Our Papa is a King. He is the King. He has a domain, or realm over which he reigns, and his royal rule is absolute. Where is this country, or territory that is ruled by our heavenly Father? It is everywhere! When Jesus ascended back into heaven he proclaimed, “All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18) How much authority does Jesus have? All authority. Does he have all authority now? “All authority is (present tense) given unto me.” There is no place where Jesus is not King. Jesus has the right and power to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience everywhere. This article will substantiate from Scripture how Jesus’ kingdom has already come, is in the process of coming, and one day will be fully consummated. Our prayers and our lives must be seeking for and submitted to his kingdom. 

Jesus’ dominion is already established.

Heaven, of course, has been and is under the complete sway of Jesus. All of the angels receive commands from him and turn not to the left hand or to the right. All of heaven worships Jesus on his throne as God, Lord and King.  

What about among demons and their god, Satan? Surely there must be some dark den somewhere that is ruled only by the Devil. Fortunately, they too fall within the jurisdiction of King Jesus: “And having spoiled (disarmed, stripped off) principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly (public disgrace, shame), triumphing over them.” (Colossians 2:15) At his first coming, Jesus came upon the Devil, disarmed him and fatally wounded him. Most specifically this happened at his crucifixion and resurrection:

“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” (John 12:31)

“And I will put hostility between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it (Jesus) shall bruise (compress with violence, trample) thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) This promise came to pass at the cross. 

“It pleased Yahweh to crush him (Jesus); he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin (the Crucifixion), he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days (The Resurrection), and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand…Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.” (Isaiah 53:10,12)

“When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.” (Luke 11:21-22) Jesus penetrated the Devil’s fortress, disarmed him, bound him and carried away the spoils. 

At the cross & resurrection Jesus put the dominion of Satan and sin to death. His return home to heaven was a glorious, triumphal procession! “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” (Ephesians 4:8) It was a common practice during the Roman Empire for a city to host a festive victory parade for conquering soldiers as they were coming back home, a part of which they would give gifts to the soldiers. Imagine what the heavenly parade was like when Jesus came home as the conquering Son of God! Jesus not only defeated the most formidable foe, but he also rescued countless prisoners from him; and instead of the host of heaven showering Jesus with gifts, Jesus himself as the conqueror gave gifts to us, the redeemed, rescued souls!!! Ultimately he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit! He, “delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” (Colossians 1:13)

Do you remember when wicked Haman had to parade Mordecai through the streets of Shushan? Try to imagine Satan, that old serpent, the devil, who deceived the whole world- bruised, bloody, defeated- parading Jesus through the streets of Heaven, proclaiming, “Jesus is Lord!” Glory, Hallelujah!!!!!!! “Thank you, God!” We could stop here, but we’ll continue on… 

Is Jesus the Sovereign only in heaven, or the spiritual realm? “All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” This verse should be sufficient for us to see that his sovereignty is also currently over all of the earth, but in case we need more proof: 

God the Father “raised him (Jesus) from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things…” (Ephesians 1:10-21) Jesus lord’s over Biden, Trump, C*v*d, mandates, America, Democrats & Republicans, the Supreme Court, Facebook, Google, China, Bill Gates, the Taliban, Islam, etc…Whatever new infamous name crops up in the future Jesus will lord over them as well. 

The Father has given to Jesus “authority over all flesh…” (John 17:2) Authority not only over all spirits in the heavenly realms, but also over all flesh and bone bodies in the earthly realm,

Daniel, “saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 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, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14) Notice that this ‘coming’ would happen when the Son of man would come to the Ancient of days, not from the Ancient days. This is a vision of the Ascension of Jesus, not the Second Coming, which means that this is already in play. If this is true, according to this verse Jesus already has dominion over all peoples, nations and languages of the earth. 

Coupled nicely with Daniel’s prophecy is Isaiah’s, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 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 for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7) Jesus has an increasing government that will have no end. 

Jesus’ kingdom is in the process of coming

If Jesus truly is reigning right now over all people and places, how do we explain the presence and power of evil still at work in the world? There are still wiccans, prisons and evil politicians; sickness, sinners, sin and death are still here?

