Where Is the Kingdom of Christ to Exist?
By Emma Hildreth Adams
PON my table lies a small volume — a gift to me from a dear friend — entitled “The World Beyond.” Therein the author takes the position that the organized government, the spiritual dominion, of Christ, named in the Scriptures “the kingdom of Christ,” or “kingdom of God,” is not to be an actual, visible, operative sovereignty established somewhere, sometime, in the future, but is now a veritable kingdom already in operation upon the earth, in the hearts and over the lives of its subjects. He holds that Christ’s kingly rule, His victorious sway upon the earth, “is a thing of the present,” “is not a thing of the future;” that in the peace-giving “Beatitudes,” Matthew 5, Christ informed of those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven;” and of the poor in spirit, “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Now the subject of the kingdom of God, of Christ, upon the earth, covers a wide field of Scripture, is presented in many phases, and invites very definite study, yet the blessed, inspiring truth in the case is clear. There is no question but that those who cultivate earnestly the graces of meekness, patience, gentleness, mercy, pureness of heart, and who hunger for likeness to Christ, possess the traits, the qualities, which will render them eligible to citizenship in the actual kingdom of God; for these are the principles, the characteristics, the inherent elements, upon which that great, creation-wide dominion will be founded and reared. But that these delightful features, existing simply in the hearts of redeemed, regenerated men and women here on earth, constitute the totality, the complete fact, the whole solacing expectation, with reference to the kingdom of Christ, is a conception far out of harmony, it would seem, with many strong assertions made by Christ, by prophets, by apostles, by the divine Father Himself, in reference to that kingdom. Let us search the Scriptures for light. As a first step we read the gracious promise made by God to David in 2 Samuel 7:12-16, where the wonderful words have reference secondarily to Solomon, but primarily to Christ, a descendant of the shepherd-king of Israel, as affirmed in Ps. 89:3, 35, and also by the apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:30, 32: “I will set up thy seed after thee, . . . and I will establish his kingdom. . . . I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. . . . I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.” These powerful promises of God, these mysterious foreshadowings of Christ and His kingdom, are repeated and expanded with great might and emphasis in Ps. 89:3, 4, 27-29, closing, verses 35-37, with these tremendous sentences: “Once have I sworn by My holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven!” The period of David’s kingdom upon earth was not lengthy, continuing, at the utmost, only until Zedekiah, last king of Judah, was carried captive to Babylon, B.C. 586. Indeed, the kingdom was actually lost to David before his famous son Solomon had finished his distinguished career. For Solomon, to whom God made most inciting pledges of worldly greatness and blessing both at Gibeon and in Jerusalem, himself grievously forsook the commandments of God, evaded His will immensely, became a weak worshiper of idols, and lost the most significant of all earthly thrones, as narrated in 1 Kings, in terms intense and fearful. Now, stepping forward to the days of that careful historian Luke, a few years before the date anno Domini, there rings out, chapter 1, verses 30-33, this astounding message, addressed to a woman of Nazareth, in Galilee, and sent from God by the noted angel Gabriel: “Fear not, Mary. . . . Thou . . . shalt bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father DAVID: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob”—the saved by faith of all ages—“forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” Yet further. Isa. 9:6, 7: “Unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder. . . . Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of DAVID, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.” Now a king could hardly occupy the throne of David in all these relations, for all these purposes, achieving all these amazing results, and also be “one chosen out of the people,” except he should act upon the theater occupied by David, be moved by the principles which governed David, and excel in loyalty to God. His realm, his theater, then, would be upon this earth. But the divine Word portrays still more explicitly the location of this majestic kingdom, this kingdom of august might and power, of genuine justice and judgment, of righteousness and peace unadulterated, this kingdom that shall endure as long as the sun. From that far-reaching chapter 7, of the book of Daniel, whose reliability is unquestioned, I condense the following strong statements concerning a kingdom vast and all-absorbing yet to be established upon the earth. Daniel says: “Behold, One like the Son of Man”—in the highest sense, to Christ alone pertains that title—“came with the clouds of heaven”—a convoy of angels probably—“and came to the Ancient of Days. . . . And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion.” Then Daniel, troubled over the wonderful scenes of his vision of the four beasts, symbolizing four great earthly dynasties, and of the Ancient of Days seated upon His high throne, asked one of those who stood by, the meaning of what he saw. He was informed: “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High”—the redeemed of the human race—“shall take [receive, inherit] the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.” Verses 17, 18. His informant continued: “The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all [earthly] dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Now this kingdom of the Most High, which the “one who stood by” affirmed should take the place of the four mighty realms symbolized by the four beasts, must also have its territory on the earth, and must consist of something more tangible than mere motives, principles, traits, qualities, and characteristics, ruling in the hearts of men and women, during this fleeting mundane existence. There must be a noble life to be lived, blessed laws to be obeyed, exalted service to be rendered, hallowed associations to be enjoyed, perhaps momentous works to be achieved. Other scriptures, in both Testaments, turn lucid light on this case; but lack of space excludes them.