| The Bible our Guide |
If we claim to follow Christ we shall be sure that our Lord Jesus Christ, on his return, is to be King over the earth:The Angel Gabriel: "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:32,33)Jesus: "Do not swear ... by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King." (Matthew 5:34,35)Jeremiah: "Behold, the days are coming, saith the LORD, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgement and righteousness in the earth. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is his name by which he will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Jeremiah 23:5,6)Zechariah: "And in that day his feet will stand on the mount of Olives ... And the LORD shall be king over all the earth. In that day it shall be -- 'The LORD is one', and his name one." (Zechariah 14:4,9)Paul: "Because (God) has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all, by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17-31)Only by the righteous reign of Jesus over the earth will it be possible for God to fill the whole earth with His glory.
If we claim to follow Christ we can rejoice in the knowledge that God will establish His Kingdom in power over the earth:Daniel: "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel 2:44)Jesus: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever ... We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned." (Revelation 11:15,17)God is truly the ruler over all His universe: The Psalms: "The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all." (Psalm 103:19)Daniel: "The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he chooses ... his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation." (Daniel 4:25,34)He once established His kingdom in Israel, and removed it because of His people's wickedness: Moses: "If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant . . . you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Exodus 19:5,6)David: "Blessed are you, LORD God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, 0 LORD, and you are exalted as head over all Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered." (1 Chronicles 29:10,11.23) Ezekiel: "Now
to you, 0 profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come,
whose iniquity shall end, thus saith the Lord GOD: Remove the
turban, and take off the crown . . . Overthrown, overthrown, I
will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until he comes
whose right it is, and I will give it to him." (Ezekiel 21:25-27)
When Jesus re-establishes the kingdom, rebellious Israel must repent, and the unrepentant will be rejected: Zechariah: "Then
they will look on me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for
him as one mourns for his only son." (Zechariah 12:10; see Revelation
1:7)
Jesus: "There
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and
yourselves thrust out." (Luke 13:28)
Jesus will establish his kingdom by subduing the nations, and moreover the nation which crucified him will need to submit. |
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