{"id":19181,"date":"2017-01-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-001\/"},"modified":"2022-01-12T17:17:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:17:53","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-001","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-001\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 001"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[12],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19181","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-genesis","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 001","sermon_date":"20170104","sermon_month":"1","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":20074,"sermon_slides":20075,"sermon_mp3":20076,"sermon_id":"14172115509","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":12,"chapter_and_verse":"1:26-28","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n1-4-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Genesis 1:26-28\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 1\n\nI want to welcome you all to this class that we\u2019re starting on Wednesday nights.\u00a0\u00a0 Happy 2017 everybody.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to be studying the doctrine of the Kingdom on Wednesday nights and one of the reasons we\u2019re going to study the Kingdom is because to understand the Bible you have to understand the thread of the Kingdom.\u00a0 So the Kingdom, I think, is the dominant theme of the Bible.\u00a0 If you\u2019re confused about the Kingdom you\u2019re confused, probably about a lot of other issues as well.\u00a0 So it\u2019s really a thread that goes through the whole tenor of Scripture.\n\nAnd the resources that we\u2019re going to be using in this class are: first and foremost the Bible, so need to bring a copy of your Bible with you to every session.\u00a0 And then the second resource we\u2019re using, which is underneath the Bible, far underneath the Bible, is the book I wrote, called The Coming Kingdom<\/em>, which is basically taking biblical material and arranging it topically.\u00a0 So the authority in this class is the Word of God and we\u2019re just kind of looking at it through a prism of a topical study that I\u2019ve organized.\u00a0 As you see as we move into this the Bible is going to be used quite frequently.\n\nAnd this is kind of a class where you\u2019ll get the most out of it if you do the reading assignment.\u00a0 I won\u2019t give you an exam\u2026 oh maybe I will, I don\u2019t know, but for next week you should read, in the book that I wrote called The Coming Kingdom<\/em>, you should have chapters 1 and 2 at least.\u00a0 And you\u2019d be well off to read chapter 3 as well.\u00a0 So try to read at least through chapter 2 and if you\u2019re really ambitious into chapter 3.\n\nAnd basically the way this is going to work is we\u2019re going to have prayer time from 6:45-7:00, if you want to participate in that.\u00a0 Then I\u2019m going to be doing straight lecture from about 7:00 to 8:00, and then I\u2019m going to stop right at 8:00 because people need to collect their kids and all kinds of things but for those of you that want to stick around for a Q and A we\u2019re going to do \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Q and A from about 8:00 to 8:15, or until you run out of questions.\u00a0 So here we go.\n\nI wrote this book called The Coming Kingdom<\/em>; it was really a series of articles that I was asked to write for a periodical called Pre-trib Perspectives.\u00a0 And I thought I could handle the subject in about four issues, and it ended up going on for three and a half years.\u00a0 And by the time that was all over I had enough material for a book so I took it and developed it a little bit more into this book called The Coming Kingdom<\/em>. \u00a0So what we\u2019re doing now is each lecture we do kind of corresponds with a chapter in the book.\u00a0 So tonight we\u2019re going to talk about chapter 1 in the book and then if time permits we\u2019ll get into chapter 2.\n\nSo here\u2019s the introductory lesson and this is all material in chapter 1.\u00a0 We want\u00a0 to look at three things.\u00a0 Number 1, Kingdom confusion illustrations because you might be asking yourself why are we devoting a bunch of time to the study of the Kingdom, and what you\u2019ll see when I give you these illustrations and these quotations is there\u2019s rampant confusion on this subject in the body of Christ today.\u00a0 So that will kind of whet our appetite for why this series of studies is necessary.\n\nAnd then number 2, I want to show you a series outline; I\u2019m going to show you an outline that we\u2019re going to use as we progress through the material.\u00a0 And then also tonight I want to cover the distinction between the universal Kingdom and the theocratic Kingdom.\u00a0 And you might be saying what is he talking about.\u00a0 I\u2019ll try to make that clear because that\u2019s a really key distinction to really grasp what it is we\u2019re going to be pursuing.\n\nFirst of all, Kingdom confusion illustrations.\u00a0 Here\u2019s some quotes out there from people.\u00a0 This is a quote from Doug Pagitt from what you call a key thinker in what\u2019s called the Emergent Church.\u00a0 Have you all heard of the Emergent Church?\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of the new wave of doing church; it\u2019s sort of a return to mysticism.\u00a0 It kind of acts like when the church was really good it was before the Reformers got control of it, so it tries to leapfrog the Protestant Reformation and get back to medieval Christianity.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that a lot of millennials and twenty-somethings and beneath are really wrapped up in the emergent church.\u00a0 And if you go to a major bookstore, Christian or even secular, like Barnes & Noble you\u2019ll see emergent church writers and their books displayed everywhere in the religion section.\u00a0 So if you haven\u2019t heard of the emergent church your kids or your grandkids have heard of it and are likely being influenced by it.\n\nAnd what you\u2019ll discover when you get into the thinking of the Emergent Church is it\u2019s trying to get back to mysticism, and to a lot of monastic practices that were taking place prior to the Protestant Reformation.\u00a0 So they have maizes that they walk through to get more spiritual, things like this, all over the Dallas area.\u00a0 We were watching Bible church after Bible church begin to darken the sanctuary, put up stained glass windows, put up statues, icons, holy water, and these kinds of things.\u00a0 And it\u2019s kind of funny because this is all the stuff I grew up with as an Episcopalian.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of what God saved me out of and now all these Bible churches want to go back to that.\n\nSo you guys have heard of the emergent church, right?