According to Revelation 10:1-7, Christ will come as another Angel to possess the earth. Revelation 10:1 says, “I saw another strong Angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon His head, and His face was as the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire.” This Angel is Christ, who is coming down out of heaven. At this time He is clothed with a cloud; He is not yet on the cloud, as in Revelation 14:14 and Matthew 24:30; 26:64. To be on the cloud is to come openly, whereas to be clothed with a cloud is to come secretly. In Revelation 10:1 Christ is still coming secretly, not openly.
As the Angel coming to possess the earth, Christ has a rainbow upon His head. Here the rainbow indicates that Christ in His judgment on the earth and in His coming to take possession of it will keep the covenant God made with Noah concerning the earth (Gen. 9:8-17). It also indicates that He is the One who will execute judgment according to the One sitting on the throne with the rainbow round about it (Rev. 4:2-3).
We are also told in Revelation 10:1 that as another strong Angel Christ’s face is as the sun, and His feet are as pillars of fire. Here, close to the time of His coming to the earth openly, He will not be like the morning star, which appears before the darkest time prior to dawn. Here pillars indicate steadfastness (Jer. 1:18; Gal. 2:9), and fire, the holiness of God (Exo. 19:18; Heb. 12:29), according to which Christ will execute His judgment upon the earth.
Revelation 10:2 goes on to say that in His coming to possess the earth Christ will place “His right foot on the sea and the left on the land.” To place His feet on the sea and on the land is to tread on them, and this means to take possession of them (Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:3; Psa. 8:6). This indicates that Christ is coming down to take possession of the earth. Only He is qualified to possess the earth.
In the book of Joshua God told the people that they would possess whatever part of the land the sole of their foot would tread upon. They were to walk through the land, and wherever they set their feet, that would be their possession. Based on the same principle, Christ, as another Angel sent by God, will tread upon the sea and the land, for the earth and the sea have both been given to Him as His inheritance (Psa. 2:8). Although the earth and the sea have been usurped by His enemy, one day He will tolerate this usurpation no longer. He will come to claim His rightful inheritance.
Let us now go on to see Christ’s person in the kingdom.
In the kingdom Christ will be the Son of Man. Matthew 13:41 says, “The Son of Man shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all stumblingblocks and those who do lawlessness.” After Christ comes back, He will set up the kingdom of God on earth. Then in the kingdom He will still be the Son of Man.
God’s enemy, Satan, rebelled against God’s authority (Isa. 14:13-14). For dealing with him God created man and gave man dominion to rule over the earth (Gen. 1:26). After man was seduced by Satan to follow him (Gen. 3:1-6), God became a man by the name Jesus to undo the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8) and destroy him (Heb. 2:14), that He might reclaim the earth to be His kingdom (Rev. 11:15; 12:10). In this upcoming kingdom, which Christ as the Son of Man will bring in (Dan. 7:13-14; Luke 19:12-15), He will surely be the Son of Man, not only as a sign of God’s victory and glory but also as a sign of Satan’s defeat and shame.
After Christ takes possession of the earth, He will reign over the earth as the King in the kingdom, ruling over the nations with His overcoming believers (Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27). As the coming King He will be the Head and the center in the upcoming kingdom of God in the millennium. This will be the fulfillment of Isaiah 32:1, Jeremiah 23:5, and Zechariah 14:9, 17. As Christ has redeemed the earth and all its peoples (Col. 1:20) to the sphere and components of His kingdom, as He has sold all to buy the kingdom (Matt. 13:44), and as He has rescued the earth with all its peoples from the usurpation of Satan (Rev. 20:2-3), He will have the full right to be the King of the restored earth and the restored nations. In His upcoming reign God’s authority and glory will be fully manifested (Matt. 6:13), and the whole earth with its peoples will be brought into righteousness, peace, joy, and the full blessing of God’s creation (Isa. 32:1, 16-18; 35:1-2, 5-7).