His Present Reign

The reign of Jesus began with his exaltation to the Throne following his Death and Resurrection and it will continue throughout the present age – Psalms 110:1.

The New Testament links the enthronement of Jesus to his Resurrection and Ascension by applying key Messianic texts from the Hebrew Bible to him. He qualified to reign because of his faithful “obedience unto death,” and this was confirmed when God raised him from the dead and seated him “at His right hand” where he rules over all things and provides his Assembly with the Gift of the Spirit.

[Crown of Thorns - Photo by BBC Creative on Unsplash]

Two passages from the Psalms figure prominently when describing his sovereignty over the Earth and nations. The Psalmist foresaw the commencement of the messianic kingdom upon Christ’s arrival before Yahweh and his enthronement:

• (Psalm 2:4-8) – “He that is sitting in the heavens will laugh, My Lord will mock at them. Then will he speak to them in his anger, and in his wrath, confound them. Yet I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain. Let me tell of a decree, Yahweh has said to me: You are My son. I, this day, have begotten you. Ask of me and let me give nations as your inheritance and as your possession the ends of the earth” – (Hebrews 1:1-14, Revelation 1:4-6, 12:1-5).

• (Psalms 110:1) - “The declaration of Yahweh to my Lord: sit at my right hand until I make your foes your footstool.”

Jesus confirmed his status as the Messiah and combined messianic expectations with the figure known as the “Son of Man” by alluding to the latter Psalm in his testimony before the High Priest and a passage from the Book of Daniel:

• (Matthew 26:63-65) – “And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, You have said; nevertheless, I say to you, henceforth, you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

• (Daniel 7:13) – “I saw in the night-visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days <…> And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.”

The High Priest understood what Jesus said, therefore, he “rent his garments, saying: He has spoken blasphemy!” Not only did he identify himself as the Messiah, but he also asserted his right to reign from the Throne of David since he had received his authority and kingdom from the “Ancient of Days.”

In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter cited the same Psalm to confirm what God had accomplished only a few weeks earlier when he raised Jesus from the dead:

• (Acts 2:32-36) – “This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens: but he said himself: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

God made Jesus both “Lord and Messiah.” He was reigning already from God’s “right hand” on the Day of Pentecost, and this was proven by his right to give the “Promise of the Father,” the Holy Spirit, to his Church, a reality confirmed by “signs and wonders,” as promised by the Prophet Joel - (Joel 2:28-30, Acts 2:17-22).

Peter also pointed to the present reign of Jesus when he alluded to Psalm 110 in his first epistle. Not only is he ruling from the Divine Throne, but even the hostile spiritual powers have been subjected to him:

• “He is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.” – (1 Peter 3:22).

PAUL AND HEBREWS

Likewise, the Apostle Paul presents Christ’s reign in the present tense. Since Jesus possesses all authority, he reigns over the “powers and principalities” whether hostile to him or not:

• (Ephesians 1:17-22) – “According to the energy of the grasp of his might which he energized in the Christ when he raised him from among the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavens over-above all principality, authority, and power, and lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one, and did put all things in subjection beneath his feet” - (See also - Colossians 1:12-20, 2:10-15).

When Paul applies clauses from both Psalms to the exaltation of Jesus, he uses past tense verbs. Since his resurrection, the Son of God has been implementing God’s Kingdom and subjugating all his enemies, a process that will continue until his future “arrival.”

• For he must reign until he will put all his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy, death, will be destroyed, for He put all things in subjection under his feet” - (1 Corinthians 15:20-26).

The listed events leave no room for further victories over any enemies after Christ’s “arrival” on the Day of the Lord, a day that will mean nothing less than the cessation of death and the consummation of the Kingdom of God. Thereafter, “God will be all in all.”

In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul declares that the obedience of Jesus even “unto death” is why his Father exalted him and made him Sovereign over all things:

• (Philippians 2:8-11) – “And in fashion being found as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient as far as death, yea, death upon a cross. Wherefore also, God uplifted him far on high and favored him with the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus, every knee might bow, of beings in heaven and on earth and underground, and every tongue might openly confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father.” - (Compare Romans 14:9-11).

The fact that Jesus already is “far above” all competing powers and principalities means that he holds the highest imaginable authority. His sovereignty is not limited to Heaven, restricted to the Earth, or delayed until some future date. He reigns over all things in the present.

In the Book of Hebrews, both Psalms are cited to demonstrate the superiority of Jesus over the now obsolete Levitical system. For example:

• (Hebrews 1:3-5) - “Having achieved the purification of sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become by so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels said he at any time: You are my Son; this day have I begotten you?”

• (Hebrews 5:5) – “So Christ also glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said to him: You are my Son; this day have I begotten you, as he said also in another place, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” – (Psalm 110:4. See also Hebrews 8:1, 10:12, 12:2).

Jesus himself echoed the Second Psalm when he declared that he had received absolute sovereignty - “All power in Heaven and on the Earth has been given to me.” Therefore, he began to send his disciples to proclaim the Good News “to all the nations of the Earth”:

• “Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion <…> I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession ” – (Psalm 2:6-8, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8).

Jesus is reigning already. His sovereignty began following his Death, Resurrection, and his Exaltation to God’s “right hand.” Since then, he has been subjugating his enemies wherever his followers announce the “Gospel of the Kingdom of God,” and every heart won by the Good News becomes reconquered territory and further evidence that Jesus is ruling from the Messianic Throne “on Zion.”

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SEE ALSO:

• The Ruler of Kings - (Jesus, the Faithful Witness, now reigns supreme over the Kings of the Earth, and he is shepherding the nations to the Holy City of New Jerusalem)

• Ruling the Nations - (Jesus is the promised King from the Line of David who guides the Nations of the Earth to the Holy City, New Jerusalem)

• The Shepherd King - (The Lamb’s reign commenced with his Death and Resurrection. Since then, he has been shepherding the nations to the Holy City, New Jerusalem)

• Why do the Nations Rage? - (The conspiracy by the earth’s kings to unseat God’s Son is applied by the New Testament to the plot to destroy Jesus – Psalm 2:1-6)