The Reigning Christ will Return to Recover, Possess, and Reign over the whole Earth

In Psa. 72 we see the reigning Solomon typifying the reigning Christ in His kingdom; He will reign over the whole earth, for He will recover and restore the earth, and of His kingdom, there will be no end.

Hallelujah for the coming reigning Christ! When He came in His incarnation, in His first coming, Christ was the Redeemer and the Savior.

He came in His incarnation not to sort out all the problems of men but only some of them; the social problems, the economic problems, and the problems of the government are still here until He comes back the second time.

What the Bible says is that Jesus Christ will come back again, and He will return with His overcomers to restore, recover, and possess the earth as His kingdom.

Today the earth is not under the Lord’s rule and control; Satan, God’s enemy, is the one who usurps the earth.

But one day will come, and Daniel saw it in a vision, when Christ will return as a stone cut without hands, and He will strike the great human image – which signifies the entire human government from beginning to end – and will bring in the kingdom of God. Hallelujah!

We today are preparing for that day; we as believers in Christ are learning to rule and reign in the divine life today so that, when the Lord returns, we would be His co-kings to rule over the earth.

As we live the Christian life, we are being trained and perfected by the Lord to reign in life over anything negative, over anything of the enemy, and we are regaining His expression on the earth.

Then, one day, the Lord will return, and He will bring in the kingdom of God for one thousand years; in this kingdom, the overcomers will be co-kings with Christ. Hallelujah!

We see this typified in Psa. 24; here we see the victorious Christ as the coming King in God’s eternal kingdom.

Today we want to see even further how Psalm 72 is on the reigning Christ, typified by the reigning Solomon.

What a wonderful Christ we have! He came to sow Himself as the seed of life, the seed of the kingdom, into our heart, and He is now growing in us, expanding in us, and establishing His kingdom in us.

This kingdom is inward, hidden, and spiritual; no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born of the spirit (John 3:6).

As He grows in us as the kingdom, we are under His rule and reign, and He expands His reign in us. In the church life, we live in the kingdom of God, and we can be in the reality of God’s kingdom as we live the church life under God’s rule and reign within. Hallelujah!

And one day the Lord will return to bring in the manifestation of the kingdom of God, and we are praying that we return with Him to bring in His kingdom on the earth!

The Reigning Solomon in his Splendor is a Type of the Reigning Christ

Hallelujah for our wonderful, glorious, reigning Christ!

In Matt. 1:1 we see the genealogy of Christ beginning not from Adam but from Abraham and then from David. The son of David is Solomon; Solomon is a type of Christ, for Christ is the real Solomon.

Christ came as the Son of David to inherit the throne of David, His father (2 Sam. 7:12-13; Luke 1:32-33).

In his splendour and reign, Solomon is a type of Christ.

Solomon did mainly two things: he built the temple of God in the kingdom (1 Kings 6:2) and he spoke the word of wisdom (1 Kings 10:23-24; Matt. 12:42).

Christ is the real Solomon, the reality of the type of Solomon; He is now building the real temple of God, the church, and He has spoken the word of wisdom.

The real temple of God is not something physical, outward, made of stones and wood and gold; the real temple of God is the church as the house of God, the temple of God, the dwelling place of God.

Christ came to build the real temple of God, the church, in the kingdom of God (Matt. 16:18). Solomon the king is a type of Christ as the real King.

The kingdom of Christ is composed of Abraham’s descendants, including both his descendants in the flesh and those in faith.

God’s kingdom is not built with the created race; the created race has fallen, but God called Abraham and his descendants, and Christ is the King in the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is built with the called race of Abraham, which includes both the real Israelites (Rom. 9:6-8) and the believers in Christ (Gal. 3:7, 9, 29). Hallelujah!

We as believers in Christ are part of the kingdom of God, and the reigning Christ is our King!

We see the reigning Christ in Psa. 72; in Psa. 69 we see the suffering Christ typified by the suffering David, and in Psa. 72 we see the reigning Christ.

May the Lord grant us to have the view of His eternal economy when we read the Bible so that we may see Christ, the centrality and universality of God’s economy, in every chapter and verse in the Bible.

When we read the record concerning the splendid reign and rule of Solomon, we need to realize that Christ is the real Solomon.

Actually, Christ is the real David, for He suffered as David suffered, and He brought in the kingdom of God by fighting for God’s interests even as David did.

The reigning Christ is typified in Psa. 72 by the reigning Solomon, the son of David, in his prosperous and flourishing time.

The title of this psalm is, Of Solomon, and the very first verse says, O God, give Your judgments to the king, / And Your righteousness to the son of the king (Psa. 72:1).

Psalm 72 is actually a psalm on King Solomon, who is a type of Christ as the reigning One. Christ is the Son of David, and He inherits the throne and kingdom of David.

He lived a suffering life on earth (typified by the sufferings of David), and then He ascended to the heavens, where He is now reigning as the King, typified by Solomon (1 Cor. 15:25; Rev. 17:14). Praise the Lord for King Jesus!

