We Will Share His Rule 

We have seen in previous studies that Christ is coming to earth and is bringing with Him all His angels, those who “fell asleep in Him,” and all the faithful who will be alive at His coming. I will refer to those, living and dead, who are resurrected and raptured at His coming, as the Church, though the number includes the righteous dead of all ages. Christ is coming to establish His Kingdom, and His Church will rule with Him. This is an astonishing thought! It has all the earmarks of a romantic fairy tale: except, IT IS TRUE! If the words of Scripture mean what they say, we will share His rule. 

The title I chose for this study is, “We Will Share His Rule,” but that title needs some clarification. I’m assuming that you and I will remain faithful to the end.

Since I believe that all of God’s promises are conditional, I wish to emphasize here, as Scripture does, that we will rule with Him if, and only if, we remain faithful to the end. 

Rev. 2:26-27: “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations —27 He will rule them with an iron sceptre; he will dash them to pieces like pottery —just as I have received authority from my Father.” 

Rev. 3:21: “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

The parallel here is striking. Just as Christ overcame, completed His earthly mission, and was elevated to the right hand of the Father, to “His throne,” so all who remain victorious to the end will be seated with Christ when He sits on His throne. Though all authority in heaven and on earth is presently His, Christ does not have His own throne. At this time Christ is seated with the Father, at His right hand, on the Father’s Throne. (Ps. 110:1; Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; Acts 7:55; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 10:12; I Peter 3:22)  However, when He returns to earth, He will sit on His own throne, the throne of David; and those who remain faithful will sit with Him. We will share His rule. 

Christ’s earthly rule was promised in Psalm 2, where the LORD tells His Anointed Son, that He will have the nations as His inheritance. 

Psalm 2:1-12: “Why do the nations conspire [Hebrew; Septuagint: rage] and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. 3 ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.’ 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.’ 7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will rule them with an iron sceptre; [Or will break them with a rod of iron] you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”  10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

 Isaiah develops this idea further, uniting it with the promise God gave to David that David would always have a descendent on his throne (II Sam. 7:12; Ps. 132:11). 

Isaiah 9:6-7: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” 

Gabriel reaffirms the promise in the Annunciation to Mary: 

Luke 1:31-33: “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” 

Every single Jew who heard or read these words, and the words of Isaiah, would have assumed that they meant that the Messiah would rule in Jerusalem, the only place David’s throne ever existed, on the “holy hill, Zion” (Ps. 2:6). Peter refers to that expectation in his Pentecost sermon:  

Acts 2:30: “But he [David] was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.” 

And wherever Jesus rules, we will also rule, for we are joint-heirs with Him of all things, including the glory of His rule.  

Rom. 8:16-17: “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” 

If we are faithful to the end, if we share His suffering, we will share His glory in His Kingdom. God will give us all things freely. 

Rom. 8:32: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” 

Almost off-handedly Paul makes a remarkable statement about our reign with Christ. While rebuking the Corinthian church for taking each other to court before pagan judges, Paul exclaims that they, who are destined to rule the world and to judge angels, should be able to settle disputes out of court. 

I Cor. 6:1-4: “If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!” 

If you are not struck by this passage, you ought to be. We will not just join the returning Christ in punishing His enemies; we will also “judge the world” with Him. We will even judge angels! I can’t begin to imagine how that will play out in reality. But I believe it. We will share His rule. 

Even the heavenly creatures realize that we will rule with the triumphant Jesus Christ on the earth. In the heavenly scene the Lamb takes the scroll: 

Rev. 5:8-10: “And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’” 

Some have tried to say that we already rule with Christ as much as we ever will. It may be true in a limited sense that we exercise the authority of Christ’s name here and now. But even Christ does not rule on earth presently with any great power. Why else would we pray ‘Your Kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’?  Indeed, Satan is the God of this world (II Cor. 4:4); he is the defeated, but still-rebellious Prince of this World (John 12:31); the entire world “lies under his power of the Evil One,” says John the Apostle (I John 5:19). These same brothers say that Satan is bound in this dispensation by the Gospel. They are referred to as amillennialists: that is, they do not believe that Jesus will reign on the earth when He returns. Therefore, they interpret Revelation chapter 20 in such as way as to exclude a literal reign of 1000 years, with Satan bound. Hence the term amillennial (no millennium). 

What can I say? This seems to me a very flawed way to interpret Scripture. You start with a certain proposition—when Christ returns the history of earth is over; He does not reign in glory on the earth. Then you twist and distort the clear meaning of scriptures to fit your proposition. All I can say is this: If saints are presently ruling on the earth, our reign is pretty inept. If we judged the world, when did it happen? I must have missed it. I don’t feel qualified at this point to judge angels, do you? If Satan is bound, he is on a very, very long leash. If he is not deceiving the nations any more (Rev. 20:3), then who is?  If John’s statement that “the whole world lies under the Evil One” is true, then it cannot be true that Satan is bound so that he can no longer deceive the nations. 

Therefore, these promises are yet future, to be realized when Christ returns. He will sit on David’s Throne and we will sit with Him, judging men and angels, and ruling with Him on the earth. 

Mt. 25:31: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.” 

Col. 3:1-4:  “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” 

In order to rule with Him in His glory, we will need glorified bodies like His. 

Phil. 3:20-21: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious [glorified] body.” 

When Christ returns to earth to establish His rule, we will rule with Him. Thanks be to God for His exceeding great and precious promises. Amen. Come Lord Jesus.