The Everlasting Dominion

God gave the rule of the earth to a man, and the man lost it. Now God has given all rule to one man, Jesus Christ, and Daniel says His rule will never pass away. Why is it safe this time? And why does it last for ever, when Adam’s did not? Many say: because He is God. The chain gives a different answer.

Genesis 1:26-28 and Psalm 8:6

“Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.”

Psalm 8:6

At the beginning God said of man, “let them have dominion… over all the earth” (Genesis 1:26). To rule over creation was given to man. It was a human office, and God gave it.

Hebrews 2:8

“Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.”

Hebrews 2:8

But it was lost. Adam could be corrupted, and he was. When power sits in hands that can be corrupted, it is lost in the end. That is what “we see not yet” means. I know those hands. They are mine.

Daniel 7:14

“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

Daniel 7:14

The same rule is given again, to “one like the Son of man.” But now it is everlasting. It shall not pass away.

Notice two things. First, it is given. Someone gives and someone receives. Second, the verse does not say it lasts because He is God. And a few verses later, the saints receive “an everlasting kingdom” too (Daniel 7:27). So an everlasting kingdom does not prove that the one who holds it is God. Then why does it last? The next links answer.

Matthew 4:8-10

“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Matthew 4:8-10

Here is the test. The devil offered Him the very thing at stake, all the kingdoms of the world, at the price every other man pays. Jesus said no. He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

He cannot be bought. That is the first reason His rule does not pass away.

And it matters for another reason too. God gave the earth to men: “the earth hath he given to the children of men” (Psalm 115:16). The devil can only reach it through men who give him their worship. That was his price: “if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” The one Man who could not be bought closed that road.

Hebrews 7:16, 24-25

“Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.”

Hebrews 7:16

“But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

Hebrews 7:24-25

The old priests “were not suffered to continue by reason of death” (Hebrews 7:23). Every death meant a new man in the seat. And that is how good rule is lost: a good king dies, and a bad son takes his throne. Solomon was followed by Rehoboam.

Melchizedek, the picture of Christ in Hebrews, was both king and priest. So this is about the throne too. A ruler who “ever liveth” never hands the throne to a lesser man.

He cannot die. That is the second reason His rule does not pass away.

1 Corinthians 15:53-54

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15:53-54

These two things, that He cannot be corrupted and cannot die, are not ideas. They belong to the raised body. The everlasting throne rests on a man raised from the dead. And this man stays under God: “then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Revelation 11:15

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”

Revelation 11:15

Here Daniel’s “shall not pass away” reaches its goal. He shall reign for ever and ever. And He shares it. The saints raised like Him “shall reign for ever and ever” too (Revelation 22:5). They also will be raised incorruptible, and that is why the rule is safe to share.

What this means

His rule is everlasting not because He is God, but because God gave it to a man who cannot be corrupted and cannot die. Those are the two things Adam did not have.

Every power in the hands of men is lost, sooner or later, because every man can be bought and every man dies. I could be bought. I will die. There is exactly one pair of hands where total power is safe. The Father has given the throne to the one Man who said no to the devil and who lives for ever. And still He remains subject to God, that God may be all in all.

Road to Eternal Life