HIS RIGHT TO RULE by S.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 11, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 24.

HIS RIGHT TO RULE.

By S.

It was no empty statement that Satan made when he offered Christ the kingdoms of this world if He would fall down and worship him. Satan, through usurpation of the dominion given to man, had come into the possession of the kingdoms of this world. He had become, as Christ calls him, “the prince of this world.” But that princedom was man’s by gift of God. Through obeying Satan instead of God (Gen. 3:1-6), man placed himself under Satan’s power, became his servant (Rom. 6:16), and all that man had went with him under Satan’s dominion.

Adam was to have been the prince of this world, under God. The one who usurped his place took that position. So while God is Ruler of this universe, Satan the usurper is prince of this world, and is responsible for all the iniquity that has come to pass under that rulership, from the first sin in Eden to the last one recorded in the books of heaven—responsible in that he was the originator and propagator of evil. This does not release man from responsibility for the sins which he commits; for, while “all have sinned,” and man is “sold under sin,” Christ has paid the redemption price, that will set free every son of Adam who desires that freedom. Man is responsible for his choice—the right and power of choice is his.

Is Satan’s princedom eternal? Has he the right to rule? If not, in whom does the right exist? Will this earth, which was once given to man for a dominion, ever come back to man?

Satan’s Rule Is Not Eternal.

As the representative of this earth, Satan has in times past been permitted to enter heaven. Job 1:6-8. He entered there as the accuser of God’s faithful servants in the earth. Zech. 3:1, 2. But when Christ had demonstrated to the universe His power over Satan, that wicked being lost the privilege of entering the gates of gold. Christ said, “I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.” Luke 10:18, R.V. The same event is brought to view in Revelation 12:12, 13. That scripture makes it plain that Satan is now confined to the realm over which he is prince by usurpation. But that is not the extent of the curtailment of his powers and privileges. Christ overcame him in the wilderness and in His life of sinlessness on this earth. At the close of the great controversy an angel from heaven will receive authority to bind this father of sin, who once was a mighty covering cherub by the throne of God. Rev. 20:1, 2. But this binding is not his end. He is loosed again; and when the wicked dead are raised, he marshals them for an attack on the New Jerusalem, which has come down from heaven to earth

(Rev. 21:2); and in that last act of desperation he perishes with all his wicked hosts. Rev. 20:7-10. That ends the dominion, the princedom, of Satan in this earth; that ends the reign of sin, with all the misery, degradation, sorrow, and death, that came with the advent of Satan and the fall of man. “Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:14. Then will it be said, “O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?”

With the utter destruction of sin and its author is associated the renovation of the earth. Peter, by the Spirit of Inspiration, declares, “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13. The method of this renovation is stated in verse 10. The fire there mentioned will burn out the last root of sin with the sinner who has clung to it. Mal. 4:1. So we see that the princedom of Satan is not eternal. The course which he has taken from his rebellion in heaven until the last act of the great drama is closed has completely demonstrated Satan’s unfitness for any place in the universe of God. He obtained the dominion of this world by stealth, deception, and fraud, and by trying to set man against his Maker. Being out of harmony with God and all that is good, he has demonstrated to the eyes of all the universe that he has no right to rule in any portion of it.

In Whom Does the Right to Rule Exist?

Christ came to this earth to conquer where Adam failed; and not only that, but to make the conquest so complete that what had been lost through Adam’s fall could be regained through His triumph. Man had not only forfeited his own life, but had lost the possession which had been given to him. So there is more involved in Christ’s triumph over Satan than the demonstration of His own ability to live above sin. That is in it, but there is also in it the redemption of man from the bondage of sin and Satan, and the redemption of the earth from Satan’s domination. In other words, He triumphs over Satan and makes a way possible for all who will to be free again in God, to share in His triumph. He “was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), “that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Heb. 2:14, 15. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:22.

In this Christ has demonstrated His right to be the Head of the human family. He became human, partook of flesh and blood, in order that humanity might triumph in His victory. The human had failed, but humanity must triumph over its failure and over its traducer; so He became one of us. In this He brought humanity again in touch with divinity, for both were united in Him. As the Son of God He vindicated the love and justice and forbearance and wisdom of the Father; as the Son of man He purchased by His own blood the inheritance which man had lost. All is complete in Him. He has won the right by conquest and by purchase to be “the Head of every man.”

When God called a people out of the sin of this world to be His peculiar people, He purposed to establish His rule of love in that portion of the human family. He gave them His law that they might know His character and seek to be like Him; and He established prophets among them, through whom He would speak to them His will concerning them. He would be their Ruler, and their Deliverer from all their foes; but there came a time when sin came in among them to that extent that they clamored for a king that they might be like the nations around them. They got their king, and they became like the nations around them. The nations of this world were under the controlling influence of the enemy of God. Idolatry, with all the evils that go with it, was rampant in them all. Those nations had forgotten God. Israel had the wish of their hearts; and in that wish, God tells His prophet, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” 1 Sam. 8:7. So in becoming a nation like the nations around them, they became one of the nations of this world. Still God held to them for the sake of the honest ones who remained faithful to Him among them. His prophets anointed their kings; but their kings wandered so far from God that at last He declared to Israel’s ruler, “And thou, profane 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.” Eze. 21:25-27.

In this language the Lord declares that He will no longer have a ruler ruling in His name the people of His choice, until one should come who had the right to rule them. When that One comes, God will make Him the ruler of His people. That One was the Babe of Bethlehem; Jesus, the Saviour; Emmanuel, God with us; Messiah, the anointed One. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. . . . And He shall stand and rule [margin] in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.” Micah 5:2-4. He is the Branch that was to build the temple of the Lord. Zech. 6:12, 13. He is the “root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” Rev. 22:16. He is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David” (Rev. 5:5), and the only one who has the power and authority to “open the book, and to loose the seven seals.” He is the One who has suffered “in the flesh” in order that He might put an end to all suffering in the flesh. He has conquered him who conquered man. Satan overcame man and took his dominion from him. Christ has overcome Satan, and taken His usurped dominion from him. So in Him alone rests the right to the rulership of this world. As He partook of the nature of man, He has brought the dominion back to man. He has earned the right to rule, and God “will give it Him.”

At His glorious coronation all heaven will be in attendance. To the prophet Daniel it was given to witness the event. He says: “I 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.” Dan. 7:13, 14.

He has demonstrated His right to rule, and His coronation will soon occur. Then, when the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, and the earth has been purged of sin by fire, then will it be true that “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.” Rev. 11:15. He will rule not only in this earth, but in the hearts of His subjects as well. In fact, only those in whose hearts Christ reigns before He comes to receive His own will be permitted to be subjects of that kingdom whose sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness. Let the kingdom of God be set up now in your heart, that when it is established in the earth, you may enter into it to live and reign with Him forever. S.