Is Jesus the Messiah sitting on the throne of David today?
Acts 2:29-35
“Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’”
Psalms 110:1-2
The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
The throne of God in heaven is where God rules the heavens and the earth. This is the throne which Apostle John saw in heaven (Revelation 4:1-2).
When Jesus the Messiah ascended into heaven, He sat at the right hand of God, that is, He became the right-hand man of the Father. All authority of the Father in heaven and on earth was given to Him (Matthew 28:18); a robe dipped in blood, with inscription “King of kings, and Lord of lords”, was given to Him (Revelation 19:16); and a strong scepter was given to Him; to rule and reign over all universe, not only over His enemies.
Thus, the Messianic Kingdom of Jesus is not a coming kingdom; it is not a future kingdom. Rather, the Messianic Kingdom of Jesus is a present kingdom, a here-and-now kingdom. The main differences between now and after Christ’s return to earth, that is, between the Consummation Kingdom and the Millennial Kingdom, are the physical locations of His throne, and the true “Sabbath” rest on earth during the “seventh” Millennium.
Therefore, Jesus – a descendant of David, the resurrected Messiah, and the “Lord” concerning whom David himself prophesised – is sitting on the throne of David right now.
In other words, at the right hand of God is the throne of David; at the right hand of God is Zion from where Jesus the Messiah is stretching forth His strong scepter; at the right hand of God is where Jesus the Messiah rules and reigns in the midst of His enemies; and at the right hand of God is where Jesus the Messiah will subject all His enemies under the feet of His incarnational body called the church (or “ekklesia”).
Ephesians 1:19-23
… These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The reign of Jesus as the Messiah-King has begun since the day of His ascension to the right hand of God. His rule has been enforced with authority and power through the church as His body since Pentecost. His Kingdom today is not a spiritualised Davidic Kingdom but a real and tangible Messianic Kingdom extending from heavenly Zion to the earth.
Hebrews 12:22-24
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church [“ekklesia”] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
Therefore, the church is not a weak church which has no authority and power over the affairs of the earth. It is mighty in Christ to save, make known the manifold wisdom of God, pull down strongholds, prevail over the gates of hell, and subject enemies under its feet, including Satan, the Anti-Christ, the beasts, one world government, etc. Whom shall we fear? Surely, He who is in us and working through us is greater than he who is in the world.
Has the church today attained to what Jesus Christ has foreordained it to be?
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
The church is the incarnational body of Jesus Christ. He is not too weak to rule and reign through His own incarnational body, is He? If ambassadors of Christ have power and authority, how much more Christ in His incarnational body?
However, in order to rule and reign with Christ, the incarnational body must first conform to the image and stature of Christ in the days of His flesh (Romans 8:29; John 17:18-19).
So, it is not impossible nor improbable for the church to rule and reign with Christ from heaven to earth; rather, the church is just not ready in the image and stature of the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Jesus is building His church (Matthew 16:18-19). We may have some distance to go before we arrive at the image and stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13), but if we believe right and build right, we shall attain to it; for the body of Christ shall be the body of Christ.
Do you believe it? Do you want to rule and reign with Christ in power and authority during the last days?
To read more about this topic, you may go to “Let the Body of Christ Be the Body of Christ” and “The Eternal Work of Jesus Christ“.
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