Christ's Victory and Reign

Jesus triumphed on the Cross and began implementing his kingdom following his resurrection. He is not waiting for any future event to begin his messianic reign.

Did Jesus conquer his enemies on Calvary as Scripture declares or not? Most of us would respond to this question in the affirmative. “Yes! Of course, he did!” Yet popular preaching often denies this by teaching that his reign will not start until his future return, and thus, denying his past victory on the Cross, intentionally or not.

Preachers often argue that the first time Jesus appeared he came as the lowly Lamb who gave his life for our sins, but not as the royal king who reigns from the Messianic Throne. When he comes again, they say, he will arrive as the conquering hero, the “Roaring Lion” who imposes his rule through force and slaughters his enemies.

[Cross - Photo by Brad Shortridge on Unsplash]

Christ certainly came the first time as the sacrificial victim who “loosed us from our sins,” but that does not mean he failed to conquer God’s enemies and did not begin to reign from “God’s right hand.”

Paul wrote to the church of Colossae that after nailing the “ordinances against us” to the Cross, Jesus “despoiled the principalities and the powers, and made an open show of them, triumphing over them.” This echoes the Roman practice of honouring military heroes with a triumphal parade through the streets of the Imperial City – (Colossians 2:14-15).

The Apostle expressed the same idea to the Ephesians. Jesus “ascended on high, having led captivity captive.” His victory occurred following his resurrection from the dead:

• “Which God accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and placed him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come. And he put all things in subjection under his feet” – (Psalm 110:1, Ephesians 1:20-22, 4:8).

Jesus will reign over the Cosmos when he “arrives on the clouds,” yet he already reigns from “the right hand of God.” He will not return to beat his enemies into submission after his Second Coming. He will subjugate every enemy and complete the Kingdom of Gode before his “arrival” or ‘Parousia’:

• “Then comes the end, when he will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet,” and that will include the “Last Enemy, Death” – (1 Corinthians 15:24).

This means Christ will return to consummate the reign of God, not to begin his reign or make the first small steps toward establishing God’s Kingdom on Earth. He rules now, and actively so. He is not sitting idly on the clouds of heaven waiting patiently for the future day of his return for his kingdom to commence. He is overcoming his enemies even now as his disciples take his “Good News” to the “uttermost parts of the Earth,” and the decisive blow against Satan was struck already on the Cross.

Unfortunately, we conform our ideas to those of the existing world order. We hear terms like “king,” “reign,” and “conquer” and we imagine a ruler who uses his “iron scepter” to crack the skulls of his opponents. Like the tyrannical rulers of the present age, we cannot conceive of someone who does not overthrow rival regimes through military conquest and violence.

Satan has the same problem. His inability to understand the mind of God caused him to do the very thing that brought about his defeat. If the “rulers of this age” had understood the “Mystery” of God, they would not have “crucified the Lord of glory.” That “mystery” was “Christ crucified,” the “Word of the Cross,” the knowledge that the “power and wisdom of God” are found and exercised in the proclamation of a crucified messiah, something that only the “mind of the Spirit” understands – (1 Corinthian 1:18-23, 2:6-8).

DEATH BEFORE EXALTATION

Jesus humbled himself by submitting to the shameful death of crucifixion. That is why God “highly exalted him and gave him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus is Lord.” And “exalted” is in the past tense in this passage; it is an accomplished fact – (Philippians 2:6-11).

The Book of Revelation declares Jesus to be the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth,” and it does so in the present tense. The “slain Lamb” conquered his enemies through his Death and Resurrection – He is the “Faithful Witness and the Firstborn of the Dead” - and by doing so he became “worthy” to open the “Sealed Scroll” and receive all “power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honour, and glory, and blessing” - (Revelation 1:4-6, 5:6-14).

For the remainder of Revelation, Jesus reigns over the Earth and History as the “Slain Lamb.” He is the Messianic Son destined to “shepherd the nations with his rod of iron,” but he uses his sceptre to guide nations and kings to “New Jerusalem,” not to smash them to powder. This is why the Holy City is populated with the “nations” and the “Kings of the Earth” in Chapter 21.

• “Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his Sanctuary. And he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any longer; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and he will guide them to fountains of living waters, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes” – (Revelation 7:15-17).

• “And the nations shall walk amidst its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the Holy City” – (Revelation 21:24).

Jesus “conquered” his enemies through his sacrificial death, and he now summons us to “conquer” in the same manner. If we wish to become “great” in his kingdom, we must become “servants of all,” just as the Son of Man “came to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” By doing so, we qualify to reign with him on his Father’s Throne - (Mark 10:45):

• “He that overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches” – (Revelation 3:21).

• “And they overcame the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their lives unto death” – (12:1-11).

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus does not become the “King of kings” at some future date. He IS the “King of kings” now. Once again, his exalted status is declared in the present tense, and his sovereignty is based on his past Death and Resurrection - (Revelation 17:14, 19:11-21).

• “I am the Living one! And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades” – (Revelation 1:18).

His kingdom advances on the Earth as the “Gospel of the Kingdom” is proclaimed, wherever souls are added to the Church, and whenever men and women are thereby delivered from satanic darkness as his saints persevere in the “word of their testimony.” Through Christ, God has “delivered us out of the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.”

We as Christ’s disciples reign with him, but we do so as a “Kingdom of Priests,” not as conquering warriors. Like the ancient priests of Israel, our task is to reflect the light of Jesus to a sin-darkened world as we proclaim his “Good News” to all nations.

Only when we complete this mission will the Son of Man return to raise the dead, overthrow the “last enemy, death,” gather his elect, complete God’s kingdom, and usher in the “New Heavens and New Earth in which righteousness will dwell” forevermore – (Matthew 24:14, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, 2 Peter 3:10-13).

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SEE ALSO:

• The Unwanted Messiah - (Jesus is revealed as the Savior of Mankind in his sufferings and self-sacrificial death for others, including his enemies)

• The Spiritual Man - (The spiritually-minded man understands that the proclamation of Christ Crucified is the Power and Wisdom of God - 1 Corinthians 2:14)

• The Suffering Servant - (Disciples are summoned to adopt the same mind that Jesus had when he poured out his life unto death for the sake of others – Philippians 2:5-11)

• Shepherding the Nations - (Jesus is the promised King from the Line of David who guides the Nations of the Earth to the Holy City, New Jerusalem – Revelation 12:5)