God has always been completely sovereign over all things. He works everything after the counsel of his own will. In his lordship he has given his creatures a certain level of freedom to make choices. Evil has a certain allowance, but only according to the authorization of Christ. However, something decisive did happen at the first coming of Christ, which we have already seen biblically. The Gospel is the beginning of God actively beginning to reclaim the kingdoms of this world. But the process by which he has chosen to do this is a slow process (at least by our standards).  

A couple parables in Matthew 13 help to demonstrate this point:  

“The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” (Matthew 13:31-32)

Jesus came into the world establishing his kingdom with small beginnings, but at the end of the first century it was beginning to take over an empire. The kingdom does not plop down out of heaven on a completely evil world. The seed of the kingdom was planted at Christ’s first coming. The tree has been growing ever since. Branches have been growing around the world. Some branches have even been cut off, but others shoot out this way and that. One day the tree will be fully grown. 

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” (Matthew 13:33)

Here leaven is used in a positive sense to illustrate how the kingdom of God comes. Like the yeast in dough, it is invisible at first, but slowly permeates the entire loaf. This is how the kingdom comes. 

Since the advent and enthronement of Christ, God has been actively enforcing his Lordship in new and permanent ways in the earth: The Gospel has been unlocked to the nations; the house of God is now worldwide instead of isolated in Jerusalem; The gift of the Spirit has come to reside forever in his people, to purge the conscience and make our bodies holy temples for him; “Christianity” is the largest religion in the world; freedom and the rule of law has gained ground like never before in history; etc. The tree has been planted and is growing, certainly. The house of God is past the design phase and is under construction. 

I remember one day my mother-in-laws cat had cornered a mouse in the driveway. The cat wasn’t killing the mouse, but rather abusing and taunting it before it would kill it. I have never experienced a cat move or make sounds like this cat did as it tortured the horrified mouse. The cat would dance around it, and if the mouse tried to escape the cat would pounce its paws on it, securing it’s soon death again. I think this is a good picture of the relationship that the devil has to our King, Jesus. The devil is the mouse, Jesus is the cat. The cross and resurrection “cornered” the devil. Jesus in his infinite wisdom and good plan, is allowing the devil to continue to be active in the world, but only according to his perfect plan.     

This truth is similar to our relationship as believers with sin as well: 

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin…death hath no more dominion over him. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin…” (Romans 6)

As believers we are free from sin and death, they do not have dominion over us. But sin and death are still active. They are pests, but not princes Christians.

Jesus’ kingdom will fully come one day 

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down (destroy, abolish, do away with) all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-27) There will be an end, when Jesus will completely abolish, or do away with the devil, sin and death. He is currently reigning, until he puts every enemy under his feet. This is going to happen at his second coming. 

Paul charged Timothy that he should, “keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in his times he shall shew (make manifest), who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;” (1 Timothy 6:14-15) Jesus is currently the blessed and only Potentate. It may not look like it right now, but there is coming a day when he will make it clearly known to the whole world who truly reigns over all.  

How are you relating to the kingdom of God?

Are you in the kingdom of God? 

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46)

This kingdom is worth forsaking all for to obtain. This world and everything in it will come to an end. God’s kingdom is the only eternal kingdom. Is Jesus your king? We must experience the new birth in order to enter into his kingdom: 

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) To experience this spiritual birth we simply must confess our sinfulness to Christ, humble ourselves at his feet and receive him as our Lord and Savior. His promise is to receive all who truly come to him, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37)

To believers – Are you merely a citizen in the kingdom or are you a soldier?

Are you glad that Jesus has rescued you and brought you into his kingdom, but are content watching others labor with Christ to advance his kingdom in the world? 

“See ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) Place God’s kingdom work at the top of your priority list. Don’t be afraid. God will lead and feed us if we serve him. 

“Father in heaven, thank you for coming into this world and gaining victory for yourself. As you said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” help us to understand the kingdom you have won. May every soul who reads this be rescued and joined to your kingdom. Help us to yield our minds, hearts, bodies, homes and family to your service. May your kingdom be more and more established in our cities and nations we live in. We look for and long for the day when it is fully manifested that you are the blessed and only Potentate. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”