\u00a0 But what you\u2019ll discover as you get into emergent church thinking is they\u2019re all talking about the Kingdom all the time.\u00a0 So Doug Pagitt, an emergent church writer, writes, \u201cThe Kingdom<\/u><\/em> of God is a central<\/u><\/em> conversation in emerging communities\u2026 And let me tell you \u2018of God\u2019 language is really big<\/u> <\/em>in the emerging church\u201d [Italics added].\n\nProbably the key voice in emergent church theology is a guy named Brian McLaren, who wrote a book called A<\/em> Generous Orthodoxy<\/em>, and this is what he says, and we could dissect everything the man says but I just want to focus on what he says about the Kingdom of God.\u00a0 McLaren writes: \u201cHe selected 12\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201cand trained them in a new way of life. He sent \u00a0them to teach everyone this new way of life...Even if only a few would practice this new way, \u00a0many would benefit. Oppressed people would be free. Poor people would be liberated from \u00a0poverty. Minorities would be treated with respect. Sinners would be loved, not resented.\u201d\u00a0 See what\u2019s happening here is he\u2019s emphasizing the Kingdom of God spreading through the church and transforming society for the better.\u00a0 \u201cIndustrialists would realize that God cares for sparrows and wildflowers-so their industries should respect, not rape, the environment. The homeless would be invited in for a hot meal.\u201d\u00a0 And then I\u2019ve got the key part underlined, \u201cThe Kingdom of God would come<\/u> <\/em>\u2013 <\/strong>not everywhere at once, not suddenly, but gradually like a seed growing in a field, like yeast spreading in a lump of bread dough, like light spreading across the sky at dawn.\u201d\u00a0 [Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy<\/em>, 111.]\u00a0 So the purpose of the church is to bring in the Kingdom which is to bring in the Kingdom, which is going to transform society.\u00a0 That\u2019s basic emergent church theology.\n\nBrian McLaren elsewhere says, \u201cIf Revelation\u201d that\u2019s the book of Revelation, \u201cwere a blueprint \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of the distant future, it would have been unintelligible to its original readers\u2026In light of this, Revelation becomes a powerful book about the Kingdom of God here and now<\/u><\/em>, available to all.\u201d\u00a0 [Brian McLaren, cited in Oakland, Faith Undone, <\/em>158.]\u00a0 So the revelation is not about the future the way we interpret it here; it\u2019s about the Kingdom of God now.\n\nRussell Moore, who is no lightweight, he is the President of Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission of the whole Southern Baptist Convention.\u00a0 He replaced, in that position a fellow named Richard Land, and this is what Russell Moore says.\u00a0 \u201cThe locus of the Kingdom of God in this age is within the church, where Jesus rules as king<\/u>. As we live our lives together, we see the transforming power of the gospel and the in breaking of the future Kingdom<\/u>.\u201d \u00a0[Justin Taylor, \u201cAn Interview with Russell Moore,\u201d www.thegospelcoalition.org<\/a>.]\n\nSo what all these people are saying is the Kingdom of God has broken into the present.\u00a0 You see that language a lot.\u00a0 You all have heard of Rick Warren, right? Purpose Driven Life<\/em>, runaway best sellers, and this is what Rick Warren said to a crowd, he said: \u201c\u201cI stand before you confidently right now and say to you that God is going to use you to change the world...I'm looking at a stadium full of people right now who are telling God they will do whatever it takes to establish God's Kingdom<\/u><\/em> \u2018on earth<\/u> as it is in heaven.\" What will happen if the followers of Jesus say to Him, \u2018We are yours?\u2019 What kind of spiritual awakening will occur?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Rick Warren, cited in Oakland, Faith Undone, <\/em>Kindle edition.]\u00a0 So in his mind a spiritual revival is equated with the church bringing in the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God.\n\nThere\u2019s a book out there called Hole in the Gospel<\/em> by Richard Stearns and what he means by a \u201cHole in the Gospel\u201d is the church doesn\u2019t have the power it should have because it\u2019s not doing Kingdom work.\u00a0 Stearns writes, \u201c\u201cIf we are to be a part of this coming Kingdom<\/u>, God expects our lives \u2013 our churches and faith communities too \u2013 to be characterized by these authentic signs of our own transformation: compassion, mercy, justice, and love \u2013 demonstrated tangibly<\/em>. Only then will our light break forth like the dawn, our healing quickly appear, and our cries for help be answered with a divine Here am!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 [Stearns, Hole in the Gospel<\/em>, 57.]\n\nHe goes on and he says, \u201cThe gospel that we have been given \u2013 the whole gospel \u2013 is God\u2019s vision for a new way of living\u2026Christ\u2019s vision was of a redeemed world\u201d <\/u>now where is this world order going to be?\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be right here on the earth, \u201cworld<\/u> \u00a0order populated by redeemed people \u2013 now<\/em><\/u>.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 See the emphasis, the whole idea is Kingdom NOW, Kingdom living now.\u00a0 \u201cTo accomplish this, we are to be salt and light <\/em>in a dark and fallen world, the \u201cyeast\u201d that leavens the whole loaf of bread (the whole of society).\u201d\u00a0 See the emphasis here on society?\u00a0 It\u2019s about the transformation of society through the church bringing in the Kingdom. \u00a0\u201cWe are the ones God has <\/em>called to be His Church. It\u2019s up to us. We are to be the <\/em>change. But a changed world requires change agents,<\/em>\u201d that\u2019s a key word you should know,\u00a0 key phrase, you hear that a lot, \u201cchange agents\u201d where people come into schools or they come into churches and they look at themselves as \u201cchange agents\u201d and what they mean by that is get the church away from what they think is fundamentalism and into this more \u201cKingdom now\u201d changing society mentality.\u00a0 So a lot of people see themselves as self-appointed change agents and they try to get leadership positions in churches and schools for that matter, to change the direction of those schools.\u00a0 \u201cWe are the ones God has <\/em>called to be His Church. It\u2019s up to us. We are to be the <\/em>change. But a changed world requires change agents and <\/em>change agents are people who have first been changed themselves.\u201d\u00a0 [Stearns, Hole in the Gospel, 276, 243-44.]<\/em>\n\nSo all of these quotes, you read part of it and it sounds good, yes, we should be salt and light, yes we should be authentic Christians, yes, we ought to demonstrate Christianity through the way we live, all of that is true.