Is the Kingdom now? Will the church
(Christianity, Kingdom of God) grow or be extinguished in the course of time? How
does this relate to Satan’s binding?
Day 13
B. Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries, May 31, 2020
Is the Kingdom
current?
According
to Scripture…yes. Several passages indicating the Kingdom is now are: Matthew 4:17,
21:38-45; Luke 9:27, 17:21; 22:18 (with John 19:29-30); Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 4:20; Hebrews 12:28; Revelation 1:9, among others. See also Matthew 3:2 and 10:7.
Daniel 2:44 makes it clear that during the reign of these beasts (4 kingdoms), which
the last (Rome) engulfed the others, God would set up a Kingdom. This limits
the Kingdom’s beginning to a time during
the Roman reign. [1]
Inauguration
of the Kingdom
The
inauguration of the Kingdom began with Christ. Jesus lived an earthly life
during the reign of Rome. At the Last Supper, Christ said that He would not
drink of the fruit of the vine until He “drinks it a new in the Kingdom of God”
(Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25, Luke 22:18), nor would He eat the bread with them
(Luke 22:16) until in the Kingdom.
The
solution is simple? When does Scripture say Jesus again had fruit of the vine
(wine, grape juice, vinegar, sour wine, etc.) and had bread with them. At one
point on the Cross, Jesus refused to drink of sour wine (Matthew 27:34). But
later, at the right time, He did drink wine in John 19:28-30 when He
finally said, “it is finished”.
Regarding
bread, Christ ate as well after the
Resurrection with His disciples (John 21:13). So by Christ’s own requirements for the Kingdom, it is in place since
He ate and drank the bread and wine “a new” in the Kingdom!
Consider
also that if there is a King, there is a Kingdom. Jesus is the King of Kings (1 Timothy 6:15) and all authority on heaven and
earth (Matthew 28:18) had been given to Him. Consider that Christ currently
sits at the right hand of the Father on the throne of God and even testified to
the Father when Stephen was being stoned (Acts 2:33, Matthew 19:28, Hebrews 1:3, Hebrews 1:13, Acts 7:56). So there is a Kingdom and it has been
inaugurated.
Kingdom growth
From
Scripture, the Kingdom of
God/Christianity or otherwise Kingdom
of Heaven will gradually dominate due to the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3): Matthew 13:31-33, 16:18; Luke 13:18-21; Habakkuk 2:14;
Daniel 2:35, 7:13-18, among others. Even today, as bad as it seems in some
parts of the world, there are still more Christians today, than there ever has
been.
Consider
Revelation 11:15 – the gospel is free to take over these kingdoms – they have
been given to Christ when all authority was given to Him and therefore, Satan’s
stronghold was destroyed (the strong man, the devil, was bound/limited in what
he could do—Matthew 12:29).
Furthermore,
Christianity only started with a handful of faithful upon the resurrection. We
need to be careful of looking at our temporal times in our local regions of the
world and look at the big picture. Romans 4:13 indicates Abraham would be the
heir of the world through the righteousness of faith (Christianity) and not by
the Law and oral traditions/Talmud (Judaism).[2]
This
is to be expected. God, the Holy Spirit, doesn’t fail at His task after all.
Most eschatological positions (except Post-millennialism) have the Holy Spirit
failing and Jesus has to come and rescue the world [again] due to the Holy
Spirit’s failed attempt. However, these passages confirm the contrary; that the
Holy Spirit will accomplish His work of converting the nations.
Is Satan’s binding
limited?
Yes.
He was bound so that he could not “deceive the nations” for a thousand year
time (Revelation 20:3). In other words, the strong man (Satan) was bound by Christ; so now Satan’s kingdom (Matthew 12:26, Ephesians 2:2) can be plundered
(Mark 3:27) and returned to its rightful place under Christ, the last Adam,
whose dominion shall be forever (Daniel 4:34, 1 Peter 4:11, 1 Peter 5:11, Jude 1:25, and Revelation 1:6).
Hence,
the Gospel will progress and be effective in the nations until the time of
Satan’s release where he will again have the power to “deceive the nations”
(Matthew 28:18-20). This is why the gospel was able to go to all nations and
continues to convert against all odds. Recall, the Holy Spirit will prevail
against all opposition.
Read Daniel 2, Romans 14:6-18, Revelation 22:6-21.
[1] This is
why Dispensational Pre-millennialism requires the revival of the Roman Empire
(the fourth beast) to come back into existence in due time so that the alleged
future kingdom of Jesus can be established. But is that really necessary?
[2] Judaism
is not Old Testament religion, but is based on the oral traditions of the
fathers in how they interpret, reinterpret and deviate from the Old Testament.
These traditions have been written down about A.D. 200-500 and are the Talmud.
There is the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. Essentially, Judaism
today is a subtraction of the New Testament Scripture and an addition of the
Talmudic teachings. See: David Abrahams, Judaism, World Religions and Cults, Volume 1,
Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2016.
