After man and Satan rebelled together against God, God determined to become a man; He became a man in the Son. This is a great matter. God became a man in the Son and entrusted all His authority to the Son. Therefore, all God’s glory is in the Son. We can say that the Son is the embodiment of God’s authority. When the Lord Jesus stood as a man among the Jews and was questioned by some of them as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered, “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:20-21).
When the Lord Jesus spoke this word, He meant that He Himself was the kingdom of God—His being in the midst of the Jews was God’s kingdom being in their midst. He did not want the Jews to think that the kingdom of God was “here” or “there”; actually, the kingdom of God was in their midst (v. 21). He Himself was the kingdom of God. All God’s authority was with Him, and God’s throne also was with Him. Apart from Christ man cannot find the kingdom of God, apart from Him man cannot touch the authority of God, and apart from Him there is no throne of God. All God’s authority is with Him; He is God’s authority. Hence, He is the effulgence of God’s glory. The expression of God’s glory is in God’s authority, and all God’s authority is with Christ. Therefore, He is God’s authority and God’s kingdom, and God’s glory rests with Him.
I hope that all God’s children can see that the kingdom of God is not something only in the future. We should not study it as an objective and prophetic matter. Actually, God’s kingdom is Christ, the Son of God. All God’s authority is with the Lord Jesus. When we believed in the Lord, we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior and prayed, “Lord, I receive You into my being.” However, we did not know that the Lord whom we received is not only the Savior and the One who is life but also the King. He is the kingdom, and He is the authority. Once we receive Him into us, we have not only the Savior and the One who is life but also the Lord and the King. There is an authority, a kingdom, in us. This kingdom is Christ Himself. Today God’s kingdom is not only outside of us but also within us. This kingdom is Christ, our Savior, who is the authority in us, having set up His throne in us and been enthroned in us.
When the Lord Jesus was about to depart from the world, He revealed that He would receive for Himself a kingdom and return (Luke 19:12). In fact, God’s kingdom and authority had long been with Him, but God had a particular procedure and way of doing things. In eternity past God gave His authority and kingdom to His Son; these items had long been with the Son. Yet the Lord Jesus said that He was going to receive a kingdom. In what way did He go? He went by death. The way by which the Lord received His kingdom was death and resurrection. When the Lord was raised from the dead, He ascended to heaven, and God exalted Him to His right hand, making Him both Lord and Christ. This officially demonstrated to the entire universe that God had given His kingdom to the Son.
In Psalm 2 God declared, “I have installed My King / Upon Zion, My holy mountain” (v. 6). When did God say this? He said this when He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. At that time the Lord Jesus heard God say to Him, “You are My Son; / Today I have begotten You” (v. 7). This is the word God spoke to His Son in His resurrection. After the Lord Jesus was resurrected, God told Him that He had begotten Him and that He had also made Him King. Thus, in Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and said, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified” (v. 36). The authority, the kingdom, and the throne have been given to the Lord; He has been enthroned, and everything pertaining to the kingdom rests with Him.
Perhaps someone would ask Peter, “How do you know that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ? Have you been to heaven? How do you know that Christ has ascended to heaven and has been enthroned?” Peter could answer, “Have you not seen that the Holy Spirit has descended? On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended. The fact that the Holy Spirit descended proves that Jesus was made by God both Lord and Christ. Because He was exalted, enthroned, and made both Lord and Christ, God gave Him the Holy Spirit, who was then poured out. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit confirms and declares to us the authority that God has given to the Lord Jesus.”
When the Lord Jesus was about to depart from the world, He told His disciples that the Holy Spirit, whom the Father was about to send, would declare to them all that the Father had given Him; the Holy Spirit would come from the Lord Jesus and would declare to the disciples all that the Lord had received (John 14:26; 16:13-15). What did the Lord receive? The Lord received God’s throne and God’s authority, and He was made by God both Lord and Christ. After the Holy Spirit had entered into the disciples and had been poured out upon them, He testified in them and led them to know that the Lord was on the throne, that God’s kingdom was with Him, and that God’s authority was in His hands.
On the one hand, the Lord was on the throne, having obtained the authority, the throne, and the kingdom. On the other hand, those in the world did not know Him; they did not know that the Lord Jesus was on the throne, that He had the authority, and that He had received the kingdom. Although the world was ignorant, rejecting Christ as the King with His ruling, His kingdom, and His throne, God did something special: He poured out the Holy Spirit. On whom did He pour out the Holy Spirit? He poured out the Holy Spirit on those who believed in Jesus. God caused the Holy Spirit to enter into those who believed in Jesus, and He also poured out the Holy Spirit upon them. Although the world rejects Christ as King, God nevertheless desires that the gospel would be preached everywhere. This gospel is the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 24:14).
