Fighting For Real Estate - Part #18: When Did God Establish Christ’s Kingdom?

“During the time of these kings, God will set up a Kingdom which will never End!” (Daniel 2:44)

By Richard Allen – May 26, 2025

We’ve journeyed through many passages in the New Testament, seeking the “truth” that God’s Word teaches about our “so great Salvation,” describing what the faithful have to look forward to.  One thing is crystal clear: “We are yet looking forward to our final redemption in Christ, that is to be raised in a new body like His, and for God to once again “dwell with us.”  All of the “carnal” (not literal) futurist promises of a “Jewish earthly kingdom” where Christ supposedly reigns, seated on an earthly throne, while a half mile away Jewish Priests will literally be sacrificing animals by the thousands, is a complete deception. Jesus will never again struggle with sinful men – except in judgment!  Any scenario where mankind will once again get to reject Christ’s perfect rule and reign on earth at the end of Jesus’ 1,000-year reign, are fanciful fables!  We know this for sure because God has already “given unto Jesus the throne of His Father David” (Revelation 3:21), which will have no end. In fact, when Jesus comes again and destroys the last enemy, death, at the Resurrection, He will Himself submit to the Father’s Kingdom:

“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

In an earlier Blog, Fighting for Real Estate: Part #6 - “Where is David’s Throne?” (March 6, 2024), we noted the writer, Luke, made it clear that God raising Jesus from the dead in the Resurrection – was the fulfillment of God’s promise to raise up David’s Son (Jesus) to his throne (Acts 2:30). There are other passages which teach that Christ has already “gone into a far country (heaven) to receive a kingdom (Luke 19:12), and return. But possibly the most powerful passage is from the Book of Daniel, Chapter 2.  Here’s an excerpt from Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. In his dream the king had seen a giant statue with a head of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze and the calves and feet of iron and clay. Daniel revealed that each of these metals represented four coming kingdoms: Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and finally Rome. But while Nebuchadnezzar beheld these world empires, a rock was hurled at the feet and crumbled the entire statue to powder. Here’s Daniel’s interpretation of what the stone was:

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Just as you saw that a stone was broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so, the dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy” (Daniel 2:44-45).

We know that the Kingdom of which Daniel spoke (i.e. the stone), was the Rock of our Salvation, Jesus Christ!  But of particular interest is: “When, was His Kingdom established?" Did Jesus’ Kingdom literally crush and crumble all of the human kingdoms that came before it?  In order to answer this, we’ll need to look at this passage in Daniel Chapter 2, and then in my next Blog, Daniel Chapter 7. There are actually four major theological points that can be discerned from this passage in Daniel 2:  First, the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ was that Stone, cut from the Mountain of the Lord without hands (Isaiah 2:2)!  Yet, Jesus’ kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, divine and not carnally made by human hands! God Himself has established the Kingdom of Christ – one in which Christ, our High Priest, now “Mediates Salvation” at the “right hand of God,” waiting until “all His enemies are made His footstool" (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 2:8; 10:12-13).   Second, this kingdom would be established in “the days of those kings, specifically made during the rule and reign of the Roman Empire!”  We know this to have actually happened from the account that Luke gave on the birth of Jesus.

“In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman Empire. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to their own town to register.  So, Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them” (Luke 2:1-7).

The New Testament Scriptures go out of their way to chronicle the time and the rule of the Roman Empire – when Jesus came into the world – Two Thousand Years Ago!  Like Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece before it, Rome fell centuries later.  Even so, Jesus’ kingdom was inaugurated at His Resurrection and Ascension, as “He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3). When Jesus returned to heaven, He made it clear to His Disciples: 

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Third, the passage in Daniel Chapter 2 makes it clear that Jesus came to set up a different kind of kingdom. Its creation was unlike the others, as it was “made without hands.”  And while His kingdom wasn’t established by armies and warfare – it was no less powerful, dynamic and all encompassing, consuming all other kingdoms of the earth. Jesus is would now ruling as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over all!  He told us that His kingdom would not come with great observation of conquering armies or great fanfare. His kingdom would be within us!  Not by might or physical power, but by God’s Spirit! Jesus, the Last Adam rose as a “life-giving-spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45), endowed with “indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16).

“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:20-21).

But before we head down this road too far, let me once again say that the New Covenant Scriptures clearly teach a two-fold concept that will help us keep our focus when asking and answering: “When, did God establish Christ’s kingdom?” That theological concept regarding fulfillment is often referred to as: “Already and Not Yet.”  Christ’s kingdom has “Already” commenced with His Resurrection and Ascension to God the Father’s “right hand,” where He Mediates Salvation for His Church!  But the final fulfillment and possession of that kingdom, that is the “Not Yet,” still awaits Christ’s coming in Glory to judge!  Paul could confidently proclaim to the Church in Rome:

“For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

So I’m not misunderstood, I am not saying that in a future consummation God’s Kingdom is mystical and metaphysical, No, the final fulfillment of Christ’s Kingdom will be in a “New Heaven and a New Earth!” That is the “Not Yet” part of Christ’s Reign. But I am worried for many believers who believe that Jesus isn’t even reigning yet – because He’s not sitting upon an earthly throne in Jerusalem, as David and Solomon did.  Daniel teaches us about that Stone, which is The Kingdom that God Himself would set up:

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).

Fourth, Christ’s Kingdom is “forever!” Daniel 2:35 states: “But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” And as Daniel 2:44 proclaims: The kingdom that the God of Heaven was to set up Will Stand Forever!  Sadly, the Millennial Kingdom that Dispensationalists claim is coming someday in the future, “Will Only Last for 1,000 Literal Years” (and not a minute more). And then it will also be destroyed – just like the other four  Kingdoms from Daniel Chapter Two – in a “final rebellion by Gog, Magog and the four corners of the earth!”  Then Christ Himself will have to destroy them all with the “sword coming out of his mouth,” bringing judgment and casting fallen mankind into the “Lake of Fire” along with Satan, the Beast and the False Prophet.  While many Dispensational writers claim to rightly interpret the prophecy of Daniel Chapter 2, they postpone Christ’s Kingdom to some future advent, and then diminish it to a 1,000-year reign – after which Christ will once again be “rejected.” But this time it won’t just be the Jews and Romans rejecting Him, it will be Gog, Magog and the Four quarters of the earth (i.e. the whole planet), Rejecting Him!  These are the fanciful musings of John Nelson Darby, Blackstone, Lindsey and other men following “cunningly devised fables.” 

In closing, remember that Jesus’ kingdom has “Already” begun at His Resurrection and Ascension to the right hand of God the Father, where He sat down “on His throne!" (Revelation 3:21). He is reigning right now, all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Jesus.  He is presently “taking out from among the Gentiles a “people for His own name” (Acts 15:14). He lives to intercede for His Church, where He has become “Head over all things.” Paul prayed that the Church at Ephesus would have a complete understanding of the present kingdom and reign of Christ:

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked 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 above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things 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” (Ephesians 1:16-23).

Soli Deo Gloria