Coming Soon: The Kingdom of God on Earth

A major theme of the Bible forecasts that our future is not to go off into heaven. Instead, we are to become a new society under Jesus Christ on this earth!

The Holy Bible chronicles perhaps billions of years of events. Starting with prehistory, a time Genesis simply calls “the beginning,” the Bible covers the stories of the patriarchs, the rise and fall of the ancient nation of Israel, the coming of the Messiah (Jesus Christ) in the first century and the formative years of the New Testament Church.

But woven into the Bible’s narrative, from Old to New Testament, is a major theme of an era that has not yet come. That is the Kingdom of God on earth—a smoothly operating society that will be established by the rule of the returning Jesus Christ.

Dreams of paradise

The Bible, remarkable and brilliantly crafted by our Creator, contains hundreds of scriptures forecasting a new world under a new King!  

• The patriarch Abraham looked for a new city not of this earth (Hebrews 11:10).  
• The prophet Daniel foresaw a grand, unending empire forever replacing the inferior works of men and Satan (Daniel 2:44). 
• The prophet Isaiah foresaw a new and permanent global headquarters in Jerusalem, drawing emissaries of all nations (Isaiah 2:2-4; 9:6-7).
• Jesus’ central message was all about the soon-coming Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15).
• Jesus personally gave to John a revelation of a fresh and everlasting world order (Revelation 1:1).

These are just a few scriptures that show this crucial theme running throughout the Bible.

Time to celebrate?

The Bible includes many prophecies that show the Kingdom of God will replace this world’s values and make it a safe, peaceful and happy place to live. Surely everyone would welcome the establishment of a world like that, right? 

Actually, the Bible predicts the opposite.

Jesus tells us that all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). Revelation 6:15 adds details showing us that many people, great and small, will hide and flee from the returning King of Kings. Instead of worldwide jubilation, people will cower in fear and shame. 

Out with the old

But what will happen to today’s dreadful world society? Will Jesus return to simply end the world as we know it?

We can learn a lesson from a historical event people don’t think about often anymore—the great Chicago fire of 1871.

History.com records: “In October 1871, dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets and sidewalks made Chicago vulnerable to fire. The Great Chicago Fire began on the night of October 8. … The fire burned wildly throughout the following day, finally coming under control on October 10 … [but] left an estimated 300 people dead and 100,000 others homeless. More than 17,000 structures were destroyed and damages were estimated at $200 million.”

Chicagoans thought they were witnessing the burning of the world! To some, it probably seemed like Chicago was destroyed for good, never to exist as the great bustling metropolis again. But that’s not what happened!

In his book City of the Century, author Donald L. Miller describes the city’s remarkable resurgence: “But more amazing than the destruction was the recovery. The rebuilding began while the ground was still warm in the burned district, and within a week after the fire more than five thousand temporary structures and two hundred permanent buildings were under construction.” Just 22 years later, Miller says, at its 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, “Chicago had the busiest and most modern downtown in the country, with a dozen or more of the highest buildings ever constructed” (1996, p. 16). 

The great city of Chicago was not permanently destroyed. It was rebuilt and reemerged grander than before the destructive fire.

End-time devastation

Destruction will happen to the entire world in the end time—but on a far greater scale. Notice some of these descriptions of the time Jesus said would be the worst time ever in human history (Matthew 24:21).

• Entire cities (not just one) will be laid waste (Leviticus 26:33; Revelation 16:19).
• Fire will fall from the sky, destroying much of the earth’s vegetation (Revelation 8:7).
• The world’s fresh water supply will be undrinkable (Revelation 16:4).
• Many people, likely in the millions, will die (Revelation 19:17-18).

This destruction likely explains one reason mankind will not welcome Jesus Christ when He returns. They will be coming out of a period of extreme trauma and will be fearful of everything—even an all-powerful being descending from the heavens. They may actually see this as an “alien invasion” until they fully understand that Christ is coming to save them.

A new era

Soon people will understand that the being they see is Jesus Christ and that He is coming to help and remove evil. He will establish a new era of peace, well-being and abundance. The Bible calls it the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). Yes, a peaceful and safe world will be restored and rebuilt!

That time is coming. 

Out with the old! In with the new!

To learn more about the Kingdom of God, read our booklet The Mystery of the Kingdom.