A Kingdom With A Purpose

Jehovah God has always been King, or Sovereign Ruler, of the universe. The fact that he created all things elevates him to that exalted position. (I Chronicles 29:11; Psalm 103:19; Acts 4:24) But the Kingdom that Jesus preached about is subsidiary, or secondary, to God's universal sovereignty. That Messianic Kingdom has a specific purpose, but what is it?

The first human pair rebelled against God's authority. Because of the issues raised, Jehovah chose to bring about a new expression of his sovereignty. God announced his purpose to produce a "seed" that would crush the Serpent, Satan, and remove the effects of mankind's inherited sin. The primary "seed" is Jesus Christ, and "the kingdom of God" is the agency that will utterly defeat Satan. By means of this Kingdom, Jesus Christ will restore rulership over the earth in Jehovah's name and will vindicate God's rightful sovereignty for all time. -- Genesis 3:15; Psalm 2:2-9.

According to one rendition of Jesus's words to wicked Pharisees, he said: "The kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21, King James version) Did Jesus mean that the Kingdom was in the wicked hearts of those corrupt men? No. A more accurate translation of the original Greek reads: "The kingdom of God is in your midst." (New World Translation) Jesus, who was in their midst, thus referred to himself as the future King. Far from being something that a person has in his heart, God's Kingdom is a real operating government having a ruler and subjects, it is a heavenly government, for it is called both "the kingdom of the heavens" and the kingdom of God." (Matthew 13:11; Luke 8:10) In vision, the prophet Daniel beheld its Ruler as "someone like a son of man" brought before Almighty God and given lasting "rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him." (Daniel 7:13, 14) Who is this King? Well, the Bible calls Jesus Christ "the son of man." (Matthew 12:40; Luke 17:26) Yes, Jehovah designated his Son, Jesus Christ, to be King.

Jesus does not rule alone. With him are 144,000 who have been "bought from the earth" to be his associate kings and priests. (Revelation 5:9, 10; 14:1,3; Luke 22:28-30) The subjects of God's Kingdom will be a global family of humans who are submissive to Christ's leadership. (Psalm 72:7, 8) How, though, can we be sure that the Kingdom will actually vindicate God's sovereignty and restore paradisaic conditions to our earth?

Next time: The Reality Of God's Kingdom