\u00a0 But what sneaks in all of the time in these quotes is what that means in their minds is we\u2019re bringing in the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God.\n\nNow as you go through these quotes and as I went through them what did you not hear?\u00a0 You don\u2019t hear anything about the great commission.\u00a0 The great commission becomes the great what? Omission, which is sort of striking to me because what are the instructions Christ gave to the church in Matthew 28:19-20?\u00a0 Go into all the world and make what? \u201cdisciples of all nations.\u00a0 Matthew 18:19-20, \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.\u201d]\n\nSee, once, as I\u2019ll be demonstrating to you once the Kingdom was postponed, because of national Israel\u2019s rejection of her Messiah, God raised up a new man called the church.\u00a0 The church is unrevealed in the Old Testament.\u00a0 The church is something known only in the mind of God; He always knew He was going to raise up the church but it\u2019s sort of a surprise from the human point of view that He raised up the church.\n\nBut as you go through the tasks that God has given to the church He never tells the church to bring in the Kingdom.\u00a0 What He tells the church to do is to go out and reach and teach.\u00a0 And in fact, remember what the disciples said just prior to His ascension, in Acts 1:6-7.\u00a0 Remember that statement there, we\u2019ll be going over it in this course, but they said are\u00a0 you going to restore the Kingdom to David at this time.\u00a0 Remember what He said: \u201cIt\u2019s not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has set by His own authority.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 [Acts 1:6, \u201cSo when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, \u2018Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the Kingdom to Israel?\u2019\u00a0 [7]\u00a0 He said to them, \u2018It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;\u2019\u201d]\n\nAnd what he\u2019s saying there is this is not the Kingdom age; this is not the Davidic age, this is a different age where the church is to out and to reach and teach and fulfill the great commission.\u00a0 The Kingdom is something that God will set up through His own power through the nation of Israel on His own timetable.\n\nBut what you discover in all these quotes is virtually no quote I read here understands what I just said; they\u2019re all bringing the task of societal transformation upon their own shoulders.\u00a0 You know, WE are the ones that God has been waiting for, and it\u2019s up to US\u2026 you hear that kind of language.\u00a0 And so the phrase that I use to describe this mindset (that I critique very heavily in this book) is Kingdom Now theology.\u00a0 And if you were to get on the internet and look at different ministry advertisements, marques, mission statements, you\u2019ll discover the Kingdom in almost everybody\u2019s mission statement today.\u00a0 You hear phrases like we\u2019re doing Kingdom work, we\u2019re doing Kingdom living, we\u2019re bringing in the Kingdom, some people say we\u2019re a sneak peak of the Kingdom.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you see this word Kingdom thrown around, Kingdom, Kingdom, Kingdom, and people that are very liberal in their view of society basically want to pour a liberal agenda into that word \u201cKingdom.\u201d\u00a0 And sometimes people that are very rightwing in their view of society want to use the word \u201cKingdom\u201d for their own agenda.\u00a0 And people are tossing the word \u201cKingdom\u201d around quite a bit but nobody is really going to the biblical text and defining biblically what the Kingdom is.\n\nSo that\u2019s part of the reason I wanted to teach this class because this class basically is a Genesis to Revelation study of the Kingdom because the Bible is not silent on the subject of the Kingdom.\u00a0 in fact, as we go through the material you\u2019re going to be stunned at how concretely the Bible defines the Kingdom.\u00a0 And this is what is being ignored by all of these various ministries and I think Satan is using this to put the church today into great confusion.\u00a0 And as I\u2019ll be showing you this is not the first time in history Satan has done this; this Kingdom now theology is actually an ancient heresy that really goes all the way back to Augustine, all the way back into the fourth century.\n\nSo Satan\u2019s agenda has always been to get the church confused as to what its mission is.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re confused as to what your mission is you\u2019re not going to be very effective.\u00a0 Any business that\u2019s having trouble and you bring in some consultants to help you rescue your business, the first thing they\u2019re going to ask you is why do you exist?\u00a0 What is your mission?\u00a0 And that\u2019s like consulting 101 because if you don\u2019t know what your mission is you really are not going to be able to stay afloat in the business world.\u00a0 And this is the same problem with the church today, you go into the typical church and you say what\u2019s your mission and very few people can articulate the mission of the church because the pastors don\u2019t really know what the mission of the church is because they\u2019re blending what the church does with what the Kingdom program is and those are two separate things as I\u2019ll be showing you in this class.\n\nSo now that we\u2019ve kind of gone through some Kingdom confusion illustrations which help us understand why this study is necessary, because I want you to grasp why it is you\u2019re committing yourself to studying this doctrine.\u00a0 You\u2019re showing up here Wednesday nights, you could be doing a lot of other different things; I\u2019m trying to show you the importance of the topic.\u00a0 So I use those quotes to help us understand that.\n\nNow that we understand that which direction is this class going?\u00a0 What is our series outline?\u00a0 This class basically is going to have four parts to it.\u00a0 Number 1, what does the Bible say about the Kingdom?\u00a0 As you see we\u2019re going to be starting in Genesis and going right to Revelation.\u00a0 And by the time you walk away you\u2019ll understand what the Kingdom is.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll probably be spending most of our time in part 1.\n\nNumber 2, we\u2019re going to look at, and we\u2019ll be able to do this number 2 in a shorter time period, it may just take a session or two, but what is the main problem with Kingdom now interpretation?\u00a0 And the main problem with it is they interpret the word Kingdom independently of what the Old Testament says.\u00a0 They think the New Testament pours some kind of different definition into the word Kingdom that\u2019s in contradistinction to what you find in the Old Testament.