EXPLORING YOUR BIBLE by Rose E. Boose

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California, U. S. A. · Nov 11, 1930

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 57, No. 44.

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EXPLORING YOUR BIBLE

By Rose E. Boose

with the guidance of an expert Bible teacher

Miss ROSE E. BOOSE

Promises Concerning the Coming Kingdom

The beauties and glories of the new earth, which is to be the home of the redeemed throughout eternity, were presented in the last Bible study. To-day we will take a brief review of the promises that God has given in His holy word of this coming kingdom.

You have read of the original plan of God that this earth was to be a perfect home for man. (Isaiah 45:18.) The entrance of sin thwarted this original plan; but the price paid on Calvary made completion of it possible. Therefore, through the ancient prophets, God renewed His promise that man “shall inherit the earth” and have dominion over it.

To Abraham God said: “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” Genesis 13:14-17. Again: “He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:5, 6. Read also Genesis 17:5-8.

TWO PROMISES MADE

This promise should not be confused with the other promise to Abraham given in Genesis 15:13-21, where the very boundary is fixed to designate the earthly Canaan and the very time of the possession of that land is made very clear, even in “the fourth generation.”

The New Testament comments on the first and larger promise of Genesis 13, later repeated in chapter 17, in these words: “The promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13.

Abraham understood what the promise of God included, and lived as a pilgrim and a stranger upon earth, joyfully waiting for the inheritance of the new earth. This is made very clear in Hebrews 11, where we read: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. . . . By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. . . . These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. . . . They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:8-16.

PROMISE NOT YET FULFILLED

That promise is not yet fulfilled. Abraham never received the smallest part of this promised inheritance while he was upon this earth, for Stephen said, in speaking of God’s promise to Abraham, “He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on.” Acts 7:5. Yet Abraham was not disappointed, because he understood the broader application of the promise, that it included the restored kingdom of the new earth.

Paul dwells much on this point in his inspired writings. He says: “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:27, 29. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” Romans 8:14, 17.

To David God said: “I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. . . . And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:12-16. Later this promise was confirmed with an oath: “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing, that is gone out of My lips. Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.” Psalm 89:34-36.

The immediate seed of David proved untrue to this high privilege. God told very definitely what would happen if they departed from His commandments, and, although He bore long and patiently with them, the time came when, through Ezekiel, a message of rejection was sent in these words: “Thou, profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown. . . . I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.” Ezekiel 21:25-27.

CHRIST’S COMING ANNOUNCED

The coming of the One “whose right it is” was announced to the virgin of Nazareth in these words: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:32, 33. Here is the “Seed of Abraham;” the “Son

of David;” the “Son of God.” The seed has been manifested, the kingdom made sure, and “when the Son of man shall come in His glory, . . . then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.” Matthew 25:31. When He comes, it will be said, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15. Then “shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Daniel 2:44. “The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.” Daniel 7:18.

The restoration of the kingdom, through the plan of redemption, has been the theme of the Scriptures in all ages; the anticipation of its accomplishment, the joy of all the holy prophets and saints.

It is well to remember that there are two phases of the kingdom of Christ. They are the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory. The kingdom of glory you have just read about is still future, and is the eternal reign of Christ upon this earth in its renewed state. What, then, is the kingdom of grace?

John the Baptist announced this kingdom when he preached, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2. The same message was preached by Christ (Matthew 4:17) and the disciples (Matthew 10:7). When the Pharisees asked “when the kingdom of God should come,” Jesus answered: “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: . . . the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20, 21.

CHRIST IS REIGNING NOW

To-day Jesus desires to establish His kingdom in the heart, and He says to all: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.” Revelation 3:20. “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:17) is still the purpose of the gospel. When the door is open and Jesus comes in, then will be realized in each individual life the purpose of the prayer, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10.

Christ is reigning now upon the throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:14-16.) The gospel invitation is still sounding to “come boldly unto the throne of grace,” and “obtain mercy” and pardon for sins. This is the kingdom likened unto “a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.” Matthew 13:47-50.

During this reign of grace all who respond to the gospel of salvation are called from sin and allegiance to Satan into the glorious liberty of the sons of God through Christ Jesus our Lord. There could be no kingdom of glory without the preparatory work of the kingdom of grace.

Soon, very soon, the kingdom of grace will be superseded by the kingdom of glory, and again a message is to go to the ends of the earth to “prepare the way of the Lord.” It is stated that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14. This is the mission of the church of Christ to-day.