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Kingdom Basics

To understand the future Kingdom of Christ, we must understand a few basic facts from the Scripture:

God created Satan and the angels to be rulers in the universe. Satan was assigned rulership over the earth. But Satan was not satisfied with his position so he rebelled against God. God judged Satan for his rebellion. Part of Satan's judgment was that he would lose his position as ruler over the earth. And this is why God made man and woman (Adam and Eve)—to replace Satan as rulers over the earth. You can see this in Genesis 1:26 where God says: "Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over… all the earth."

But God did not immediately place Adam and Eve in that position of rulership. God wanted to test Adam and Eve to see if they would be obedient to Him before allowing them to begin their rule. Satan knew that God was testing Adam and Eve so he interfered by tempting Eve to sin (by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree). When Eve sinned and caused Adam to join her in that sin, both of them became disqualified to rule the earth. This meant that Satan would continue ruling the earth temporarily until God produced another replacement ruler who would prove, through obedience, to be worthy of this position. And not only did man lose the right to rule over the earth, but man also came under the eternal judgment of God for sin (hell or the lake of fire).

But it was God's intention for man to rule over the earth and God was not willing to let man be destroyed. So God provided a way to save man— a way to free man from the judgment of eternal hell and bring him back into the position of rulership for which he was created.

And this salvation for man came through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And according to God's plan, anyone who believes in Jesus, is freed from the judgment of everlasting hell and will live in eternity with God, enjoying His blessing. And this freedom from eternal hell into eternal blessing with God is given to us as a free gift when we believe in Jesus. It is something that we do not have to work for and we can never lose.

But bringing man back into the position of rulership over the earth would be different. Because before any man can rule, he must first be tested— just as Adam and Eve were tested. So once a person believes in Jesus and has eternal life with God, then God begins testing that believer to see if they will qualify to rule with Christ over the earth. And this testing has to do with obedience to the Word of God. Believers who live their lives in obedience to God's Word will inherit positions of rulership in the coming Kingdom of Christ.

This Kingdom will operate in two spheres. One sphere will be earthly. Jesus will have a city, a temple, and a throne on the earth in Jerusalem. And He will also have a throne in the heavenly sphere where Satan and his angels now reside. The Scripture tells us that "the heavens do rule" (Daniel 4:26). This means that the ultimate rule over the earth comes from this heavenly sphere. Those who sit on these thrones in the heavenly sphere will be those who have total authority over the earth. And Jesus is not going to rule from the heavens alone. And neither will He rule alone from His throne on the earth. The nation of Israel is going to be exalted to rule with Christ upon the earth over all the other nations that will exist during this time. And Christians who qualify through obedience to God's Word will rule with Jesus from the heavens. They will rule over Israel, over all the nations, and over all God's angels.

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