\u00a0 So they have really no consistency as you move from Old Testament to New Testament.\u00a0 And what I\u2019d like to show you in this class is simply this: as you move from Old Testament to New Testament the definition of the Kingdom, which God has spent centuries developing in the Old Testament.\u00a0 It never changes in the New Testament.\u00a0 Christ never changed the definition of the Kingdom in the New Testament.\u00a0 The apostles never changed the definition of the Kingdom in the New Testament. And of course, the Apostle Paul in his epistles never changed the definition of Kingdom.\u00a0 It\u2019s static, it\u2019s consistent all the way through, so I\u2019ll show you that.\n\nAnd then number 3, those of you that have followed along with me in the soteriology study know that I like to look at passages that the opposition uses.\u00a0 For example, we\u2019re doing right now a study on eternal security Sunday morning in Sunday School so I don\u2019t like to just lay out the doctrine of eternal security, I like to go through the verses that people use to deny eternal security.\u00a0 So I\u2019m going to do the exact same thing with this Kingdom now theology.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to show you what I think the Bible actually teaches about the Kingdom; then I\u2019m going to say okay, what do they say, what are the verses they use.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll show you that in every case they take verses completely out of context.\n\nAnd then the fourth part of this class, and maybe I should have done number 4 with number 1 but that\u2019s just kind of the order that I do it in in the book and number 4 is why does it matter?\u00a0\u00a0 You know, it\u2019s a \u201cso what\u201d question.\u00a0 Who cares?\u00a0 And what I\u2019m going to try to shoe you in point number 4 is that virtually every heresy that is in Christendom today or that has ever come into Christendom, Christianity, is connected to a belief that we are currently living in the Kingdom.\u00a0 You name the heresy out there today, whether it be on so-called Christian television, the prosperity gospel, or any other heresy we want to come up with and I\u2019ll connect it for you to this idea that we\u2019re living in the Kingdom now.\u00a0 So anyway, those are the four points that we\u2019re going to be going through in this class.\n\nAnd then the third thing I want to cover here in this introductory lesson is a very important distinction and this is the distinction between the universal Kingdom and what I\u2019ll call the theocratic Kingdom.\u00a0 Now before I explain to you which of these we are going to be focusing on in this class I want you to see the difference because one of the things I\u2019ll be showing you is the Kingdom is in a state of postponement today.\u00a0 We are not in the age of the Kingdom; we are looking for a future Kingdom.\u00a0 And immediately when you say that people come back and they say well, you don\u2019t believe God is sovereign, you don\u2019t believe God is in charge, you don\u2019t believe God is in control.\u00a0 And the response to that is it depends on what Kingdom you\u2019re talking about because in the Bible there are two Kingdoms; there\u2019s something called a universal Kingdom where God is always reigning, God is always in control, and there\u2019s something very different called a theocratic Kingdom which is God reigning through a human being.\n\nSo let me just briefly show you the differences between these two.\u00a0 What are some differences between the universal Kingdom on the left column and the theocratic Kingdom on the right column.\u00a0 First of all, related to time.\u00a0 I hope you have your Bible with you, take a look at Psalm 93 and notice what verses 1 and 2 say?\u00a0 \u201cThe LORD reigns,\u201d that\u2019s His Kingdom, \u201cHe is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.\u00a0 [2] Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting?\u00a0 So this Kingdom here that\u2019s being described in Psalm 93 is a Kingdom that is eternal; it\u2019s always in existence.\n\nBut notice Daniel 2:44, we\u2019re going through Daniel on Sunday mornings in the main service so these are verses we are going to cover, actually this Sunday morning, but notice Daniel 2:44, \u201cIn the days of those kings\u201d what kings?\u00a0 The ten king confederacy of the antichrist, the final realm of Gentile dominion.\u00a0 \u201cIn the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that Kingdom:\u201d and it goes on, but it will last \u201cforever.\u201d\u00a0 [Daniel 2:24, \u201cIn the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that Kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these Kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice that that Kingdom does not set up until the Lord overthrows the empire of the antichrist.\n\nBut Psalm 93 gives you the impression that the Kingdom is forever, but Daniel 2:44 gives you the impression that the Kingdom is yet future.\u00a0 See the distinction there?\n\nHow about the scope of the Kingdom?\u00a0 Take a look at Psalm 103:19, what is the scope of the Kingdom?\u00a0 Psalm 103:19, it says, \u201cThe LORD has established His throne\u201d where? \u201cin the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over everything.\u201d\u00a0 So the universal Kingdom God is ruling everything in all time and space but compare that to Daniel, back to Daniel 2, compare that to Daniel 2:35.\u00a0 Notice what this says; it says something very different.\u00a0 Daniel 2:35 says, \u201cThen the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel here is not talking about a Kingdom that\u2019s in existence for all time and space; he\u2019s talking about something actually landing on planet earth.\n\nNotice if you will Dan 2:44-45, \u201cIn the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that<\/em> Kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these Kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.\u201d\u00a0 [45, \u201cInasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s talking about God\u2019s Kingdom coming and destroying the Kingdoms of man so it\u2019s talking about something taking place on the earth.\u00a0 So Psalm 103:19 talks about God reigning over everything but Daniel 2:35 and into verses 44 and 45 is talking about something that is happening on planet earth.\n\nHow about the rule of God. In the universal Kingdom who is ruling everything?\u00a0 God is.\u00a0 Notice Daniel 4:17, it says, \u201cThis sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and\u00a0 He bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.\u201d\u00a0 So in the universal Kingdom who is reigning?\u00a0 God is reigning; God is reigning directly.\n\nNow compare that to Psalm 2 and verses 6-9 where God now is actually reigning through a man.