KINGDOM - OLOGY 11

The Mediatorial Kingdom will be Established in the Earth

In the preceding article I dealt in brief with the chronology of the Mediatorial Kingdom. At first thought it could be concluded that the article I am about to deliver should have preceded that on chronology. But it seemed to me that some sort of structure ought to come first into which the elements of the kingdom could be placed. However, chronology and characteristics are so vitally intertwined that it is difficult to separate them. In this article I shall list a series of characteristics and discuss them briefly.

The opening chapter of Genesis sets forth a priority and declares a purpose. The heavens take the place of priority. According to the record they were created first. And this must mean that the One who dwells in heaven and there makes the central manifestation of His glory stands above and over His creation.

But the earth is the area in which God planned to carry out the central purpose of creation. From Genesis to Revelation God's purpose and performance is occupied with the earth. It is in the earth where God will make His final and everlasting revelation of Himself. 

 Into this terrestrial environment God placed a man made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27). To him He delegated authority over the entire extent of earthly creation. This was undoubtedly in anticipation of the Incarnation. For Christ is the center of all God's works and He is the central subject of the Scriptures (John 5:39). He is the Mediating channel of creation, the metaphysical cause by which all things hold together, and the final destination and grand consummation of all creation (Col. 1:16-17). He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last (Rev. 1:8, 17; 21:6; 22:13).

Thus, the divine purpose in the creation of man has its fullest realization in the perfect manifestation of God in the person of the incarnate Son of God. And His bride shall be just like Him and see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). This perfect manifestation in Christ is the goal of human history. Moreover, this goal is to be realized in the earth, which is the proper habitation of mankind and the place where the Son of Man will make exhibition of the glory of God to all created intelligences throughout eternity.

In that man was created in the image and likeness of God he was endowed with those qualities which enabled him to know God and to enter into intimate and vital communion with Him. To apprehend, appreciate, and applaud His glory. Even though man had this capacity, it was necessary for God to make Himself known to man. This knowledge could not come from a study of material creation, or from a study of himself, or even from inferential reasoning. Information from these sources could only result in a God who is far off. For man to know God and His will in the midst of a material environment God must make a continued personal self-revelation of Himself to man, the effect of which is not only to prove His existence and nature, but also to declare His will as the law of human action.

This self-revelation was a voluntary act on the part of God. By means of this man came to know that he was: dealing with a Person, one distinct from nature and above it; and that he is subject to a personal will. Recognizing it as the will of God, he is assured that it is the expression of infinite wisdom and goodness, and, therefore, to be obeyed. By obedience to this will as it is made known, he may attain to further knowledge of God, and be prepared to be admitted into closer personal contact with Him. But at no point in God's revelation of Himself to man does He affect free and voluntary moral action. He declares His will, but does not compel obedience. Hence the free will given to man.

The story of human history opens with God and man in blessed communion. In goodness and generosity God makes all vegetation available to man for food, but excludes the fruit of one tree (Gen. 2:16-17). This is evidence that God is ruler and man is servant. This is just one aspect of the vital and intimate communion existing between God and man in the garden (Gen. 3:8). For how long this blessed communion was carried on before the crisis, it is impossible to know. But during that time man came to realize that the prohibition was not arbitrary and was made with the deepest sense of love.

Without a doubt the revelation that God had already made of Himself was entirely adequate. It appears that God talked directly with Adam, and that Adam was fully capable of comprehending the message from God. But that there was also further visible evidence of God's presence in the Garden seems altogether possible. Perhaps that evidence is to be identified with the cloud of glory, later appearing to Moses on the Mount. This cloud of glory later came to be known as the Shekinah in the tabernacle and the temple. The presence of the Cherubim at the east of Eden and the in folding flame suggest this. From between the Cherubim God may have communed with Adam as He did later with Moses (Ex. 25:22), declaring His will, and displaying His holiness.

Inasmuch as God is spirit, and therefore immaterial, it is quite consistent that He should make some revelation of Himself that is accessible to the senses. In due time it was the purpose of the invisible God to manifest Himself in the person of the Son who is the image of the invisible God, and in the Mediatorial Kingdom in perfection the earth shall shine with His glory (Ezek. 43:2). Therefore, at creation in the Garden of Eden we have a token of the coming Mediatorial Kingdom.