5. It is of course, in itself, no matter of interest what por- tion of space these new heavens and new earth are to occupy, or of what materials they are to be formed. As the resurrection bodies of believers are to be human bodies they must have a local habitation, although it be one not made with hands eternal in the heavens. All we know about it is that it will be glorious, and adapted to the spiritual bodies which those in Christ are to re- ceive when He comes the second time unto salvation.
§ 4. The Kingdom of Heaven.
In the account given of the final judgment in Matthew xxv. 31- 46, we are told that the King shall " say to those on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- pared for you from the foundation of the world."
1. In the Old Testament it was predicted that God would set up a kingdom, which was to be universal and everlasting.
2. Of this kingdom the Messiah was to be the head. He is everywhere in the Old Testament set forth as a king. (See Gen. xlix. 10 ; Num. xxiv. 17 ; 2 Sam. vii 16 ; Is. ix. 6, 7 ; xi. ; lii. ; liii. ; Mich. iv. ; and Psalms ii. ; xlv. ; lxxii. ; and ex.)
3. It is called, for obvious reasons, in the Scriptures, indiffer- ently, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of the Son of Man (Matt. xiii. 41) and the kingdom of heaven.
4. It is described in the prophets in the most glowing terms, in figures borrowed partly from the paradisiacal state of man, and partly from the state of the theocracy during the reign of Solomon.
5. This kingdom belongs to Christ, not as the Logos, but as the Son of Man, the Theanthropos ; God manifest in the flesh.
6. Its twofold foundation, as presented in the Bible, is the pos- session on the part of Christ of all divine attributes, and his work of redemption. (Heb. i. 3 ; Phil. ii. 6-11.) It is because He being equal with God, " humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," that " God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name : that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth , and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." All power in heaven and earth has been given into his hands ; and all things, ra Traira, the universe, put under his feet. Even the angels are his ministering spirits, sent by Him to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation.
856 PART IV. Ch. IV.— THE SECOND ADVENT.
7. This messianic or mediatorial kingdom of Christ, being thus comprehensive, is presented in different aspects in the Word of God. Viewed as extending over all creatures, it is a kingdom of power, which, according to 1 Corinthians xv. 24, He shall deliver up tc God even the Father, when his mediatorial work is accomplished. Viewed in relation to his own people on earth it is the kingdom of grace. They all recognize Him as their absolute proprietor and sovereign. They all confide in his protection, and devote them- selves to his service. He rules in them and reigns over them, and subdues all their and his enemies. Viewed in relation to the whole body of the redeemed, when the work of redemption is consummated, it is the kingdom of glory, the kingdom of heaven, in the highest sense of the words. In this view his kingdom is everlasting. His headship over his people is to continue forever, and his dominion over those whom He has purchased with his blood shall never end.
8. As this kingdom is thus manifold, so also it is, in some of its aspects, progressive. It is represented in Scripture as passing through different stages. In prophecy it is spoken of as a stone cut out without hands, which became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. In Daniel vii. 14, it is said of the Messiah that to Him " there was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve 'Him." So, too, in Psalm ii. 8, it is written of Him, " Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession; " in Psalm lxxii. 11, "All nations shall serve Him ; " verse 17, " All nations shall call Him blessed ; " in Psalm lxxxvi. 9, " All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord ; and shall glorify thy name ; " in Isaiah xlix. 6, " I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou may est be my salvation unto the end of the earth ; " in Habakkuk ii. 14, " The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Loed, as the waters cover the sea ; " and in Malachi i. 11, " From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles." The Scriptures abound with passages of similar import. It is not only asserted that the kingdom of Christ is to attain this universal extension by slow degrees, but its gradual progress is illustrated in various ways. Our Lord compares his kingdom to a grain of mustard-seed, which is indeed the least of all seeds ; but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs; and to leaven which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.