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, Psalm 2:6-9, God is speaking, \u201cBut as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.\u201d\u00a0 [7, \u201cI will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, \u2018You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.\u201d]\u00a0 And the verse goes on, it says of this future ruler, [8] ]\u2018Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, [and the very<\/em> ends of the earth as Your possession.\u00a0 [9] You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.\u2019\u201d]\n\nSo you look at Psalm 2:6-9, God is not ruling directly, God is ruling indirectly through a person.\u00a0 So Daniel 4:17 indicates that God rules directly; Psalm 2:6-9 indicates that God is ruling indirectly through a person.\n\nHow about existence?\u00a0 The Universal Kingdom is always in existence; Psalm 93:1-2, [Psalm 93:1, \u201cThe LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.\u00a0 [2] Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.\u201d]\n\nGod is reigning, God is in authority, and His reign is not contingent at all upon any kind of human response.\u00a0 But other verses indicate that the coming reign of God is contingent upon a human response.\n\nNotice Exodus 19:5-6, this is an offer that the Lord made to the nation of Israel on Mount Sinai.\u00a0 \u201cNow then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; [6] and you shall be to Me a\u201d what? \u201ckingdom of priests and a holy nation.\u2019 These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 Now notice this word \u201ckingdom\u201d and notice how it\u2019s contingent upon the obedience of the nation of Israel.\u00a0 This kingdom will come IF you obey My voice, then you shall be My possession, then the Kingdom will come.\n\nSee, Psalm 93, verse 1-2 gives you the impression that God is ruling everything regardless of what people do but you go over to Exodus 19:5-6 and you get the idea that the kingdom comes only if a human condition of obedience is satisfied.\u00a0 Other verses talking about this condition\u2014what did John the Baptist preach?\u00a0 \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of God\u201d is what? \u201cat hand.\u00a0 [Matthew 3:1, \u201cNow in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, [2] \u2018Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 The kingdom of God, John the Baptist says, Matthew 3:2 \u201cis at hand,\u201d it\u2019s imminent but it\u2019s not going to come until you, Israel\u2026 what? Repent!\u00a0 So there the kingdom is conditioned upon a human response, very different than what we just read in Psalm 93.\n\nNotice Matthew 11, this is John the Baptist speaking, Matthew 11:2-6.\u00a0 See, John the Baptist got himself thrown in jail and in jail what is he asking?\u00a0 Lord, are You going to bring in the Kingdom or not?\u00a0 I mean, I don\u2019t see Kingdom conditions, I\u2019m in jail right now. So Matthew 11:2-6 says, \u201cNow when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word<\/em> by his disciples [3] and said to Him, \u2018Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 If You\u2019re the Messiah, Jesus, where is Your kingdom; he says I want to get out of jail for cryin' out loud. Verse 4, \u201cJesus answered and said to them, \u2018Go and report to John what you hear and see: [5] the<\/em> BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the<\/em> lame walk, the<\/em> lepers are cleansed and the<\/em> deaf hear, the<\/em> dead are raised up, and the<\/em> POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. [6] And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.\u201d\n\nIn other words, these miracles that are happening are the miracles that the kingdom will introduce to the planet, to the entire world if a condition is met.\u00a0 Look at verse 14, drop down to verse 14, still in Matthew 11, \u201cAnd if you\u201d that\u2019s the Jews, \u201care willing to accept it,<\/em> John himself is Elijah who was to come.\u201d\u00a0 John himself will come forth and fulfill all the prophecies in Malachi 4 concerning the fact that he is the Elijah that comes, the kingdom will come\u2014automatically? No, IF you are willing to accept it.\u00a0 So there Jesus conditions the coming of the kingdom on the response of Israel.\u00a0 See that?\n\nMatthew 23:37-39, Jesus says, \u201cJerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,\u201d but what? \u201cyou were unwilling.\u201d\u00a0 What He\u2019s saying is I wanted to bring you the kingdom but you wouldn\u2019t have Me.\u00a0 Verse 38, \u201cBehold, your house is being left to you desolate!\u00a0 [39] \u2018For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say,\u201d what? \u201c\u2018BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'\u2019\u201d\n\nThe kingdom is going into postponement and it will not come until you say \u201cBlessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD,\u201d which is a citation from Psalm 118:26, which is a Messianic Psalm.\u00a0 What He is saying is you will not have the kingdom until you, Israel, acknowledge Me as the Messiah.\n\nSo what in the world is going on here in the Bible?\u00a0 You\u2019ve got some verses that say the kingdom is always in existence, Psalm 93:1-2.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got another series of verses that we just walked through that condition the coming of the Kingdom on a human response, the whole thing is contingent on a human response.\n\nNow you look at all of these verses and there\u2019s no way these verses are talking about the same thing.\u00a0 So therefore there must be two phases of the Kingdom.\u00a0 There is something called a Universal Kingdom, which is eternal, universal, directly governed by God and always in existence.\u00a0 Praise the Lord for that or there would be no basis for us praying for God to answer prayers, right?\u00a0 We all acknowledge that God rules all time and all space and all things always.\u00a0 However, as I tried to show you there\u2019s another series of verses that indicate that the Kingdom is future.\u00a0 The Kingdom doesn\u2019t even necessarily cover everything; it\u2019s something that is coming to planet earth.\u00a0 And in this time period God is not going to govern directly; He\u2019s going to govern indirectly through a man and the coming of that kingdom is conditioned upon a human response.\u00a0 See all these differences?\n\nSo what I\u2019m trying to say is what you have on the left hand column is what you call the Universal Kingdom.\u00a0 What you have on the right hand column is what is called theocratic kingdom.\u00a0 And in this class we are not dealing with the Universal Kingdom.\u00a0 Nobody is challenging the idea that God is reigning and ruling in the universal sense. What we are dealing with, and I have it there underlined, is the Theocratic Kingdom.\u00a0 See, that\u2019s what the devil challenged, as I\u2019ll show you in a minute, right there in Eden.