Revelation 11:15 – The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become that of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.
Many times I have misread this verse, thinking that it read instead as follows:
“The kingdoms of the world have become that of our Lord and of his Messiah.” I have always pictured this as being the culmination of all things, that all of the political nations of the world would submit themselves to the Messiah, and he would reign over them.
Yet the word kingdom is in the singular tense, as if there is already only one kingdom of the world that is become the kingdom of God.
To help us understand this kingdom, the apostle John defines what this kingdom of the world consists of:
1 John 2:16-17 – For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions – is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
The kingdom of this world, the kingdom where the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride in possessions (covetousness) are the most important things, passes away. According to Revelation 11:15, this kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of God and his Messiah.
For the believer, this takes place “in Messiah,” when one has laid down their old life at his feet and are born again or from above; then all things become new!
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 – Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Messiah and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
God’s reconciliation with the kingdom of the world comes only through new life in Messiah. This is how he carries it out. When all of the lusts and covetousness of this worldly kingdom are laid at the feet of Messiah, then new life comes forth, and the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of God.
1 John 5:4-5 – because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Yeshua is the Son of God?
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