He is already the King, and He is now ruling in the heavens. Solomon was just a type of Christ, and his kingdom is a type of the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ is the real King.

Lord Jesus, we praise You as the King of the kingdom of God! You are the reality of the reigning Solomon, for You are the reigning Christ in the kingdom of God! Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, our King! Thank You for coming as the son of David to inherit the throne and kingdom of David. Thank You for living a life of suffering on earth, even as David did, and for ascending to heaven to be enthroned and rule as the King! Hallelujah, Jesus Christ is the reigning Christ, the reigning King in the kingdom of God! Praise the Lord, we are the kingdom of God, and Christ will one day return to bring in the kingdom of God in its manifestation! Praise our King Jesus Christ!

The Reigning Christ will Return to Recover, Possess, and Reign over the whole Earth

The reigning Christ is typified in Psalm 72 by the reigning Solomon (Matt. 1:1; 22:42) in his prosperous and flourishing time (1 Kings 9—10), as indicated by the title of this psalm and by the first verse.

If we read this psalm we will see the reigning Christ, and all the kings bowing down to Him and all the nations serving Him (vv. 1-8, 11).

It unveils a glorious picture of what it will be like for the Lord to recover, possess, and reign over the whole earth (vv. 17-19).

He will reign with righteousness and justice, by which peace will be ushered in (vv. 1-5).

Today many people talk about peace, and everyone wants world peace; however, it is not possible for peace to be here until Christ is the reigning King.

When Christ returns, He will be the King; He will rule over the entire earth with righteousness and justice, and praise the Lord, the earth will be full of peace.

Real peace will begin to reign on earth when Christ returns to be the King over the whole earth.

And the way He rules is not by criticizing or beating others into submission; His rule is like rain watering the earth, and all will flourish.

He will drop like rain upon the mown grass, / Like abundant showers dripping on the earth. / In His days righteousness will flourish, / And there will be an abundance of peace… (vv. 6-7).

He will have dominion from sea to sea, from one end to the other end of the earth, and all the nations will serve Him.

Yes, Christ will return for judgment, but even when He returns for judgment, He will be like rain upon mown grass, like abundant showers dripping on the earth. He gains the earth not by fighting but by water.

He will rule not with an iron rod or by condemning but by supplying. What a Christ! What a reigning Christ in His kingdom!

The reign of Christ, typified by Solomon, will be in the millennium in the age of restoration (Rev. 20:4, 6; Matt. 19:28).

His name will be forever. As long as the sun endures, the name of the reigning Christ will spread, and men will be blessed in Him!

All the nations will call Him blessed, and the glory of God will fill the whole earth.

Psalm 72 seems to be speaking about Solomon in his splendid reign in the kingdom, but Solomon’s reign in this way was short and limited; actually, this psalm speaks of Christ and His reign in His kingdom.

It is Christ who will bring in real peace all over the earth by reigning in His kingdom. Christ will judge the poor of the people and will save the children of the needy; He will crush the oppressor.

If we look around us today, injustice prevails, lawlessness reigns and immorality and corruption are common and almost normal.

Because lawlessness and corruption prevail, there is no peace.

But when Christ comes to reign as King, there will be an abundance of peace, He will reign over the whole earth, and everyone will be in peace and will flourish.

Today we can hasten His return by allowing Him to rule and reign in us.

We as believers in Christ are in His kingdom, and we can enjoy peace and blessing as we allow Him to rule and reign in us.

Today He reigns in us by raining on us to water us and cause us to flourish. Oh, what a Christ we have! How we love His reign!

Lord Jesus, You are our Lord and our King. We enthrone You in our being. Rule and reign over us. We reject Satan’s reign and usurpation and we give You the preeminence. Set up Your throne in the center of our being and have Your way to rule and reign in us. Amen, Lord, we praise You as the reigning Christ. We are looking forward to Your return with the kingdom of God! Come, Lord Jesus, and reign in righteousness and justice! Return, dear Lord and King, and bring in real peace all over the earth! Keep us under Your reign today. Rain on us and nourish us with all that You are so that we may flourish and enjoy Your blessing. We bless Your name. We glorify You. May Your glory come and fill the whole earth!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, vol. 3, “Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms,” ch. 11, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 4, entitled, Solomon’s Splendid Kingdom Typifying Christ’s Kingdom in the Millennium.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – My King will soon come back again, / The sky be filled with Him; / The universe to be redeemed / Will see His light therein. / The Lord will soon fulfill His plan, / His footsteps now I hear; / His glorious frame I faintly see / Beginning to appear. (Hymns #960, stanza 1)
  – Jesus shall reign where’er the sun / Doth his successive journeys run; / His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore, / Till moons shall wax and wane no more. / To Him shall endless prayer be made. / And princes throng to crown His head, / His name like sweet perfume shall rise / With every morning sacrifice. (Hymns #145, stanzas 1-2)
  – Rejoice, the Lord is King, / Your Lord and King adore; / Mortals, give thanks and sing / And triumph evermore: / Lift up your heart, lift up your voice; / Rejoice, again I say, rejoice. (Hymns #146, stanza 1 and chorus)