\u00a0 And that was what was lost and that was what was postponed.\u00a0 That is what today is in abeyance or postponement.\u00a0 And the goal of history, the goal of God is to restore that Theocratic Kingdom.\u00a0 The whole point of the Bible is how that Theocratic Kingdom is restored. And\u00a0 you\u2019re part of the picture because you are the wife\u2026 well now you\u2019re the bride of Jesus Christ and\u00a0 you\u2019re going to be ruling and reigning with Him there in that Theocratic Kingdom and the trials you are going through today are preparing you for that kingdom role.\n\nSo everything that\u2019s happening today, everything that\u2019s going on in your life is related to this plan that God has to restore the Theocratic Kingdom.\u00a0 So we\u2019re not dealing at all, other than to make this vast distinction in this course, with the Universal Kingdom; we\u2019re totally focused on the right hand column there, the Theocratic Kingdom.\u00a0 So that takes care of kingdom confusion illustrations; a series outline,\u00a0 you kind of know where we\u2019re going with those four major parts.\u00a0 And I wanted to draw that major distinction between the Universal Kingdom and the Theocratic Kingdom.\n\nNow having said all that let\u2019s start our journey, you should be looking at the second packet, which is chapter 2, and what we\u2019re starting now, now that we\u2019ve finished that introductory material, is we\u2019re starting our outline.\u00a0 And what\u2019s part 1 on the outline?\u00a0 What does the Bible say about the Kingdom?\u00a0 You\u2019re hearing the word Kingdom thrown around today all the time in the culture and what people are not doing is they\u2019re not going back to the biblical text and letting the text define the kingdom.\n\nSo the first part of our session is going through the biblical text and letting the biblical text define for us what the Kingdom is.\u00a0 There are 17 stops on the bus.\u00a0 By the time we get through these 17 stops, and tonight we\u2019re just going to barely get into number 1, by the time you go through these 17 stops on the bus you\u2019re going to say to yourself ah-ha, I know what the kingdom of God is because the Bible has told me.\n\nThe first stop on the bus is the Garden of Eden.\u00a0 The Kingdom program starts to be explained and developed in the Garden of Eden.\u00a0 So let\u2019s go back now to Genesis 1, this is prior to sin\u2019s entry into the world, and let\u2019s see the original design of God.\u00a0 Go back to the very beginning of your Bible, to Genesis 1 and verses 26-28.\u00a0 This is day 6 and God has created man and woman and this is what He says.\u00a0 \u201cThen God said, \u2018Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.\u2019 [27] God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. [28] God blessed them; and God said to them, \u2018Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.\u201d\u2019\n\nThe kingdom, the theocratic kingdom where God governs through a person is established at this point in human history.\u00a0 It\u2019s very clear that this is God\u2019s theocratic kingdom because look at the rulership that He vested Adam and Eve with.\u00a0\u00a0 He said \u201cLet them,\u201d not just the man, it\u2019s the man and the woman together as a team under God ruling over creation.\u00a0 Notice how literal creation is described here, they\u2019re supposed to rule over the fish, birds of the sky, the cattle, over every creeping thing.\u00a0 Going down to verse 28 they\u2019re to subdue creation.\u00a0 See how it keeps saying rule over?\u00a0 It\u2019s authority they were given, over physical things like fish, birds of the sky, creeping things of the ground, and so forth.\u00a0 So what is the original purpose for man and woman?\u00a0 It\u2019s to be governed by God.\u00a0 And they, as a team, are to govern creation, not for themselves but on God\u2019s behalf.\n\nNow go to Genesis 2:19-20, this is the significance of God allowing Adam to name the animals. See this business about Adam naming the animals on day six, and by the way, Genesis 2 is an amplification of day six; Genesis 1 all the way through Genesis 2:3 gives you the seven days.\u00a0 But after you get into Genesis 2:4 through the end of the chapter it\u2019s totally focused on day six; it\u2019s just giving highlights that weren\u2019t given in the broad overview in Genesis 1.\n\nSo what does it say there, Genesis 2:19-20, \u201cOut of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.\u00a0 [20] The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.\u201d\n\nSo at this point Eve has not yet been created.\u00a0 But very clearly God is bringing certain animals to Adam and He\u2019s not naming the animals for Adam, He\u2019s letting Adam name the animals and whatever name Adam gave to a certain animal that became its name.\u00a0 \u201cThe man gave names to\u201d the various animals that the Lord brought to him.\u00a0 Now we read this in Sunday School and say that\u2019s so cute, isn\u2019t it cut that Adam named the animals.\u00a0 And we miss the significance of what\u2019s going on here.\u00a0 In the Bible when you\u2019re given authority to name something you are simultaneously being given authority over what it is you\u2019re naming.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 He\u2019s vesting man with authority here, over the physical realm.\n\nHosea do I know that?\u00a0 Because of the biblical significance of naming.\u00a0 All the way back in Genesis 1:8 you see God naming things.\u00a0 \u201cGod called the expanse heaven.\u201d\u00a0 [Genesis 1:8, \u201cGod called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.\u201d]\u00a0 So God creates and names and rules over what He creates.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 So now God is giving that same authority to Adam.\n\nNow on page 8 of the book I have a quotation there from Arnold Fruchtenbaum, the great Hebrew Christian scholar; there\u2019s a paragraph there and I\u2019ll just read that to you very briefly.\u00a0 Fruchtenbaum says, \u201cThe naming was the first exercise of man\u2019s dominion and whatsoever man called every living creature that was the name thereof.\u00a0\u00a0 Man begins exercising his dominion over the animal kingdom with the act of naming the animals.\u00a0 The ability to name or rename is the exercise of dominion and authority.\u00a0 In Numbers 32:37-38 the Reubenites exercised lordship by naming and renaming cities in captured territories.\u00a0 [Numbers 32:37-38, \u201cThe sons of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim, [38] and Nebo and Baal-meon\u2014their<\/em> names being changed\u2014and Sibmah, and they gave other<\/em> names to the cities which they built.\u201d]\n\nIn 2 Kings 23:34 Pharaoh Neco used\u00a0 dominion over Judah to change the name of King Eliakim to King Jehoiakim.\u00a0 \u00a0[2 Kings 23:34, \u201cPharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there.