Pastor Bola Bello
Genesis 1:26-27
The details of the kingdom are not an exhaustive discussion of the kingdom but touching the three reality of the kingdom which is dispensational in nature. There are three integral and dispensational aspects of the kingdom that we need to remember and fully understand. These are; the kingdom in the eternity past, the kingdom in the eternity now and the kingdom in the eternity to come (Matthew 6:10, 12:28, 24:23.
However, the kingdom of God on earth was witnessed by Adam at the creation which was predicated upon his obedience and submission to the instruction of God (Gen 2:15-19). In Genesis 1:26, Adam was created in the image of God and in His likeness. This image was not a counterpart of what is produced by camera lenses but it represents the exact nature and character of God in man. The image does not confer on us to be look-alike of God in physical form. God is not blood and flesh as a man. He is just God.
The Kingdom of God is a shared realm between man and God. No wonder, the man was made in his nature to have dominion over created things in the realm of the earth.
Gen 1:1-2 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was void and without form. The word “void” means not inhabited or not habitable. Empty space. Absolutely empty. In the book of ( 2 Peter 3:6-7) the word “perished” has the same root meaning as void. It, however, denotes that there was an existence that has ceased from existing. That has been completely annihilated. However in In Genesis 6:7, 13, 17 but Noah found grace and was by the sovereign power of God exempted from another destruction that took place in the day of Noah. It also suggests, that 2 Peter 3:6-7 was not talking about the world of Noah.
We do not have the details of when the first world was inhabited, and who inhabited it. We, however, have some hint which could provide a possible clue on why the earth was empty (Rev. 12:7-10). War broke out in heaven between the legion of Angel Michael and the angels of Lucifer. Lucifer was cast out of heaven and he came with great wrath. What is going on on earth presently had previously happened in heaven. The heaven had witnessed rebelliousness but cleansing was taking place through the loyalty if certain angels who loved not themselves unto death and the sacrifice of the blood of the Lamb.
In other words, the kingdom can only be enforced on the earth with a similar sacrifice by the saints of Christ as it was done by the angels in heaven.