«　WEEK 42　DAY 1　»

　　Rev. 11:15 …The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.

　　12:10 …Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night.

　　Revelation 11:15…indicates that after God’s judgment upon the earth, the earth will be taken over by and returned to God so that Christ will reign in His kingdom on the earth forever and ever…The Lord’s reigning [is] in the millennial kingdom and in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (22:5)… We will also reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12). All the overcomers will reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4, 6), and all the saved ones will reign forever and ever in eternity (22:5b). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 4291)

　　After Christ executes His judgment upon the nations at His coming back, the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of Christ (Dan. 7:13- 14; 2:44-45). At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, not only will the great tribulation come to an end, but also this age will be closed, the mystery of God will be finished (Rev. 10:7), and another age, the age of the kingdom, will come for a millennium, a thousand years. When the age of the kingdom arrives, the entire earth will be the kingdom of Christ.

　　Today the earth is a worldly kingdom under the rule of Satan. But the day is coming when the Lord, as the King, will regain this world…The world spoken of in Revelation 11:15 is the earth that the meek will inherit in Matthew 5:5.

　　Christ alone is the proper Owner of the earth. He paid the price on the cross to purchase the entire earth so that one day the kingdom would be established on it (13:44). Every inch of this earth belongs to Christ. We do not agree that any part of the earth belongs to anyone else. All others are usurpers; Christ is the unique Owner. Moreover, He is coming back to take possession of the earth (Rev. 10:1-2)…Wherever our travels may take us, we need to learn to declare, “This is my Lord’s property. Temporarily it is usurped by the enemy, but one day my Lord will come to claim what is His.” Sooner or later, the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

　　Revelation 11:15 says, “He will reign forever and ever.” In Revelation 22:5 we are told that the believers “will reign forever and ever.” To reign forever will be the final blessing to God's redeemed in eternity. This reigning is an issue, a glorious, eternal, corporate consummation of our present reigning in life through the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness unto eternal life. This is a blessing we will enjoy for eternity in the new heaven and the new earth. We will be kings over the nations, reigning forever.

　　We need to remember that we are members of the royal family, kings of the kingly family. Even when we are at a restaurant, we should remember that we are kings eating there. We are heaven-born kings; hence, we should never sell our royal status. If we consider that we are kings, we would not act lightly, talk loosely, or behave meanly. We can even preach the gospel with this in view. We may tell others that we are kings. Then we may start our preaching of the gospel by saying, “The Bible tells me that, as a child of God, I am a king.” There are many ways to preach the gospel. We need this kind of vital preaching of the gospel.

　　In eternity the believers as sons of God and as the constituents of the New Jerusalem will all be kings. The angels will be serving ones (Heb. 1:13-14), serving us. They are the servants of the royal family, and we are kings over the nations. This is the kingdom of God in eternity. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4291-4292, 4437-4438)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 421, 433