Articles
How Long Will Jesus Reign?
The Bible affirms that Jesus now reigns as King (Acts 2:29-36; Colossians 1:13-14). Jesus Himself testified, “I sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21).
How long will Jesus reign? The Bible answers that question in two different ways.
Forever
The angel Gabriel promised Mary, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:31-33).
That is consistent with the prophecy of Daniel 2. In a dream, King Nebuchadnezzar saw an image which, according to Daniel’s interpretation, represented four successive kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Daniel then prophesied, “In the days of those kings the God of heaven 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” (v. 44).
Until He Comes
1 Corinthians 15 clearly identifies the end of Jesus’ reign. It says of the time of Jesus’ second coming, “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” (v. 24). Jesus must reign until all enemies are subjected to Him (v. 25), and the last enemy is death (v. 26). When death is subjected to Him, “then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all” (v. 28). Jesus’ victory over death will be complete when He raises the dead at His second coming (cf. John 5:28-29).
No Contradiction
Are these two answers contradictory? Not at all! In contrast to human kingdoms, which come and go during the span of time, Jesus’ kingdom will have no end. This was the contrast of Daniel 2. But when Jesus returns, the world as we know it, including time, will be no more (2 Peter 3:10-12). His rule will be then returned to the Father—a rule, however, in which both Jesus (Revelation 11:15) and His followers (Revelation 22:5) are in some sense said to share.
The real question we need to be asking ourselves is, Does Jesus reign now in my life?
