For God, Family and Republic

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven

The late George Eldon Ladd, a theological luminary of the prestigious Fuller Theological Seminary wrote this theological piece on Christ's Kingdom. In my humble opinion, Ladd does a good job explaining the nature of the Kingdom of God succinctly for laity. The kingdom is beset by a here, but not quite here yet tension, and many theologians fail to grasp that.

The benefits of Salvation worked by Christ which are applied to us by the Spirit, by grace through faith. Our pivotal reflection should be upon the Cross work of Christ, and recognition that the application of those meritous works is through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit quickens us, makes us alive, and brings us from spiritual death to spiritual life. Furthermore, the Spirit illuminates our depraved minds and hearts to the truth of the Gospel, that we may freely embrace God's grace and eternal life (Eph. 2:1-10). But it all comes back to Jesus Christ, and His finished work.

Interestingly, towards the end of this piece, Ladd invokes an analogy with D-Day and V-Day analogous to that used in my sermon. Again, D-Day is analagous to the Cross, and V-Day is analagous to Glorification in the life of the believer. Again, in a sense, as my colloquial phrase in my sermon declared of true believers in Christ: "We are being saved yesterday, today, and tomorrow." As Hebrews 12:2 admonishes us, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." God preserves His flock and sustains our faith.

Ladd writes:

We have pointed out that it was part of the main mission of Jesus to overthrow the power of Satan. Paul sees this as being accomplished also by Jesus' death and resurrection. "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him" (Col. 2:15) . One of the main motifs in the New Testament as to the meaning of Jesus' resurrection and ascension is his victory over the powers of evil. On the day of Pentecost, Peter sounded this note. 'The Lord [God] said to my Lord [Messiah], Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet" (Acts 2:34). Christ has already rendered Satan a decisive defeat; but Satan is not yet destroyed. "For he [Christ] must reign [as King and Messiah.] until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (I Cor. 15:25 - 26).

This touches on the theology of the Kingdom of God. Jesus is finally to "deliver the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power" (I Cor. 15:24). The Kingdom of God is God's rule, manifested in Christ. We have already seen that Jesus' act of exorcising demons — of delivering men and women from Satanic power — was the outward evidence that the Kingdom of God has come to men in history (Matt. 12:28). In his resurrection and exaltation he was enthroned at the right hand of God (Acts 2:34-36). He is even now reigning as messianic King. Men and women continue to be delivered from bondage to darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13). But the world does not know it. The world goes on as though Jesus had never come, as though the Kingdom of God was merely a dream. There are indeed millions of Christian believers in the world today who express his Lordship, who seek the ways of peace and righteousness. But they are not enough to mold the course of nations. Jesus himself said that there would be disturbances, wars, evils, and persecutions throughout the course of the age. The presence of God's Kingdom in the historical mission of Jesus was primarily a spiritual event. Although he has been defeated, Satan and the powers of evil are still very much with us. The world is still an evil place. The nations of the world ignore God and his Kingdom.

This is why the Second Coming of Christ is necessary — to complete the work begun in he his Incarnation. There are, in other words, two great events in God's conquest of the powers of evil, two invasions of God into history: the Incarnation and the Second Coming. One scholar has illustrated this by an analogy from World War II. There were two steps in the victory over Nazi Germany: D-Day and V-Day. Once the allies had launched a successful invasion upon the continent and the allied armies had secured a foothold and started their drive across France, the tide of battle turned. The allies were advancing, Germany was in retreat. But there remained much bitter fighting, which lasted until the complete capitulation of the enemy - V-Day. Then the fighting ceased; peace reigned.

So Jesus has invaded the realm of Satan and rendered him a decisive defeat. Because of Jesus' victory in his life, death, and exaltation, the tide of battle has turned. Since Pentecost the gospel of the Kingdom of God has been preached in nearly all the world, and an ever increasing multitude of men and women are rescued from the dominion of Satan and brought under the reign of Christ. An ever enlarging number of people bow before the Lordship of Christ. But he must reign until "every enemy is put beneath his feet" (I Cor. 15:25). Since these enemies are spiritual enemies - Satanic enemies - this is a victory that neither men nor the church can win. It can only be done by a direct act of God. The power that was in the incarnate Jesus in hidden and veiled form will be manifested in power and glory.

Another way of looking at the same fact: Jesus is now the Lord; he is enthroned at the right hand of God; he is reigning in his Kingdom. But this is a Lordship and a kingly reign which is known only to believers. It must be confessed by faith. His Second Coming will mean nothing less than the Lordship which is his now will be made visible to all the world. When we pray, "Thy kingdom come," this is what we are praying for: the effectual and universal rule of Christ in all the world, not only over believers. Then, when his Kingdom comes, "at the name of Jesus every knee [shall] bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11).

Ladd, George Eldon. The Last Things: An Eschatology For Laymen. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 1978.) pp. 46-48.

I highly recomend that you take a gander at George Ladd's books, particularly The Gospel of the Kingdom.

Additional ackowledgements. Free photograph courtesy of FreeFoto.com.