“I the Lord have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” Isaiah 42:6
In the book of Daniel, chapter 2, we find where God gives to Nebuchaddnezzar, king of Babylon, a vision of a “great image,” or statue. The brightness of this image was excellent, standing before the king. Daniel described it as being “terrible” in appearance. From the head of the statue made of gold, representing the kingdom and reign of Nebuchadnezzar, to the feet and toes made out of miry clay and iron, where there is only a measure of strength because of a lack of unity, the image represents kingdoms, or four world empires. After the revelation of the image, there is the mention of a stone, that is cut out of a mountain, without hands. This stone is distinct in that it is evidently divine, possessing the power and authority to destroy all the kingdoms of men upon this earth, and yet, establish a kingdom, “…which shall never be destroyed” God in Christ will establish it. Why do we mention the kingdoms of men upon this earth, and the kingdom of God, which will last forever, in considering the purposes of God? It is because the kingdom of God is preeminent, overwhelming in its greatness, beauty, power, and strength. All the kingdoms of men will be destroyed, becoming like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, the wind carrying it away, there being no more place for it. But, the kingdom which God will set up, by a “living stone,” Christ, will last for ever. It is for this reason that the Lord Jesus told His disciples to, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” It is also for this reason that Christ, when He came to this earth, and began His ministry, He came preaching the kingdom of God, that it had come. What did He mean, and what was His purpose in declaring it?
Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the purpose of God was to glorify His name on this earth. This would be realized by the coming of His kingdom in the hearts and lives of men, for it would only be as He reigned in the heart, that He would reveal His person, His glory. Redemption’s story, though in the heart of God before the world began, was set in motion at the very moment that Adam sinned. The Lord Himself, knowing all things, came in search for Adam and Even, who were hiding from Him. Thus began the pursuit of the lost sinner, whose nature had now become self-centered, Satan-oriented, and sin bent. The gradual work of the presence of the law of sin in the heart would take man further and further away from God, even to the point of not wanting to consider Him, even to think of Him. It would become so very evidnent, especially as revealed in the writings of the Apostle Paul, that man’s sinful nature, in and of itself, would never seek God. Paul would write that there would be none who does good. (Romans 3:11) None would be righteous, and none would seek God. It would only be as Christ, the Great and Perfect Shepherd, would come to seek the lost sheep, helpless and hopeless, that salvation would come, and there would be reconcilation with God. Only by Christ’s coming to save would the sheep be rescued from being the prisoner of sin, self, Satan, and the world, and death itself.
So, what does this work of Christ, and the coming of the kingdom of God, have in common with the purpose of God? God’s purpose is to put His glory, His Life, into the redeemed, saved soul of man. It is to make sinful man a new creation, cleansed and forgiven, with a power to live by the very Spirit of Christ. God’s glory is revealed in man’s fellowship with Christ by the Spirit.
Dear Father, Fulfill all Thy purposes in us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.