F.E. Marsh :: 75. Christ's Peaceful Reign

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ISAIAH 11:1-9

THE term “The kingdom of God” is like a majestic river which is made up of three tributary rivers, hence the three rivers make the one what it is, in its flow and force. There is the kingdom of grace, or the spiritual realm into which the believer in Christ is introduced (Col. 1:13); there is the kingdom of glory, or the millennial reign of Christ over the earth (Rev. 5:10); there is the kingdom of God, or the eternal government of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the one God (1 Cor. 15:24). In the first, “Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life” (Rom. 5:21); in the second, “A King shall reign in righteousness” (Isaiah 32:1); and in the third, Righteousness shall dwell (2 Peter 3:13).

Christ is now seated upon His Father’s throne (Rev. 3:21), but He will yet sit upon His own throne (Matt. 25:31). It is after His appearing in judgment with His saints, that Christ sets up His kingdom, as the Holy Spirit implies when He speaks of Christ’s “appearing and kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:1). His appearing first, and then His kingdom. There can be no millennium without the King. There is a time coming when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of the Lord and His Christ (Rev. 11:15). It is also stated that at the end of the thousand years of Christ’s millennial reign (Rev. 20:4-6) He will give up the kingdom to His Father (1 Cor. 15:24).

The Scriptures are occupied with two main facts, namely, Christ’s sufferings and His glory (Luke 24:26), and these two facts are like two mighty girders of a bridge, which are the main factors in the bridge, and to which the rest of the bridge is related. Thus, all truth is related to Christ’s suffering and glory. Or, to change the figure, Christ’s suffering and glory are the Jachin and Boaz, the supporting pillars of the great temple of truth (1 Kings 7:21). Now, as Christ has actually and literally suffered and died, so He will as actually and as surely reign in glory, and on the earth where He was rejected and where He suffered.

In the points before us we have one or two intimations as to the character of Christ’s Kingship.

1. Royal King (Isa 11:1). He comes from the royal line of David, for He is to be a stem out of Jesse. Christ is the Son of Man as to His humanity; the Son of God as to His Deity; the Son of David as to His royalty. It is as the latter He is to sit on the throne of His father David (Luke 1:32; Ps. 132:11; Isa. 9:6-7).
2. Regal King (Isa 11:2). Many an earthly king has been royal as to the place he occupied, but has not been attired in the regal robes of moral worth as far as his life was concerned. It is in this sense that I use the word “regal,” for the regalia of moral and spiritual worth were ever seen in the life of Christ, and will be seen in Him as King, as is indicated in the sevenfold characteristic of the Holy Spirit resting upon Him.
3. Regarding King. The Revised Version of Isa 11:3 reads, “His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.” As Christ delighted to do the will of God in His humiliation (Psalm 40:8), so the same delight shall fill Him in His glory.
4. Righteous King (Isa 11:4-5). No unrighteousness shall be in Him, and no unrighteous action shall ever be done by Him. No bribe shall buy Him, and no action shall blind Him.
5. Resolute King (Isa 11:4). He shall smite the wicked. Saul lost his kingdom through his hesitation to slay the enemy of God (1 Samuel 15:22-23), but with Christ there will be no hesitation, for resolutely and faithfully shall He put down the wicked one mentioned in 2 Thess. 2:8, and all who, like him, are guilty of selfwill.
6. Rest-giving King (Isa 11:6-8). The whole creation, which now groaneth and travaileth in pain, is to be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:21-22). The animal creation is to share in the peace of the peaceful reign of Christ (Isa 65:25).
7. Regenerating King (Isa 11:9). The earth, which has been cursed and blighted by sin, is to share in the blessing of Christ’s rule. The time of regeneration (Matt. 19:28), the time of the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21, R.V.), is when Christ reigns in millennial glory. The presence of Christ is the great factor in this reign of peace. In like manner, as Christ is known now, and allowed to reign in our hearts, so we have peace.