There is a dominion mandate; but is this the time for its fulfilment?
In the light of Scriptures that speak about the end of the age, what do you think? Has His Kingdom come yet?
May your Kingdom come, may your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10
Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came up and said to them, “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 the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus said that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and the earth. But what are His followers to do with that info?
READ ALSO: WHICH GOSPEL?
The Life of the Disciples
They did not go out conquering all the physical kingdoms of the earth and they went out to conquer internal domains like their Master taught (in Matthew 5-8) and practised while He physically walked the earth.
They converted hearts and minds, by making disciples like their master did, and they did so while taking up a daily ‘cross’ for self-death.
Rev 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”
They understood that this was their assignment up till the end of the ages, when the kingdoms of this world would fully become His Kingdom. (What is the age or what are the ages, by the way? Someday, we may on this or these – Think?)
Hebrews 2:8-9 You put all things under his control.” For when he put all things under his control, he left, nothing outside of his control. At present, we do not yet see all things under his control, but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone.
READ ALSO: CESSATIONISM
What is the Focus?
There are times and seasons for dominion, and trying to bring into the present what is for the future won’t work. The disciples of Jesus asked him after He rose from the dead if He would now restore the kingdom to Israel. They were asking, “Is it time for us to exercise dominion now?”
Acts 1:6-8 So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, “Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He told them, “You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.”
Basically, the Lord told His disciples, “Don’t bother about the getting control of the physical kingdom now, but go and be My witnesses everywhere.”
READ ALSO: WHAT ARE GOVERNMENTS FOR? PART 1
It is a Journey of Faith
Deuteronomy 29:29 says “The secret things are the Lord’s but the things that are revealed are for us and our children that we might do the words of the law.”
The things that are revealed now, have been revealed so that we may do what is written. The timings and seasons are sealed up.
There is a time that God has kept in His hands. There are things that God has revealed, but He has kept the timing secret. It happened with Noah. He told Noah that there would be a flood, but He did not say when, until many years later. The difference between a promise and its fulfilment is the timing. Josiah’s birth was prophesied in Kings 13:2, and the child was born 300 years later.
God has not revealed everything to His children now so that we can walk by faith not by sight, because without faith, we cannot please Him (Hebrews 11:6).
There is a time when the earth will be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea (Numbers 14:21, Habakkuk 2:14). There is a time when God’s people who overcome will have the authority to rule and reign with Him (Luke 22:28-30, Revelation 2:26-27, Revelation 20:4-6).
READ ALSO: THE DOMINION MANDATE (PART 1)