Kings in Conflict
The kingdom of God implies God is a King. The sovereign rule of God is the kingdom of God. Our God reigns from heaven over all creation (Ps 47:9; Is 52:7; Rev 19:6). He is Lord of all because from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things (Rom 11:36).
In creating angels, God decreed the rebellion of some, who followed Lucifer, the foremost of their kind, and a self-made king. In creating man, God decreed the rebellion of some, who followed Lucifer, at the fall and throughout history (Jn 8:44; 1 Jn 3:10). The rebellion of men and angels continues, today.
In this great drama of good and evil, God has established His eternal Son as the protagonist, with Lucifer playing his part as the antagonist. King Jesus Christ and King Lucifer, who is Satan, the adversary, have brought their spiritual war into the realm of the physical universe. The manifestation of these two kings, being in conflict, is played out on the global stage right down to every single human heart.
We exist in the midst of a cosmic conflict between two kings, two kingdoms. and everything relates to the reality of this war. When Jesus, the eternal Son of God was incarnate, He referred to Satan as, “the ruler of this world (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).” In a previous conflict where Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Mt 4; Lk 4), the devil offered to give Him the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow in worship to the adversary (Mt 4:8; Lk 4:5). From this, we must acknowledge the dominion of the devil in this world.
Dominion over the earth was given to the first man, Adam (Gen 1:26). It was usurped from him by deception, and then God revealed the enmity to ensue (Gen 3:15).
Allegiance to these two kings has produced two lines of people who serve their respective kings. One line, in which all people are born, is the line of the unrighteous. These all are children of wrath, meaning the wrath of King Jesus is against them (Eph 2:3). The second line of people is the righteous, who become evident in time by their faith in King Jesus (Rom 3:28; 5:1).
Faith is the evidence of King Jesus saving His people (Rom 12:3; Heb 12:2), who were in rebellion against Him, but who received mercy and pardon (Rom 9:15–16), according to the will of God (Jn 1:12–13). These people have King Jesus’ righteousness imputed to them, even as all their sins are imputed to Him (Ps 32:2; Rom 5:13).
When King Jesus entered this world (Jn 1:14), He came with the mission to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). Sin holds all people in slavery (Rom 6:6), but becoming one of us, King Jesus would represent His chosen ones, in the place of our judgment for sins we have committed against God, our Creator (1 Pet 2:24; 3:18).
At the cross of Calvary, King Jesus took the place of His people (1 Pet 3:18) and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins (Heb 10:11–12, 26). He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us (2 Cor 5:21). God the Father poured out His wrath upon His only begotten Son at the cross, where Jesus became the propitiation for the sins of His people (Rom 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). They were no longer under the wrath of God (Rom 8:1; 1 Thess 1:10).
This act of the God-man, King Jesus, set the captives to sin and Satan free (Is 61:1; Lk 4:18). King Jesus bound Satan and plundered his domain of darkness (Mt 12:29; Rev 20:2), and He is bringing many sons to glory (Heb 2:10). King Jesus’ sacrifice was an act of war against King Lucifer.
God’s judgment and wrath against this world is manifest daily (Rom 1:18), and the climax is yet to come (Rev 19:11–21). The second coming of King Jesus, at the end of the age, will be the climactic battle in which our warrior King (Jer 20:11), Jesus will bring final judgment against King Lucifer, his legions of angels, his multitudes of willing subjects, and against this fallen world (Mt 25:31–33).
The coming day of the Lord will be terrible for those in conflict with Him, and it will be a glorious day of salvation for those who have called upon His name (Mt 24:31). The kingdom of King Jesus, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven will have a new heavens and a new earth (Is 65:17; 2 Pet 3:13). These will replace the old ones which will be burned with fire (2 Pet 3:10–12).
Here is the end of the conflict of King Jesus and King Lucifer, as the dark lord is cast forever into the fires of eternal hell, never to rebel again (Mt 25:41). King Jesus is victorious in this conflict of kings, and we give thanks to God, who leads us in His triumph in Christ (2 Cor 2:14).
David Norczyk
Missoula, Montana
March 19, 2022
