When King Jesus Reigns on the Earth
by C.O. Stadsklev. The Bible Advocate, February 1, 1937
Lest someone might think the Bible does not teach that Jesus Christ will return bodily and really reign on this physical earth, I shall read a few scriptures. Acts I;9-11, “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up , behold, two men stood by them in white apparel: which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” In Zech. 14:9 we read, “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” In Revelation 11:15 we read, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and His Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” ...
When King Jesus reigns the bad figs will no longer be able by propaganda to stir up the nations to war while they take the spoils and further their own ungodly ends. Instead of war preparations that are bankrupting the nations and will destroy civilization, the nations will then “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn way anymore.”
When King Jesus reigns, than God, there will be no more poor or destitute and none extremely rich. In Isaiah 65:21, 22, 23 we read, “and they shall build houses, and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the works of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, not bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.” Neither will there be any strikes not labor troubles. For in Isaiah 11:4 we read, “ With righteousness shall he (that is (Jesus) judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.” In Psalm 72:4, 12 and 13 we find these words: “He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor, He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper, He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.”
When King Jesus reigns on this earth there will be no famines, droughts or crop failures. In this same 72nd Psalm, which deals with the reign of Jesus Christ here on earth, we read in verse 16, “There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon.” In other words, the planting of an handful of corn will appear at harvest time like the trees of Lebanon. In Isaiah 35:1, 2 we read, “ The wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing.” Prophet Micah says, “Every man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid.” Neither will anyone have to work 6 or 7 days a week in order to keep soul and body together and have neither time nor energy for mental and spiritual development.
When King Jesus reigns there will be no sickness nor disease, In Isa. 35:5, 6 we read, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart (that might include all who for any reason are not able to be up and around) and the tongue of the dumb sing.” Even in the Old Testament times God promised Israel if they would serve Him He would take sickness away from their midst. See Exodus 23:25 and Deuteronomy 7:15.
Thus far, we have surely given scripture for our statements. Now I want to give you some of the scriptures which cause us to believe that we Christians, in a body like unto the Lord’s glorious body, will rule and reign on this earth with Christ. If we believe these scriptures we will gladly suffer and sacrifice anything in order to be overcomers. These scriptures will also cause every thinking and truth loving person to have a desire to become a Christian. In Revelation 20:4, 6, St. John says, “And I saw thrones and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” In Revelation 3:21 Jesus says to u Christians, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” In Matthew 19:28 “Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” While the twelve disciples will sit on the twelve thrones of Israel, there are millions of other positions and offices which must be occupied. ...
As we anxiously wait for the glorious millennial reign of Jesus Christ to be ushered in, the question naturally arises, When will Christ return and stop all the suffering, sorrow and sin we see on every hand. In Luke 17 Jesus tells the disciples that as it was in the day immediately before the destruction of Sodom so it will be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. Turning to Ezekiel 16:49 we read this remarkable verse: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” In other words, pride and overproduction on the one hand with unemployment, poverty and destitution on the other hand.
The Prophet Zechariah in chapter 8 and verse 10 writing as tho the thing was past says the following about the days preceding the coming of the Lord: “For before these days there was no hire for men, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbor.” The tractors and automobile with the many labor savings machineries have replaced both man power and horsepower until there is no hire for man or beast; that is unemployment. God intends these inventions to be a blessing and to lift the curse of hard and irksome toil from both man and beast; but because of selfishness and greed these providential blessings have in some instances become a curse. And not until we have a scriptural system of distribution will all the people profit by the many and wonderful inventions God is giving this generation.
Again as to when the Lord will appear, we read in Psalm 102:16, “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.” Zion is surely being built up, therefore, we can expect the Christ to appear in glory, In Luke 21:28, 27 we read, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
More on the millennial reign and the kingdom of God can be found in the following:
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it? Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near? Two related sermons are available Millennial Utopia and The Millennium.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2029 or or 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God's Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons: The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.