Think about today. Could you accomplish good in the world if you had the authority to command the behavior of people? You bet you could!

You would stop the practice of aborting infants for the sake of preserving the "reproductive rights" of the mother, wouldn't you?

You would stop all child molestation.

You would stop all drunkenness.

You would stop all murder.

You would stop the foolish, self-serving behavior of our political leaders.

You would stop the unequal distribution of resources such that some people have so much money they could not spend the interest in their lifetime while other equally worthy people continue in poverty and sometimes starvation.

You would stop the educating of children in the practice of witchcraft. You would not permit them to be taught that the only god was the god in their own personality.

As a Christian you would do all these things if you had the authority, wouldn't you?

Of course you would. You would bring into existence a righteous, loving, peaceful world in which everyone did the Lord's will and worshiped Him.

Well, this is a true vision of your future. It is not to sit on a couch in your mansion with nothing to do. Rather it is to return with the Lord Jesus and bring righteousness and justice to the nations of the earth.

How does this sound to you?

Or would you rather lay around in your mansion and do nothing?

Think about this. Your answer reveals the type of person you are, doesn't it?

"He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery." This sentence tells us that when we return with Jesus to govern the peoples of the earth they will still be people. They will be as they are today, stubborn, resentful of anyone who tries to change them. Even though you are attempting to change them for their own good because their practices are destructive (just as is true of how God deals with us), they will fight against you. You will need the iron of the Holy Spirit to crush all resistance, otherwise peace and justice cannot be brought into the world. Can you see the logic of this? And you thought you were going to do nothing forever! Why do you think God is teaching and training you? So you can go to the great retirement home in the sky?

"Just as I have received authority from my Father." You can't just begin to order people around. You have to have authority. God gave the Lord Jesus the authority to govern the creation. Jesus is passing on this authority to you so you can bring order out of social chaos.

God sees people and cares for them. His intention is to bring people to joy. He has the power to do this. Through Jesus we will receive the authority and power to bring people to joy. But, like us, they will kick and scream as they seek to maintain their own destructive ways. Is it that way with you? Do you kick and scream as God tries to bring you to joy?

To be continued.