God is sovereign over all of His creation.

As such, He has the Universal Kingdom,

under which all things exist and function according to His grace. For the LORD
most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. - Psalm 47:2
The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over
all. - Psalm 103:19

The emphasis of the Universal Kingdom is on the Deity of God. We see in this
kingdom allusions to or even outright mention of the Omnipotence of God, the
Omnipresence of God, and the Omniscience of God. We even see other attributes
of God, such as His eternality.

A great distinction is made between the Creator and the creature. His ways are far
beyond our ways, and who can comprehend God are oft-stated expressions for the
Sovereign God of the Universe. So, when we see these types of verses, we can
understand that the emphasis is on the universal reign of God and on the Universal
Kingdom of God.

God is Sovereign over His Universal Kingdom. All that exists is His territory,
there is nothing that is not under His reign.

There is only one law that exists within this Kingdom. This law is, in reality, the
law of God. This law works for the pleasure and will of God. All other “laws” that
exist in the created universe solely stand because God wants them this way and
they can be reversed by Him at any time He choses.

This implies that there is, actually no such thing as “natural” laws. Those things
we call “natural law” are actually the visible manifestations of the orderly Law of
God. God, because of His orderly nature, organized his creation in such a way that
all of creation points to Him as creator and deserving to receive glory from the
creature. The power to maintain the organization of the created universe is rested
solely in God himself and not in the creation.

God attests to this organizational structure, in which He is the perpetual power

through which all creation operates, when He uses it to attest to His own
truthfulness.

Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not
appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of
Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers

1
over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to
return, and have mercy on them. Jeremiah 33:25-26

Examples of those types of verses are:

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and
the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psalm 90:2

Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Psalm 147:5

Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and
the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the
kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour
come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might;
and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. I Chronicles
29:11-12

Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and
all deep places. Psalm 135:6

But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Psalm
115:3

Within this universal kingdom, God specifically created an order to His creation.
We don’t know when angels were created but the Bible indicates that it was before
the 6 days of creation for the earth and all that is in it.

God illustrated His creative power to Job, and in doing so indicated an order to the
creation of angels which was before the creation of the earth.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line
upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner
stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy? Job 38:5-7

The creation story indicates to us an order to the creation, not only in creative order
but in primacy.

• Angels were created first according to Job which places them first in primacy
order.

2
• Then there was the creation of light and darkness on day one of creation. This
is the first indication of the fall of Satan and the Kingdoms of Light and
Darkness.
• God then begins the building blocks of creation from the bottom up.
• The mineral class
• The plant class
• The animal class which is subdivided by water, air and land creatures in
that order.
• Then finally man, who was taken from the mineral class and elevated to
the second highest class in creation.
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

Man was placed as the guardian and caretaker of the created earth. This order is
illustrated when it speaks of Jesus, the “second Adam”.

For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we
speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art
mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little
lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set
him over the works of thy hands: Hebrews 2:5-7

God created the two classes of creatures, angels and humans, with the unique
capacity to reason and to choose if they will remain in subjection to God as
Sovereign Lord. This uniqueness sets them apart from all other classes of created
beings. It is only these two created beings that have a will. The Bible is written
for and about the plan of God for humans; therefore, little is known about angels
except where their interaction with humans or human history was deemed to be
important enough for God to include it in scripture. This being said, we can know
some things about this class of creatures and the fact that they have the ability to
reason and choose. For the sake of our study on the Kingdom of Heaven, we will
primarily emphasize, as does the Bible, the role of humans in the Kingdom. God
declares this unique reasoning ability to choose, as illustrated by the following
verses:

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will
serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of
the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and
my house, we will serve the LORD. - Joshua 24:15

3
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat,
that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall
know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be
forsaken of both her kings. Isaiah 7:14-16

Man, unfortunately chose to rebel against God and fell from his created class.

Because of the fall of man, man became again below that from which he was
created. Man fell below the mineral class of creation.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis
3:19

The remedy for the fall was already in place before the foundation of the world in
the Messiah. It is through the sending of the Messiah that another attribute of God
is displayed: the love of God. By choosing to accept the love of God for us
through His Son, the Messiah, we are then elevated, not just back to our former
state but to the primacy of all creation.
Because of His love for us and our ability to choose, God, by His will, permits two
kingdoms to exist within His Universal Kingdom: The Kingdom of this World/
Darkness/Satan and the Kingdom of Heaven/God.

It is important to note that the existence of these two kingdoms in no way

negatively reflects on the sovereignty of God but rather magnifies it. Only a God
of love would allow choice. Only a God of Grace would provide a means by
which man could be saved, and only a God of justice could institute perfect
righteousness to all of His created beings.

Summary of Chapter 3
Application of Chapter 3

4
5