Satan desires a Kingdom like God’s Kingdom

Satan desires a Kingdom like God’s kingdom

The Bible speaks of God’s kingdom in two senses. The first is His absolute sovereignty over all creation, every being and every thing that has ever existed and will ever exist. The second is more narrow, referring to the distinction between those who are and those who are not His people. In that sense the Old Testament particularly focuses on the nation of Israel under King David.

David ruled Israel roughly a thousand years before Jesus was born. Through Nathan, a prophet and advisor to David, God told David that his kingdom would endure forever: “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”¹ Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise, a descendent of David who will occupy the Davidic throne forever.

When the New Testament speaks of the “kingdom of God,” or “the kingdom of heaven,” it’s speaking not only of Jesus’ ultimate eternal reign over all, but also of those who are members of that kingdom, those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. All who have been born-again, becoming part of the body of Christ, the universal church, are in that group. We are the ones, who along with the Old Testament believers, will participate in the blessings of His reign. Those who have rejected Him will be outside the kingdom, in eternal damnation.

Though the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom of God is yet future, we Christians are already part of the kingdom. This is what Jesus meant when He said that His disciples were in the world but not of the world. They were, and we are, part of the kingdom of God on the earth.

Thus, though there never has been and never will be a time when God’s kingdom includes anything less than everything, there’s a Biblical distinction regarding His universal sovereignty and the temporary rebellion he has allowed, Satan’s kingdom. Satan’s kingdom will be allowed until Christ’s second coming, when He will crush all opposition.