\u201d]\n\nIn 2 Kings 24:17 the King of Babylon used dominion over Judah to change the names of King Mattaniah to King Zedekiah. [2 Kings 24:17, \u201cThen the king of Babylon made his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.\u201d]\n\nSo Adam, Fruchtenbaum says, going through these verses that I have on the screen, which we can\u2019t go through all of them but you can look these up on your own, Fruchtenbaum\u2019s conclusion, \u201cso Adam\u2019s naming of the animals was the exercise of man\u2019s authority over the animal kingdom, and so it was.\n\nLamech names Noah, Genesis 5:29.\u00a0 [Genesis 5:29, \u201cand called his name Noah, saying, \u2018Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s always this way in the Bible and human history, the parents name the child.\u00a0 Grandparents aren\u2019t supposed to name the child, I know we\u2019ve got some controlling grandparents out there but they\u2019re not supposed to name the child, the parents are supposed to name the child because the parents are the ones that have the God ordained what, over the child?\u00a0 Authority.\u00a0\u00a0 And of course we\u2019re studying the book of Daniel on Sunday mornings; remember the Jewish names of Daniel and his three friends: Daniel, Hananiah and Mishael, Azariah.\u00a0 And you can see from what I have on the screen all of those parts of God\u2019s character.\n\nWhat did Nebuchadnezzar immediately do as a first order of business when he took these youths into captivity?\u00a0 He gave them all new names.\u00a0 Daniel\u2019s name is changed to Belteshazzar.\u00a0 And then the names of his friends are changed to the names we\u2019re most familiar with when we recount the story, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and when you study the language of the original names and the new names what\u00a0 you\u2019re discovering is Nebuchadnezzar takes their godly names that reflect aspects of God\u2019s character and he renames to reflect vestiges of the Babylonian pantheon.\u00a0 And what Nebuchadnezzar is saying is I\u2019m in charge over you, I have authority.\u00a0 And the rest of the book of Daniel says guess what Nebuchadnezzar, you\u2019re wrong!\u00a0 You don\u2019t have authority, God in His universal kingdom reigns and has authority.\n\nSo what I\u2019m trying to get at is Adam naming the animals is a Big (with a capital B) Big deal.\u00a0 So you take Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 and you put it together and you discover what God has set up at the beginning of human history, let me give you a fancy name for this, this is the office of Theocratic Administrator, where God governs a person, in this case Adam and Eve, and they govern creation for God\u2014the office of Theocratic Administrator.\u00a0 And this is what the devil went forth to do in Genesis 3 and unseat; this is what he tried to destroy and he successfully\u2026 he didn\u2019t destroy it but he postponed it because look at Genesis 3, you have the results of Adam and Eve\u2019s sin, and one of the things you see in Genesis 3:11-13 is the reversal of the office of theocratic administrator.\n\nLook at Genesis 3:11-13.\u00a0 And by the way, there\u2019s a reason the devil came as a serpent into Eden.\u00a0 The devil is not a serpent, he\u2019s an angel [can't understand word], right didn\u2019t he come in as an angel?\u00a0 He came in as a serpent because he\u2019s trying to get Adam and Eve to listen to the animals that they\u2019re supposed to be ruling over, and listen to them and in the process rebel against who?\u00a0 God!\u00a0 So Satan comes right into Eden and he attacks the office of theocratic administrator that God established and then\u2026 you know the sad story, they fell for the lie.\u00a0 God called Adam and Eve to account and He said who told you that you were naked, Genesis 3:11, \u201c\u201cAnd He said, \u2018Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?\u2019 [12] The man said what? \u201c\u2018The woman\u201d it\u2019s the woman\u2019s fault, and by the way, it\u2019s Your fault too God because You\u2019re the one that gave me the woman.\u00a0 \u201cThe woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.\u2019\u00a0 [13] Then the LORD God said to the woman, \u2018What is this you have done?\u2019 And the woman said,\u201d the what? \u201c \u2018The serpent deceived me, and I ate.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So as the saying goes Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent and the serpent didn\u2019t have a leg to stand on.\n\nBut you see what\u2019s happening here?\u00a0 Male headship, the man is supposed to be leading his wife, the two of them are supposed to be governing creation for God and now what\u2019s happening is Adam is not leading his wife, he\u2019s listening to his wife; and he\u2019s rebelling against God in the process.\u00a0 And the two of them are not governing the animals for God the way they\u2019re supposed to, Genesis 1:26-28, they\u2019re listening to the animals.\u00a0 [Genesis 1:26, \u201cThen God said, \u2018Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.\u2019\u00a0 [27] God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.\u00a0 [28] God blessed them; and God said to them, \u2018Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.\u2019\u201d]\n\nAnd what the devil has done here so successfully is he has reversed the hierarchy that God established.\u00a0 And the moment that happened is the moment the office of theocratic administrator disappeared from planet earth.\u00a0 This is why the world now largely becomes the devil\u2019s playground.\u00a0 God asked Satan in Job 1, the oldest book of the Bible, Job 1:7, where have you come from? \u00a0What does he say?\u00a0 \u201cgoing to and fro in the earth. Job 1:7, Job 2:2.\u00a0 \u00a0[Job 1:7, \u201cThe LORD said to Satan, \u2018From where do you come?\u2019 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, \u2018From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Job 2:2, \u201cThe LORD said to Satan, \u2018Where have you come from?\u2019 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.\u2019\u201d] He\u2019s bragging, the earth is mine now; the office of theocratic administrator has been destroyed.\n\nIn the second temptation, as Luke\u2019s Gospel gives it, Satan offered Jesus\u2026 remember, the kingdoms of this world.\u00a0 [Luke 4:5-8, \u201cAnd he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. [6] And the devil said to Him, \u2018I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.[7] \u2018Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.\u2019 [8] Jesus answered him, \u201cIt is written, \u2018YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 That was never contested because it\u2019s true.\n\nAnd the world, Romans 8:19-22, at this point is placed into bondage.