As I’ve been attempting to demonstrate, even during the apostolic age, Christ was reigning in heaven and over all heavenly beings. As Peter said, he was on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities being made subject to him. But there are, I believe, many verses that show that, at the same time, Christ was also reigning over earth. As promised, I’ll now be attempting to prove that, even while he was reigning from heaven, Christ was already ruling over the earth: in the church, over the nations, over Israel and from the throne of David.
1. Christ was reigning in the church.
One sub-issue frequently in play between proponents of the various millennial positions is the relationship between Christ’s kingdom and the church. Some postmillennialists and amillennialists go so far as to say the two are nearly identical, while some premillennialists say that there is little to no present connection between the two. While defining the precise relationship between the church and the kingdom would be beyond the scope of this post, I would at least argue that, though the kingdom of Christ extends beyond the church, the church is clearly an earthly manifestation of his kingdom and, as such, is proof of his earthly reign.
There is, of course much controversy over the meaning of Jesus’ words to Peter that he would build his church upon this rock (Matt. 16:18). It is evident, however, that in the next breath, Christ did promise to give Peter great authority in the church. What is important to the present discussion is Christ’s designation of this authority as the keys of the kingdom of heaven (16:19). Peter’s authority in the church, then, was identified as authority in the kingdom. This suggests, at the very least, a very significant relationship between the church and the kingdom.
Second, Paul told the saints of Ephesus that God had given Christ to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all (1:22). More specifically, he told the Colossians that God had already delivered them out of the power of darkness, and translated them into the kingdom of the Son of his love (1:13). Christ was the head of the church, and the saints were, therefore, subjects of his kingdom.
Finally, John, in the book of Revelation, reminded his readers that in addition to loosing them from their sins by his blood, Christ had also already made them to be a kingdom to be priests unto his God and Father (1:6). This was a kingdom in which John was a partaker with them (1:9). Here, then, we see direct identification of the saints as the kingdom of Christ. Again, while it might be too much to say that the kingdom of Christ is fully identical with the church, it seems clear, on the basis of these passages, that the church is at least an earthly manifestation of that kingdom and, therefore, of his reign upon the earth.
7 comments:
Brad~ have noticed you a few times on Dave's (breformed) site at xanga, and thought I'd drop in for a bit. Probably think more along his line than yours (don't take it personal) but if a question for you. If the scope of the kingdom of Christ goes beyond that of the church on earth (not yea-ing or nay-ing that), to what extent do you feel it reaches (if you can summarize that)? Further, how ought the church (whether as or within Christ's kingdom) to differ from the rest of the world not in the kingdom, if you can summarize that as well?
Kindly disregard the word "if" in the second sentence of my last comment. I tend to bring shame upon my chosen profession (teaching English) with such things, but then again, I am still human so I can justify anything I suppose;) It was an accident, honest!!! ADHD posting will do that to you;)
English teacher? Awesome. I do some of that myself (teaching English and missing lots of typos, that is). Welcome to my blog. I appreciate you checking it out.
To your first question: Probably a good time for a defintion. But first, an illustration: The kingdoms of all ancient rulers had boundaries. Anything and anyone within those boundaries was subject to that ruler's authority. Anyone and anything outside those boundaries was not.
For example, even though the Roman Empire encompassed all the western world and even a great deal of the eastern world, still, a man living in China at the time was under no obligation to obey the will of the Roman Emperor. The sovereignty of Rome simply did not EXTEND to him.
When I talk about the extent of Christ's kingdom, I am refering to that space over which he exercises his rightful dominion, that which is encompassed by the boundaries of his sovereignty.
Speaking in this sense, then, I believe that the kingdom of Christ extends to every last square inch of the universe, in that there is now no thing or person outside of his dominion. There are no boundaries to his sovereignty. It's all his, all authority in heaven and on earth.
Of course, in every kingdom, there are always those who will rebel against the sovereignty of the ruler. The point is that this has no effect on the FACT of that ruler's sovereignty.
When those guys in Montana some years ago attempted to secede from the United States (wasn't that funny?) That little ranch was not for a single moment any whit less a part of the dominion of the people of Montana than it had been before the rebellion.
In fact, it was BECAUSE the sovereignty of Montana, and through her of the U.S. was present in full force, that the little rebellion was rightfully dissolved.
HA HA. You asked for a summary. Well, in short, I believe that Christ's kingdom is coterminous with the universe, even though most are presently living in rebellion to his sovereignty.
To your second question: The church is to be different from the world in that it is to live in submission rather than in rebellion to Christ's authority. (There, that was a summary.)
Thanks again for commenting.
P.S. I plan, in my next post, to demonstrate in particular that Christ's authority, even in the apostolic period, encompassed all the nations of the earth and their rulers.
For what purpose?
Sorry, I'm not clear on the scope of your question. Purpose for living in submission to Christ? Purpose for my next post?
For what purpose do you wish to demonstrate in particular that Christ's authority, even in the apostolic period, encompassed all the nations of the earth and their rulers?
1. to flesh out my argument that Christ's kingdom extends to earth.
2. to demonstrate that a concept that is commonly denied by premillennialists is plainly taught in scripture.
3. to demonstrate that premillennialism is not the only position that takes the scriptures seriously
4. to foster better understanding between saints with differing eschatological views
5. to promote deeper fellowship among the churches of Christ
6. to bring glory to God
Post a Comment