But there are other representations of Christ's Kingship. The most general view of His /3a<rtXe/o in the NT represents it as not already realized, but beginning at the Parousia (so O. Pfleiderer, PaulinisDi, Eng. tr., 1877, i. 268); and according to the programme sketched by St. Paul in 1 Co IS-'*^-, His reign is no peaceful sway, but a cease- less conflict against the powers of darkness. * He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet' (v.-^). The last enemy to be overcome is Death ; and when that is accomplished, then Cometh the end, when He delivers up the sovereignty to God (v.-'*). According to this outline, Christ s reign is of the nature of an interregnum, to be terminated (in opposition to the els rb di-qveKh of He 10^^) when He resigns the power into the hands of God.
In the later Epistles this programme is not adhered to. In accordance with their more developed Christology, Christ becomes the end of Creation (Col \^^), and the final consummation is now represented, not as the reign of God, who is to be ' all in all ' (1 Co 15-*), but as the Kingdom of Christ and God (Eph 5'), or even of Christ alone (2 Ti 4^), whose Kingdom is an everlasting one (2 P 1"), and wliose sovereignty is declared to ex- tend to the future a^on (Eph P^). Again, in the earlier representation Christ's Kingdom is to be established on earth at His Coming, but in the later versions it becomes a heavenly kingdom (2 Ti 4'*), corresponding to the kingdom of the Father which St. Paul had expected to succeed the interregnum of the Son.
In Revelation we again meet with the conception of a temporary reign of Christ, its duration being put at 1,000 years (20*). It is questionable whether that reign is here regarded as one of uninterrupted peace and blessedness, or of continuous conflict against the powers of evil. H. J. Holtzmann
{NT Theologie\ 1911, i. 542 f.) thinks that the only original contribution made by the author of the Revelation in this picture of the millennium is the representation of the interregnum as a period of peace and rest (20^- ^- ''). On the other hand, F. C. Porter [HDB iv. 262) contends that the 1,000 years' reign is part of the last conflict against evil, the reigning and judging of Christ and His saints being the gradual subjugation of the powers of evil, and that there is no suggestion in Rev. that peace and rest characterize the millennium.
(2) Christ and earthly kings. — In the Pauline references to the sovereignty of Christ the hostile forces whicli He overcomes are not earthly poten- tates but the angelic principalities and powers, the world-rulers of this darkness (Eph 6^^, 2 Co 4'*, Col P^). To this corresponds the conflict with Satan in Revelation. But in the latter book there is also frequent representation of Christ's sovereignty over earthly potentates. He is Prince of the kings of the earth ( 1®), King of kings and Lord of lords (I714 1916) Qy^; Qf fjis mouth goeth a .sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and He rules them with a rod of iron (19'^). The kings of earth who have committed fornication with Babylon (17^), and who marshal their armies in support of the Beast (19'^), are numbered among the enemies whom He has to subdue. Corresponding to this attitude of hostility to Christ on the part of the kings of the earth in Rev. is the spirit of hatred to the Roman Empire which the book breathes, as contrasted with that recommended in the other apostolic writings. St. Paul as a citizen of the Roman Empire recognizes in the higher powers the ordinances of God, and regards subjection to them as a religious duty (Ro \'6'^^-). St. Peter re- commends submission to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, and exhorts to fear God and honour the king (1 P 2i8- "). In 1 Ti 2^ the in- junction is given to pray for kings and for all in authority. But in Rev. we find a fierce hatred of Rome and longing for her destruction. She is to tlie author tlie throne of the Beast (16'"), the very incarnation of the sin which Christianity sought to destroy, and his attitude towards the Imperial power is the direct opposite of that taken up by St. Paul.
2. God as King. — There is no power but of God (Ro 13'), and all kingly authority ultimately pro- ceeds from Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Ti 6'*). Christ has ultimately to deliver up the sovereignty to the Father, being subject to Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all (1 Co IS-'*--'^). In the song of Moses and of the Lamb (Rev 15^) God is praised as the King of nations, and in 1 Ti 1" a doxology is sounded to Him as King of the teons. The plirase may be chosen with reference to the Gnostic series of Wons, and may mean ' King of the worlds.' Others take it as ' King of the world times,' the ruler who decrees what is to happen from age to age; while others render it, as in the AV, 'the King eternal.'