Man in the Kingdom by Charles L. Taylor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 7, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 19.

Man in the Kingdom

By Charles L. Taylor

The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. Dan. 7:18.

MAN'S career began in a kingdom,—a kingdom of God upon earth. Man was the ruler; for God said to him, "Have dominion." The purpose of his creation was that he should rule,—"Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands." Ps. 8:6.

"In the image of God," "upright," man was fitted, as a saint, as God's "holy one," to rule wisely and well. And given, through faith, the blessing of everlasting life, his kingdom was to be an everlasting kingdom, a dominion that should know no end.

Now, the fact that sin entered, has in no wise set aside that divine plan. Only temporarily have its provisions been set aside. As man was created to rule, so he shall rule. "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever." Eccl. 3:14. Holy men were designed to control the earth, therefore holy ones "shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever."

The Everlasting Kingdom

The everlasting kingdom has been kept before the mind of man all through the ages. It was shown to Abraham (Gen. 13: 14, 15; compared with Rom. 4:13), to Isaac (Gen. 26:2, 3), to Jacob (Gen. 28:13, 14), and to all the faithful ones who have identified themselves with God's earthly work. Heb. 11:12-16. To His people, through the prophet Micah, the Lord said, "Unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem." Micah 4:8.

This same kingdom was revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar. Said Daniel to the great Babylonian monarch, "In the days of these kings 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." Dan. 2:44. And let the student note how the Word of God each time emphasizes the thought that it is to continue forever.

Jesus spoke frequently of the time when His earth kingdom would be established. At that time He would come in glory and sit upon His throne (Matthew 25); then, also, His disciples would sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28); then would be the time of final reward for all (Matt. 16:27); then, at that time, "shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:34.

Character of That Kingdom's Subjects

The character of that kingdom is most fully portrayed by holy writ. It will be a kingdom of peace. Ps. 72:7, 8. Its Ruler will be "the Prince of Peace." Isa. 9:6, 7. God's glory and righteousness will flood and fill the whole earth. Hab. 2:14; 2 Peter 3:13. The Tree of Life and the River of Life will be there (Rev. 22:1, 2), Edenic beauty will be everywhere (Isa. 35:1, 2), and every trace of the curse will be forever removed (Rev. 22:3).

Is it not the restoration of the kingdom once given to Adam?

But that which is of deepest interest to us is the fact that the inhabitants of that new world are men and women and children who served the Lord Jesus upon earth. They have overcome, and "have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Rev. 7:14. "Therefore," continues the Word, "are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple." Verse 15. Their place in the kingdom has been determined by the character formed during the probation period. They were first saints in time, afterward saints in eternity.

A saint is a holy one. Saints, or holy ones, take the kingdom. Holiness is from God. A holy man is a godlike man, having God's nature. God is eternal. To be godlike is to be a "partaker of the divine nature" and therefore like God, eternal. Holy people are those who have everlasting life. Everlasting life belongs to an everlasting kingdom. Saints, holy ones, those who are everlasting, are rightly the ones to take the kingdom.

No Death in That Kingdom

Of that glory land it is said, "There shall be no more death." Rev. 21:4. "The inhabitant

shall not say, I am sick." Isa. 33:24. Why? Ah, because "the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." The absolute forgiveness and removal of sin takes away all that leads to sickness and death. Perfect holiness means perfect life. Holiness really signifies wholeness, and true wholeness stands for true health. Holiness is health. In that blessed country of holiness, the bloom of health, of life in its perfection, of life in the absolute, of life everlasting, will be upon every cheek.

When testing has brought an individual (who has everlasting life only relatively and in trust) to the point where he will not longer yield to temptation, where he can not find it in his heart to do wrong (see 1 John 3:9), then he has reached the ultimate of Christian integrity, and can safely be trusted with the life in the absolute. Such are those who will have a place in the world to come. Having learned to live righteously under stress of temptation, it is perfectly safe to trust them to live under the responsibility of immortality.

The new earth kingdom of Christ will have as subjects those who can not die any more (Luke 20:36), because they can not sin any more.

Immortality Bestowed

Immortality is to be bestowed upon the entire host of God's redeemed and loyal servants. As they come forth from the tomb at the great trumpet-call, they leave behind all mortality, all death, all decay. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump," "the dead shall be raised incorruptible." 1 Cor. 15:52. At the same moment are the righteous living transformed. The bodies of their humiliation are fashioned anew; and with glory within and without, in company with their immortal Redeemer, they are permitted to stand forever in the presence of God.

God "only hath immortality," says the Scripture. 1 Tim. 6:16. Undoubtedly this will always be true, so far as immortality has a fountainhead; but an eternal, unbroken connection with that fount will give to the children of God eternal enjoyment of the gift.

Hasten on, glad day! Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! O that our God may speedily fulfil all His promises, and give His people soon to know the blessedness of life's final triumph, the crowning gift of immortality!