The Agency for Restoring Peace
JEHOVAH GOD is “King of eternity,” deserving of the worship of all nations of mankind. (Rev. 15:3, 4) As Sovereign Lord over the vast universe he has “the abundance of dynamic energy” to accomplish his will throughout the infinite reaches of space, and also here upon this earth. (Isa. 40:26; 55:11) Therefore we can be assured that, since he promises to do so, this mighty King will completely sweep wicked men and nations off the face of this earth. (Jer. 25:32, 33) But how will he do this? What agency will he use? Let us turn to Daniel the seventh chapter for an answer. Here Jehovah God, the “King of eternity,” is appropriately called “the Ancient of Days,” and his spirit creation, the holy angels, are shown attending him. Says the prophet, at Da 7 verses 9 and 10:
“I kept on beholding until there were thrones placed and the Ancient of Days sat down. His clothing was white just like snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool. His throne was flames of fire; its wheels were a burning fire. There was a stream of fire flowing and going out from before him. There were a thousand thousands that kept ministering to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand that kept standing right before him. The Court [this “Ancient of Days”] took its seat, and there were books that were opened.”
From the words that follow we can understand that the judgment of “the Court” involves the taking away of beastlike “rulerships” from off this earth. (Dan. 7:11, 12) But who has the authority and qualifications to accomplish this?
“I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.”—Dan. 7:13, 14.
Here, then, is the “kingdom” that will bring everlasting benefits to mankind on earth. But who is this “someone like a son of man”? And what relation does this king hold to Jehovah, the “King of eternity”?
IDENTIFYING THE “SON OF MAN”
At his appointed time, Jehovah sent to this earth his Son, the first one of all his heavenly creation, to be born as a perfect human, and, hence, as “a son of man.” God accomplished this by transferring the life of this spirit Son to the womb of a Jewish virgin, Mary. Just prior to this, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her: “Look! you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you are to call his name Jesus. This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father . . . and there will be no end of his kingdom.”—Luke 1:31-33; Rev. 3:14.
After growing to adulthood, Jesus was baptized and anointed by God’s spirit, and then he proceeded to do God’s will for him here on earth. This included sacrificing his perfect human life, so that, after returning to heaven, he might use this as a ransom price in releasing mankind from the sin and death that they had inherited from the first man Adam. (Matt. 20:28) Also, by Jesus’ unswerving obedience and loyalty to his Father, in proclaiming God’s kingdom in the face of persecutions, even to the death, he showed that he was fully qualified to be the chief executive in God’s kingdom for the everlasting benefit of mankind. The “Son of man” would rule in a very special kingdom operating within the Sovereignty of Jehovah as “King of eternity.” This kingdom would cause opposers of God to “beat themselves in lamentation.” It would destroy all of such and open the way to restore God-rule throughout the earth.—Matt. 24:30.
This kingdom of the “Son of man,” Christ Jesus, is actually an extension of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty. It is the Messianic kingdom, serving for a particular purpose. The prophet Daniel describes it as ‘a stone cut out of the mountain’ of Jehovah’s sovereignty, and hurled against a huge image picturing the “kingdoms” (governments) of earth. We read:
“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”—Dan 2:44.
Moreover, as the prophecy states, this stonelike kingdom will then become ‘a large mountain that fills the whole earth.’ (Dan. 2:31-45) Through this kingdom, God’s sovereignty will again be extended over mankind, bringing untold benefits. But when?