The three lines of life, building, and the kingdom are closely connected. God’s desire is to build His dwelling place, and the building is through His life. At the same time, in the building of life, there must also be God’s authority; otherwise, the possibility of life and building would be out of the question.
The Bible reveals that the New Jerusalem at the end of Revelation is God’s building. In the center of the New Jerusalem there is the throne of God and of the Lamb, out from which proceeds the river of water of life, and on the two sides of this river the tree of life grows. This picture shows that if God is not reigning on the throne, He will not have an expression of life, as signified by the river of water of life, or be the supply of life, as signified by the tree of life. The God reigning on the throne is the source of life. It is the same in our experience. Whenever God is not reigning, the flow of the stream of life stops. In order for there to be a supply of life, God must be on the throne. This is the principle in all our living, in the church, and in the universe. Wherever God reigns, God’s life is expressed. The building of God is possible only when there is the reign of the throne and the expression of life.
Satan was originally an archangel created by God, yet one day he became the center of death, because he utterly overthrew God’s authority. Within him, he fully denied God’s authority. Consequently, all that was in him was death. Without God’s authority, there cannot be anything of God’s life; wherever God’s authority is overthrown, death is manifested. Therefore, the kingdom, life, and building are connected. When there is a throne there can be the flow of the water of life and only then can the building work begin.
This is the picture in Genesis 2. When Adam was created and placed in the garden of Eden, he was not only in the image of God to represent God, but he also was the head over all things to reign for God. He reigned as the representative of the Creator, the Sovereign Lord. Next, God wanted him to touch life, signified by the tree of life. This means that in order for there to be an expansion of God’s authority, we must first allow life to flow. When the river of water of life flows, we see gold, pearl, and precious stones. God’s authority issues in the flow of life for the building.
These three lines—life, building, and the kingdom—are like a threefold cord to become the most important line in the Bible. If we read the Bible in a thorough way, we will discover that these three matters are the greatest delights to God’s heart. He wants man to receive life, to be built up, and to submit to authority.
From the words in Matthew 6:9-10 spoken by the Lord Jesus to the disciples concerning how to pray, we can see that the kingdom is God’s goal. The Lord said, “Your kingdom come.” Preceding this word He said, “Your name be sanctified,” and following this word He said, “Your will be done...on earth.” Whether or not God’s name is sanctified and whether or not God’s will is done on earth depends on whether God’s kingdom has authority. At the end the Lord provided the reason for this kind of prayer, saying, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory” (v. 13). First, there must be the kingdom as a realm, and then there can be the exercise of authority and the expression of glory.
The kingdom is a sphere of reigning, and in this sphere authority can be exercised. When authority is exercised, glory is expressed. Only in such a sphere is there the kingdom. God desires to gain a universe in which He can reign so that through His reigning He can express His glory. God’s goal on the earth is to gain this kingdom. When God obtains such a kingdom, God’s name will be sanctified, His will will be done on earth as in heaven, His authority will be exercised, and His glory will be expressed. God’s goal is to gain such a kingdom.
After God created the universe, He put it under the authority of a created archangel, who was a cherub. According to Luke 4:6, God gave this ruling authority to the archangel so that he might be the representative of God’s authority in the universe.
However, due to pride this archangel uplifted himself and rebelled against God. This is clearly described in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. In Isaiah 14:13-14 he said that he would exalt his throne to make himself like God, indicating that he would overthrow God’s throne and destroy God’s kingdom. Brothers and sisters, we should remember that in those two verses Satan declared “I will” five times. He became God’s adversary in the universe because of his rebellion. The Hebrew word for Satan means “adversary.”
After Satan rebelled against God, ages went by before God came to restore His creation. The center of this restoration was man. God gave man authority to rule over the universe. Genesis 1:27 says that man was created in the image of God. Then verse 28 says that God gave man the authority to rule. Man was to represent God, express God, and reign for God. Although God wanted man to have dominion over heaven, over the earth, and over the sea, the emphasis was on dominion over the earth. Man was placed on the earth because Satan’s revolt against God took place on the earth. The serpent, a figure of Satan, was the head of the creeping things on the earth, as seen in Genesis 3. God’s desire for man to have dominion over the earth, especially over the creeping things, means that God wanted man to deal with the sphere of Satan’s activity.