After the Lord ministered on earth for three and a half years, prior to His crucifixion He indicated in Luke 19 that His going was for Him to receive a kingdom (v. 12). He was soon to depart from the earth, but His going was that He might receive a kingdom and return. He had to go in order to bring the kingdom of God’s reign formally to the earth. He said that one day He would receive His kingdom and return; that day of the Lord’s return will be the day of His second coming. After He was raised from the dead, He told His disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). Thus, He has apparently already received His kingdom, for all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth. In other words, the kingdom of God has already been given to Him. The issue today is who on earth actually submits to His authority? God has given the kingdom to the Lord; God the Father has given to the Son all authority in heaven and on earth. On God’s side there is no problem. God’s desire is to glorify His Son that He may be the King in the entire universe. God has given all authority in heaven and on earth to the Son in His resurrection. For this reason, the Lord Jesus was able to tell the disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” However, we need to consider whether the Lord is actually able to reign today.
There are still two problems. First, man does not submit to His authority. Second, the rebellious devil and his angels are still opposing God’s authority on the earth. The Son of God received authority from God to establish His kingdom on earth, but the situation on earth does not match this. On the earth today man does not submit to His authority, and the devil and his angels rebel against Him. In this situation, how can the Lord establish His kingdom on the earth? How can He exercise God’s authority on the earth?
There is a picture of this situation in the Old Testament. One day King David’s son Absalom rebelled against him. Because of Absalom’s rebellion, David was cast out. God had anointed David and given the authority to him. According to God, David was the king whom He had appointed, but the earth was filled with rebellion against David (2 Sam. 15:1—19:8a). He was cast out by his son and the rebellious ones. David was God’s king, but he was not able to reign in the kingdom. Luke 19 portrays a similar situation. In this chapter the Lord told a parable showing that He had to pass through death in order to receive the kingdom. In the Lord’s resurrection God gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth. God also exalted Him to His right hand and made Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:33, 36). In Psalm 2:6 God declared, “I have installed My King / Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” However, the parable in Luke 19 indicates that His citizens, the people on earth, sent an envoy to tell Him, “We do not want this man to reign over us” (v. 14). After the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, the people on the earth made such a declaration. The devil instigated men on earth from within to say to the God of heaven, “We do not want Jesus of Nazareth to reign over us.” In such a situation, though our Lord is the King of kings and the Lord of lords anointed by God, He cannot reign over the earth, for it is filled with rebellion. Man is not willing to submit to His authority, acknowledge Him as King, and allow Him to reign. Rather, the people on earth follow Satan, who rebels against Him. Therefore, after receiving all authority and the kingdom from God in His resurrection, the Lord sent out His disciples, saying, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations” (Matt. 28:19). The Lord wanted them to go all over the earth to preach the gospel of the kingdom.
What does it mean to preach the gospel of the kingdom? It means to make all the tribes and nations on the earth disciples of the Lord Jesus. What does it mean to make the nations disciples of the Lord? It means to bring them into submission to the Lord. Formerly they followed Satan to rebel against the Lord, but now we must bring them into submission to the Lord. The Lord is not only the Lord who created the universe; He is also the King anointed by God, the King of kings appointed by God. God has given all authority in the universe to Him that He may establish God’s kingdom on the earth to exercise God’s authority and express God’s glory. However, Satan instigated the people on earth to declare to God, “We do not want Jesus, whom You appointed, to reign over us. We do not want this Nazarene to reign over us.” What should the Lord have done when He heard this from those on the earth? Should He have destroyed them with lightning and thunder? Should He have commanded fire to come down from heaven and consume them? The Lord was not willing to do this. If He had done this, He would not be able to fulfill God’s will and establish God’s kingdom. The Lord said, “The Son of Man has not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:56). Hence, He sent His disciples to preach the gospel to all the nations, to spread the gospel of the kingdom to all the earth, and to disciple all the nations to bring them into submission to the Lord and make them the kingdom people.
The first thing mentioned concerning the gospel is the need to repent (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). What does it mean to repent? To repent means that originally we were rebellious and against God, but then a voice of love asked us to return, to turn back, to God. Hence, to repent is to turn back in submission to the Lord and receive Him as our Savior. When we receive Him as our Savior, He comes into us. He enters into us not only in the status of a Savior but also in the status of the King of kings. Today He is no longer the Christ nailed to the cross; He is the King on the throne. When we repent, turn to Him, and receive Him as our Savior, He is the King on the throne. Therefore, we have received not only the Savior but also the King of kings, the Lord of lords. When the King of kings comes into us, His throne simultaneously comes into us. His desire is to establish His kingdom in us to make us rebellious ones His kingdom.
Formerly we did not submit to God’s authority. We were willing to do anything, however bad it might have been. Before we received the Jesus whom God appointed to be our King, we acted loosely and recklessly because the heavenly authority was not ruling us. However, now we are saved and have received the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Moreover, as our Savior, He also has the statuses of the Lord of all and the King of kings. Hence, when we receive Him as our Savior, He enters into us to set up His throne and establish His kingdom in us so that we may become His kingdom.
Revelation 1 and 5 reveal that the Lord has purchased us with His blood to make us His kingdom (1:5-6; 5:9-10). What is His purpose in making us His kingdom? His purpose is to rule, to reign, to accomplish His will on earth, and to gain a group of people on earth to be under His authority. This is the result that has been produced by the gospel during the last two thousand years.
In the last two thousand years there have been many people from every part of the earth who have received the gospel and come under Christ’s ruling. Newly saved ones, however, are often not clear about this matter. They think that their believing the gospel is only for them to receive certain benefits, such as peace through forgiveness of sins, eternal life, eternal blessing, a living God who always bestows His blessings and peace on them, and a living Savior who always saves them from pain and suffering and preserves them to be those who behave properly. Gradually, however, the Lord will show them that the Savior whom they have received has the status of a king and that He is even the King of kings. As our Savior, the Lord is no longer on the cross; rather, He has passed through the cross and has been enthroned. He is now the King on the throne. At the time we received Him, He had already been given all authority in heaven and on earth and had been exalted to God’s right hand and made both Lord and Christ. The One whom we have received is a glorious King, the King of kings, who is sitting on the throne. The Lord enters into us not only to be our Savior but also to be our King, connecting the throne in heaven and the authority in heaven to us.