Two Kingdoms

And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. and he shall reign for ever and ever. Rev. 11:1

Does this passage refer to the past or the future? In my childhood church, we sang a hymn titled "This is My Father's World". Such a beautiful sentiment. How was I to know that this was a hymn referring to Satan?

The temptation of Jesus in Luke 4 proves this point. Satan says that he will give all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus, if only he will worship him. It is hard to find a more contentious point. When we state that the present world belongs to Satan, and has since the Fall in Eden, we are met with anger and scorn.

An entire segment of Christianity--a very large and powerful one--teaches in their seminaries (otherwise known as theological cemeteries) that the Kingdom of God is presently being "perfected". It is, of course a slow process, almost invisible, in fact. And of course there are setbacks from time to time, but we're getting there. That anyone can look at the world and say it is getting better, proves the power of deception, in whose throes so many are held.

Not long ago I sat in a class where sweetness and goodness just overflowed. To these people, The blood of Jesus was not mentioned. It must have been considered as superfluous. After all we're improving the world so much that it will soon be good enough for Jesus to return and say, "Well done!"

You know how I like to let people alone and never challenge their beliefs. It's a weakness of mine. But in this smiley-goodness class I said, "Isn't it wonderful how much better people are today than in the days of your parents and grandparents?"

The response was ludicrous. So many happy faces got that melted cheese look. What is more pathetic than the melting of a phoney smile? I'm sure the smiles and bright eyes have returned by now. I haven't been back to see.

But the coming of God's kingdom is best described as "striking", literally! Jesus said his return, like lightning, would be too fast to observe. It is pictured in Daniel chapter two as the "smiting stone", which first destroys the kingdoms of this world, then keeps growing larger.

God's kingdom does not coexist with Satan's kingdoms. He starts with a clean slate. The very dust of the great image is blown away leaving no traces before God's kingdom is established on the Earth. I shun the company and the churches that teach otherwise.