The Mountain Message in Context — The Kingdom Reclaimed

The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:24-28:

²⁴ then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that will be abolished is death. ²⁷ For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. ²⁸ When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

What is going to happen to the kingdom at the end of time? The prophet Daniel prophesied in Dan. 2:44 that God “will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” We see in the verses above Paul reaffirming this prophecy.

At the end of time, we do not see the end of the kingdom. Paul says that He (Jesus) will hand over the kingdom to the Father. Thus, all who are in the kingdom will also be handed over to the Father. As Paul would say in his first Thessalonian epistle, “and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Th. 4:17).

In fulfilment of prophecy, we never see the kingdom being handed over to anyone else to rule. The downfall of many kingdoms has been what happens after a strong ruler dies. The Macedonian Empire began to decline with the death of Alexander the Great; being left to four generals, his mighty empire never reached quite the same heights. God never allows that to happen. The kingdom is ruled by Jesus, who Himself is God. The kingdom was never given to some human to rule over, as a “representative” of God. God ensures the purity and strength of His kingdom by never giving it to anyone else.

The kingdom will put an end to all others. As much as some of the nations of the world persecute Christians, they ultimately cannot win against the kingdom of heaven. God will win. It is after all other kingdoms have been abolished and all is in subjection to Christ that He will return the kingdom to God to rule forever.

This is the kingdom Jesus prepares man for in His mountain message. In order to be a part of that kingdom when it “turns back to God,” we must live according to the standards He gives in Matthew 5-7. While many have referred to Acts 2 as “the hub of the Bible,” in that God’s plan reaches a climax with the establishment of the church, the sermon on the mount is the hub of biblical doctrine, presenting the principles on which the rest of the gospel message rests.

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