Does anyone object to this portion of the article? If so...why?
I. Defining the Kingdom about the most pessimistic form of amillenialism on the Reformed scene today. Note further that not all amillenialists restrict the kingdom of God to the church. Berkof writes, “It is closely related to the church, though not altogether identical with it. The citizenship of the kingdom is co-extensive with the membership in the invisible church. Its field of operation, however, is wider than that of the church, since it aims at the control of life in all its manifestations” (L. Berkof, Systematic Theology [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1939], 409). In order to understand the meaning of the kingdom of God (or heaven) one must make a distinction between God’s reign, dominion or sovereignty over the universe as Lord, the Almighty, King, creator, sustainer and ruler over all and the mediatorial reign of Christ which was conferred upon Him as a result of His redemptive obedience.
The triune God (the eternal Son included) has dominion over all as an aspect of His nature. Jehovah is sovereign. Thus, God is frequently referred to in the Bible as the great King. “The LORD is King forever and ever” (Ps. 10:16). “Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle” (Ps. 24:8). “The LORD sat enthroned at the flood, and the LORD sits as King forever” (Ps. 29:10). “For the LORD most high is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth” (Ps. 47:2). “For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods” (Ps. 95:3). God as God is sovereign, all powerful, all knowing, everywhere present, the great law-giver, the giver of life and judge over all. Thomas Watson writes, His greatness appears by the effects of his power. He “made heaven and earth,” and can unmake it. Psa cxxiv 8. With a breath he can crumble us to dust; with a word he can unpin the world, and break the axle-tree of it in pieces. “He poureth contempt upon princes.” Job xii 21. “He shall cut off the spirit of princes.” Psa. lxxvi 12. He is Lord paramount, who does whatever he will. Psa cxv 3. He weigheth “the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance.” Isa xl 12.... Though he has many heirs, yet no successors. He sets up his throne where no other king does; he rules the will and affections; his power binds the conscience. Angels serve him, all the kings of the earth hold their crowns and diadems by immediate tenure from this great King. “By me Kings reign,” Prov viii 15. To this Lord Jehovah all kings must give account, and from his tribunal there is no appeal.6 The central meaning of the kingdom of God concerns Christ’s authority and rule as a reward for His redemptive obedience. It is not simply Jesus ruling as God but Christ the mediator, the God-man reigning over a kingdom of grace. William Symington writes, “The sovereign authority of Christ may be viewed either as necessary, or as official. Viewing him as God, it is necessary, inherent, and underived: viewing him as Mediator, it is official and delegated. It is the latter of these that we are now to contemplate.
The subject of our present inquiry is, the MEDIATORIAL DOMINION of the Son; not that which essentially belongs to him as God, but that with which, by the authoritative act of the Father, he has been officially invested as the Messiah. It is that government, in short, which was laid upon his shouldersBthat power which was given unto him in heaven and in earth.”
7 This point raises the following questions.
Why is there a need for this kind of King and this type of kingdom?
Why does not God simply continue to rule as God?
The answer to this question is that a divine-human mediator, a soteriological king was and is needed because of the fall of Adam. Before he sinned, Adam was commanded to populate the earth and exercise dominion (cf. Gen. 1:28). If man had not fallen there would have been a worldwide civilization living in direct fellowship and communication with Jehovah. The whole human race would have constituted a kingdom under the direct loving rule of God. Under God’s direct rule and continuous revelation mankind would have progressively mastered the environment to God’s glory. All of man’s endeavors (science, art, architecture, agriculture, technology, etc.) would have been developed with a love toward God and man. The fall of man in Adam, however, rendered the idea of a God-glorifying culture, kingdom or civilization impossible apart from a salvation provided for a people by God Himself. Because of the fall, the human race is guilty before God and polluted by sin. All men are dead spiritually (Eph. 2:1-5), hate the truth, turn to idols (Rom. 1:18 ff.), dwell in darkness (Jn. 1:4- 5), have a heart of stone (Ezek. 11:19), are helpless (Ezek. 16:4-6), cannot repent (Jer. 13:23), cannot see or comprehend divine truth (1 Cor. 2:14) and are slaves of Satan (Ac. 26:17-18). James Orr writes, “The background of the whole picture in the Old Testament is that of a world in revolt, turned aside from God, sunk, and ever sinking deeper, in unrighteousness, abandoned to idolatry and to the lusts and corruptions which are the natural fruit of apostasy from the Creator, B a world in contrariety to the divine holiness, and judged as guilty, and justly exposed to the Divine anger.”
rules the world, I just look at them shake my head and go DUH?
... Brother Glen