If the kingdom of God is the reign of King Jesus, the next question is, “How does Jesus reign?”
Jesus taught about how He reigned
As this series develops, we will see that understanding how Jesus reigns is essential to understanding how your work has meaning.
Jesus used a series of parables to ensure His disciples understood three things: 1) He was going away; 2) He was entrusting His possessions to them; and 3) He would return and hold them accountable for what they had done with what He entrusted to them.
These were the central themes of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the Parable of Minas (Luke 19:11-27), and the Parable of the Householder (Mark 13:34-37). The three parables are not identical. Each has a different emphasis. But all have the same basic themes.
Jesus went away
In each parable, Jesus is the master who is going away. But as we know, Jesus didn’t just go away; He went to the right hand of the Father. See Hebrews 10:12; cf. Luke 19:12. That is a position of authority.
So, in His going away, Jesus didn’t give away any of His sovereignty. “He…sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.” Hebrews 10:12-13.
While Jesus is waiting at the right hand of the Father, He is reigning. 1 Corinthians 15:25. One might ask how Jesus can reign at the same time He is waiting. And how can Jesus reign on the earth if He is in heaven? That leads to the second point of these parables.
Jesus entrusted His possessions
In each parable, the master gives what is his to others to manage while he is gone. We need to know then what Jesus possesses.
Psalm 24:1 provides the general answer—“the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains, the people and those who dwell therein.” That pretty much captures it all. All the people, places, and things of the earth belong to God. He owns the whole ball of mud.
Thus, when we interpret “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16) only in terms of people, we read it too narrowly. In fact, the Greek word translated “world” in John 3:16 is “kosmos.” While the word can be translated in different ways, it often refers to all of the created order, not just people.
Jesus reigns through people
So, when Jesus left to go to the right hand of the Father to reign, He entrusted the earth to His servants. His servants are those who belong to Him — Christians. And until He returns, He is reigning.
So, while not limited by them or bound exclusively to do so, Jesus acts through people to manage the people, places, and things that make up the earth. We recognize this when we refer to the Church as the “Body of Christ.” See 1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12; Romans 12:5; Colossians 1:18. The Church is the earthly manifestation of Jesus, as He reigns from the right hand of the Father.
Jesus reigns in earthly matters
What’s curious is that so many Christians seem to believe they cease being the body of Christ when they are not actively ministering to someone. It would indeed be odd if the Lord had found us trustworthy recipients of authority as to eternal, spiritual matters but not as to temporal, earthly matters. To the contrary, in the Great Commission, Jesus identifies His authority over spiritual and earthly matters before delegating to His disciples. See Matthew 28:18-20.
Jesus reigns on the earth through delegated authority. He entrusts others with the responsibility to accomplish His will on the earth. Not only has God chosen to do so, but He has chosen gladly to do so. Luke 12:32.
How our work fits into all this is where it gets really interesting. GS
