Revelation is a book concerning the kingdom (1:6, 9). In order for the kingdom of Christ to come to the earth, there must first be a group of overcomers. This group of overcomers includes the man-child spoken of in chapter 12. Verse 5a says, “She brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” From chapter 2 we can see the constituents of the man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. Verses 26 through 27 say, “He who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father.” In Matthew 28 the Lord said, “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (v. 20). Those who keep the Lord’s works until the end are the overcomers who will shepherd the nations with an iron rod.
Revelation 12:5b says concerning the man-child, “Her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” The man-child consists of the overcomers, who will be caught up to the place where God reigns. As a result of their being raptured, verses 7 and 8 say, “There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels went to war with the dragon. And the dragon warred and his angels. And they did not prevail, neither was their place found any longer in heaven.” This implies that prior to this time Satan and his angels still had the right to be in heaven (Job 1:6; 2:1). However, after the overcomers are raptured, there will be no place for the devil in heaven.
Revelation 12:9 says, “The great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.” When the overcomers are raptured to heaven, the devil will be cast down from heaven, and heaven will be thoroughly cleared up.
Verses 10 through 12 say, “I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life even unto death. Therefore be glad, O heavens and those who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you and has great rage, knowing that he has only a short time.” The accuser is Satan, the devil, who is cast down because of the overcomers. When this occurs, the coming of the kingdom will begin.
It is clear from the Lord’s Word that God’s glory depends on God’s authority, and the exercise of God’s authority depends on God’s kingdom. For this reason, we know that God’s goal has always been to obtain a kingdom. The kingdom is the sphere in which God reigns. In this kingdom as the sphere in which He reigns, God can exercise His authority and carry out His will. Because His authority can be exercised and His will can be done, His glory can thus be expressed. God’s glory being expressed is Himself being expressed. God’s glory being expressed is altogether a matter of His reigning in the kingdom.
It is amazing that in the Bible God places all these three things—His kingdom, His authority, and His glory—upon His Son. God desires to glorify His Son in the kingdom as the sphere of His reign. When His Son is glorified through reigning in the kingdom, God Himself will be glorified in and through the Son. Hebrews 1:3 says that the Son of God is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of God’s substance. However, for the Son of God to be expressed as glory, He must have a kingdom in which He can reign. Hence, if we do not allow the Lord to obtain a kingdom in which He can reign, the glory of God that rests on Him will have no way to be expressed.
Based on this, it is clear that the kingdom is the most central item in the New Testament. When the Lord Jesus taught us how to pray, He particularly charged us to pray for the coming of the kingdom, because the fulfillment of God’s desire depends on the coming of the kingdom (Matt. 6:9-13). If God’s kingdom comes to the earth, His will and His authority will be brought to the earth, and His glory will be expressed on the earth. Furthermore, all this depends on His Son. Hence, His Son must obtain the kingdom and must reign. His Son taught us that when we pray, we should focus on the coming of the kingdom. This means that the kingdom must be the center of all our prayers. The central significance and purpose of the prayers of Christians should be the coming of God’s kingdom. To pray for the coming of God’s kingdom is to ask God to set up His throne on earth and exercise His authority on the earth. The Lord taught His disciples to pray in this way.