creatures rejected His authority. God was unable to establish His authority over the creatures. Nevertheless, God did not call back His authority. God can call back His presence, but He will never call back His system of authority. Wherever God’s authority is, God is given a position of prominence. On the one hand, God maintains His system of authority, and on the other hand, He establishes His kingdom. Although Satan rebelled against God’s authority, and although man daily violates His authority by rebelling against Him, God will not let this rebellion continue. He will establish His own kingdom. The Bible calls the kingdom of God the kingdom of the heavens because rebellion is not limited to just the world (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15). The angels in the heavens rebelled as well.
How did the Lord establish God’s kingdom? He did it through submission. Whatever the Lord did on earth was entirely based on submission. He did nothing that opposed God’s authority. Everything was in submission, in perfect cooperation with the authority of God. In this realm the Lord set up the kingdom of God and executed His authority. The church today must also allow God’s authority to have a free way and manifest His kingdom through submission.
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