Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 28:112 (Oct 1871)
Article: The Divine Agency In The Establishment, Administration And Triumph Of Christ’s Kingdom
Author: Samuel Harris

BSac 28:112 (Oct 1871) p. 686

The Divine Agency In The Establishment, Administration And Triumph Of Christ’s Kingdom

Samuel Harris

The kingdom of Christ is not originated and advanced by the spontaneous development of humanity; but a redeeming power comes down upon humanity from God, and enters into human history as an always-working energy, quickening men to spiritual life and transforming society into the kingdom of God. This thought is repugnant to the rationalism and naturalism of this age; but it is distinctive and essential in Christianity, and must be recognized in any truly rational philosophy of human history. It is the subject which is now to be considered: The Divine Agency in the Establishment, Administration, and Triumph of Christ’s Kingdom.

The historical course of the divine action in redemption, as set forth in the scriptures, is familiar, and needs only to be indicated. The divine energy of redemption enters human history at its very beginning and declares itself in promise. It appears in the call of Abraham and the promise to all the world through his seed, giving a distinct organization to God’s kingdom in the call of a chosen people, to be his, as the prophets continually insist, not by outward descent, but by his covenant and promise, and their faith and obedience; a kingdom, as Paul explicitly demonstrates, differing in form, but the same in essence with the same kingdom as it afterwards appeared in the Christian church. Centuries after the call of Abraham the Jewish state appears, itself a Theocracy, within which the germinant kingdom is secluded and protected, as a chestnut in its prickly bur, until it is ready

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to drop and become the germ of a great tree. Then God is in Christ, makes propitiation for the sins of the world, subdues the power of darkness and death, and makes worldwide the power of attraction by which, from the Saviour’s cross, he draws all men to himself. This saving power is perpetuated in the Holy Spirit “poured out on all flesh.” Christ at the right hand of the majesty on high, administers his kingdom by the invisible agency of the life-giving Spirit. By this the energy of redeeming grace widens its scope, intensifies its action, multiplies its agencies, and makes itself more and more manifest as a spiritual power established in human history, quickening a spiritual church, directing human thought and action, guiding the forces of civilization, and transforming society into Christ’s kingdom. Finally, Christ will come a second time to judgment and will present his kingdom, completed and glorious, to the Father.

Here is a divine action running through human history, working the redemption of man from sin. We will confine our attention to some of the general characte...