After His return to Planet Earth, Jesus will rule over all, sitting on His glorious throne in Jerusalem. The Prophet Zechariah wrote, “And the Lord will be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one” (Zech. 14:9). No one will challenge His authority. All will worship the King, Jesus Christ (Zech. 14:16). The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery explains:
The image of a throne is one of the most glorious and evocative in the entire Bible. It denotes authority, power, majesty, and splendor.[1]
Jesus Christ referred to Jerusalem as “the city of the Great King” (Matt. 5:35). Amazingly, Jesus will share His rule with His faithful followers. At Matthew 19:28, we read:
And Jesus said to them [His Jewish followers], “Truly, I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus further taught, “The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with my Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:21).
In the Old Testament, we learn that it has always been God’s plan to establish His Son as King in Jerusalem. At Psalm 2:6-9, we read:
But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will announce the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, “You are My Son, Today, I have fathered You. Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.”
The Lord’s enemies will experience shame (Ps. 132:18). “[E]very knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance” (Isa. 45:23). The Lord will teach all of humanity “about His ways” and how to “walk in His paths” (Isa. 2:3). Jesus will “judge between the nations,” and the nations “will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war” (Isa. 2:4). “The Lord of armies will reign on Mountain Zion and in Jerusalem…” (Isa. 24:23). “[T]hey will call Jerusalem ‘The throne of the Lord,’ and all nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart” (Jer. 3:17).
Fallen humanity is inclined to walk in the stubbornness of our hearts. But we can find forgiveness in Jesus Christ, and we can learn to walk in a new, supernatural way of being, walking by God’s Spirit and Word. If we do not learn to walk by God’s Spirit and Word, we will experience negative consequences in this life and the next. At Jesus Christ’s return, the law will go forth from Zion, and the Word of the Lord will go forth from Jerusalem (Micah 4:2). Jesus Christ will judge between many people and nations (Micah 4:3).
Jesus will rule “from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth” (Ps. 72:8), and “all kings [will] bow down before [H]im, all nations [will] serve [H]im” (Ps. 72:11). Jesus Christ will be “given dominion, honor, and a Kingdom, so that all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages might serve Him” (Dan. 7:14).
In the New Testament, Jesus taught:
But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
The sheep represent the faithful and obedient, and the goats represent the stubborn and self-willed. The obedient and faithful will inherit God’s Kingdom with Jesus, the King. The faithful will rule with Christ. The stubborn and self-willed will not rule with Christ, and they will not receive their full complement of potential blessing.
Yes, we “all have sinned and [fallen] short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Only Jesus was sinless. Because of His sacrifice, we can all find forgiveness in Jesus Christ, but to rule with Christ and share in the inheritance of Christ, we must be faithful believers. We want to hear Jesus say to us, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21).
The Apostle Paul also taught that believers will judge the world of humans and angels (1 Cor. 6:2-3). In his last epistle, the Apostle Paul wrote, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He will also deny us” (2 Tim. 2:12). We gain the Lord’s approval by faith (Heb. 11:6). At John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” All of the Lord’s commandments can be summed up in loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, together with loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-40). We receive God’s commands by His Spirit and Word as we encounter the various circumstances of our lives. The perception of truth is by grace, and the application of truth is by grace. We have a new way of being in Christ Jesus. God’s Spirit and Word teach us how to walk in a way that is pleasing to God.
[1] “Throne.” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken, at al, InterVarsity Press, 1988, p. 868.