\u00a0 [Romans 8:19-22, \u201cFor the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. [20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. [22] For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.\u201d]\n\nThis is why creation itself is personified as \u201cgroaning\u201d awaiting its liberation.\u00a0 And who gains charge over the world?\u00a0 The devil.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he\u2019s called \u201cthe prince of the power of this world (I have all the verses there to look up on\u00a0 your own); the god of this age, the prince and power of the air.\u00a0 He is the one that the believer wrestles with, that\u2019s why we need the armor of God, we\u2019re living in the devil\u2019s world.\u00a0 He is like a roaring lion seeking someone to have a glass of iced tea with\u2026 no, it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cseeking someone to devour\u201d\u00a0 1 Peter 5:8 tells us.\u00a0 [I Peter 5:8, \u201cBe of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.\u201d]\u00a0 And 1 John 5:19 tells us that the whole world lies in the lap of the wicked one.\u00a0 [1 John 5:19, \u201cWe know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.\u201d]\u00a0 The theocratic kingdom was lost.\n\nSo what is God doing?\u00a0 And what is the goal of human history?\u00a0 It is to restore what was lost in Eden.\u00a0 There has to come a future time period where God governs a man and that man governs planet earth for God.\u00a0 Charles Ryrie says why does there need to be an earthly kingdom?\u00a0 Because if I was a Reformed theologian I\u2019d be telling you that we\u2019re in the kingdom now and what Jesus has at the right hand of the Father is enough.\n\nWhy does there need to be an earthly kingdom?\u00a0 Did He not receive His inheritance when he was raised and exalted from heaven?\u00a0 Is not His present rule His inheritance?\u00a0 Why does there need to be an earthly kingdom?\u00a0 Here\u2019s the answer: because He must be triumphant in the same arena where He was seemingly defeated.\u00a0 His rejection was by the rulers of this world ON THIS EARTH, therefore His exaltation must be on this earth.\u00a0 This earth cannot go out of existence until God reclaims ownership over it and reestablishes the office of Theocratic administrator.\n\nRyrie says, \u201cAnd so it shall be when He comes again to rule the world in righteousness, He has waited long for His inheritance, soon He shall receive it.\u201d\n\nDwight Pentecost writes, \u201cApart from the reign of Christ here on earth and apart from His rule God\u2019s purpose for man would never be brought to conclusion.\u00a0 God\u2019s purpose for the earth would be unrealized and the problem generated by Satan\u2019s rebellion would never be resolved.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Thus the physical, literal reign of Christ on earth is a theological and biblical necessity unless Satan is victorious over God.\u201d\n\nSee, if you don\u2019t have a point in time where the office of Theocratic administrator is restored and God governs a man and that man governs the earth then Satan wins.\u00a0 So the goal of history is how that office is reclaimed.\u00a0 Now when is it going to be reclaimed?\u00a0 In which time period?\u00a0 The millennial kingdom, where God the Father is no longer ruling over the first Adam as He did in Genesis 1 and 2, but the who?\u00a0 The last Adam.\u00a0 Who\u2019s that last Adam?\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\n\nNow remember what I said when we were back in Genesis 1?\u00a0 God said to THEM, plural, rule and subdue.\u00a0 Adam and Eve were ruling together.\u00a0 So I have a question for you: once the millennial kingdom comes and God the Father governs the last Adam and he governs creation for God and restores what was lost, where is Eve?\u00a0 You\u2019re Eve; I\u2019m Eve, we\u2019re ruling there with delegated authority alongside of him.\u00a0 And we\u2019re being prepared through circumstances of life, we\u2019re being prepared for that authority that we\u2019re going to wield alongside of Him.\n\nDo you see that?\u00a0 See the beauty of this?\u00a0 Because I watch these movies, like Star Wars and they talk about the death star blowing up planets and the earth is going to explode some people think.\u00a0 This earth cannot go out of existence until this office of Theocratic administrator is reasserted, which it will be for a thousand years and once God has won and Satan is banished and thrown in the lake of fire forever then He destroys the whole thing by what?\u00a0 Fire, and starts over with the new heavens and new earth.\u00a0 The new heavens and new earth cannot replace this earth until the earthly kingdom runs its course or else God is a perpetual loser.\u00a0 Do you follow me on this?\n\nSo your whole doctrine of a future kingdom begins as early as Genesis 1.\u00a0 Now I just want to read you one quote and with this I\u2019m finished.\u00a0 I ran into this just this week, it\u2019s not in my book, if I had known about this quote I would have included it.\u00a0 It\u2019s by one my favorite writers, Mark Hitchcock, who wrote a book on the end times called The End<\/em>.\u00a0 That\u2019s a great title, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 And he writes this:\u00a0 Johann Sebastian Bach, the great musician, sometimes slept more than he should have.\u00a0 His children, though, had a unique way of waking him up.\u00a0 They would go to the piano and being to play a composition; when they would get to the last note, the conclusion of the song, they would stop playing, they wouldn\u2019t play the last note.\u00a0 It worked like a charm, and it would always wake him up.\u00a0 He would get up from his sleep, go to the piano and play the final chord.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t stand to leave it hanging there incomplete and unfinished.\n\nAre you with me on this?\u00a0 If God doesn\u2019t reassert the office of theocratic administrator over planet earth, if there\u2019s not future earthly kingdom in your theology then you don\u2019t have a capstone to history\u2014the final note is never played!\u00a0 And so in essence the purpose of the Bible, what the Bible is trying to develop is how this office of theocratic administrator is one day reasserted, and after we leave Eden God immediately begins to develop this new office in the covenants.\u00a0 And what He proclaims in the covenants you start to see the development of this office of theocratic administrator.\u00a0 So we\u2019ll look at the Abrahamic Covenant and the related sub covenants next week.\u00a0 So you want to read chapter 3 in the book, The Coming Kingdom<\/em>.\u00a0 That\u2019s sort of the direction we\u2019re going.\n\nAll right, I did good, I stopped ad 8:04.\u00a0 People that need to leave to collect their kids can do so at this time and there may be some questions, I\u2019ll be happy to entertain any questions you might have.\n\n ","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t