No matter where this gospel is preached, as soon as someone prays to Jesus, saying, “Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I repent and receive You as my Savior,” the Holy Spirit will enter into him and come upon him. This is an earthshaking experience. Perhaps some do not realize how great this matter is because they do not know what the Holy Spirit will do after He comes into them and upon them. We need to remember that the Holy Spirit entering into us and being poured out upon us is not only to give us peace through the forgiveness of sins and not only for God’s life to come into us, but also it is the Lord Himself entering into us.
Who is this Lord who comes into us when the Spirit comes into us? We may know that He is the Lord who died for us on the cross. However, when we receive Him as our Savior and when He enters into us as the Spirit, He is not the Lord on the cross but the Lord on the throne. The One whom we receive is the Lord who was nailed to the cross; however, today He is no longer on the cross but on the throne.
The Lord whom we receive is the Lord on the throne. He was crucified, but then He passed through the tomb, resurrected, and ascended to the heights. God exalted Him to His right hand, enthroned Him, and gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth (28:18). God made Him Lord and King; He is the King on the throne. Before we were saved, the Holy Spirit came to us, moving us and telling us that we were sinners and that we needed to repent, receive the Lord, and believe in Jesus. As a result, we were touched and prayed, “O Lord, I am a sinner. You died for me, and I receive You as my Savior.” We should never consider this to be a small matter. As we prayed, our sins were forgiven. As we prayed, we obtained peace. As we prayed, the Lord entered into us. This is a great matter, something marvelous, because through this the enthroned Jesus entered into us.
This Jesus is a marvelous One. We must see that He is not only the crucified Jesus but also the One who is on the throne. When we receive Him, He comes into us not from the cross but from the throne. Moreover, He comes into us not only from the throne but also with the throne.
Hence, when we are saved, we receive the Savior and also the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Many gospel hymns depict a scene similar to what is portrayed in the following lines: “I prostrated myself before the cross, before the pierced feet of the Lord Jesus. I saw the nail marks on His hands. I saw His pierced side. I saw the stripes on His back. I saw the thorny crown on His head. I saw the thorns piercing into His head; His blood flowed out drop by drop. I then knelt down before the crucified Jesus, receiving this man on the cross as my Savior.” Many hymns are similar to this in utterance and expression. We must know, however, that this is a prayer uttered by those whose eyes have not been opened and who have not seen the vision on the mountain. What they see is the Jerusalem on earth and the hill called Golgotha, which was outside the city of Jerusalem and on which was a cross where the crucified Jesus was hung. The light they have received enables them to see merely the things on earth and not the scene in heaven.
We need to see that the Lord is no longer on the cross or in the tomb. On the morning of His resurrection, when those who loved Him came to look for Him in the tomb, it was empty. The angels said to them, “He is not here, for He has been raised, even as He said” (v. 6). Furthermore, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended from heaven upon Peter. At that time Peter became “crazy,” or he must have at least been trembling as he was speaking, for people thought that he was drunk. Peter told the people that it was not the time to be drunk, for it was nine o’clock in the morning, and no one drinks at that time (Acts 2:15). However, people supposed that Peter was a drunkard; this shows that the Holy Spirit had truly descended upon him. When the Holy Spirit came upon Peter, he became beside himself.
Peter was formerly a fisherman of Galilee; he did not have much learning. However, on the day of Pentecost he was bold, powerful, and eloquent, fearing neither heaven nor earth. He did not fear the Roman Empire, the Jewish religion, the high priest, the Pharisees, or the elders; he preached Jesus the Nazarene as Lord. People there thought that he was insane, but he told them, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified” (v. 36). When the Israelites heard this, they were pricked in their heart. Then Peter charged them to repent and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (vv. 37-38).
When we are willing to receive and gain this Holy Spirit, He will enter into us, give us peace through the forgiveness of sins, and give us eternal life. Moreover, when the Holy Spirit enters into us, the Lord Jesus enters into us. The Jesus who enters into us is the Jesus on the throne, the exalted One, the One who was made both Lord and Christ. What He brings into us is not merely the cross but the throne. The Lord on the throne comes into us with His throne; He comes not only to be our life but also to be our authority. He is not only our Savior but also the kingdom. He is God’s kingdom, God’s authority, and He desires to set up His throne in us. He is on the throne as the King in us. We need to remember that this is what it means to be a Christian.
The experience of a Christian is not merely an experience of life and peace but also an experience of the kingdom, of the throne, of the authority, and of the King of kings. The One in us is not only the lowly Jesus but also the glorified Christ. He is not only the Jesus rejected by man but also the Christ exalted by God, and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.