In short, it already has, and He is still reigning right now.

I don’t mean to be too brief with my answer, so let me further elaborate. Let’s begin with a statement Jesus made about His Kingdom after being arrested and standing before Pilate. Pilate asks Jesus if He is the King of the Jews and after Jesus questions Pilate’s motive Jesus says,

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36).

Notice that Jesus is speaking of his kingdom in the present tense, not the future tense. Jesus’ Kingdom existed when he said these words and will always exist. Daniel prophesied about this Kingdom saying it will be a kingdom that will never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44). 

When Jesus speaks of His Kingdom here in John 18 He is not talking about a physical kingdom located in this world. It’s a heavenly Kingdom “not of this realm”, with King Jesus on the throne in heaven. This passage also does not indicate that the location of this kingdom will ever change to somewhere else (like Jerusalem or Nowheresville, MO). 

The Bible teaches that Jesus is reigning right now in His Kingdom, and it is symbolically described in Revelation 20:1-6 as a thousand-year reign when Christ rules and Satan’s power would be limited. It is described as a thousand-year reign not because it would last exactly one thousand years but because it is for all time. We have to realize that the term “a thousand”, is used in figurative language to indicate an undetermined amount to include “all” things. The number 1,000 is used frequently to represent “all” in symbolic figurative language. As an example:

Psalm 50:10-12 

“For every beast of the forest is Mine,

The cattle on a thousand hills.

“I know every bird of the mountains,

And everything that moves in the field is Mine.

“If I were hungry I would not tell you,

For the world is Mine, and all it contains.

This does not mean that there are only a thousand hills where God keeps His cattle. He is saying that all animals everywhere belong to Him. 

Jesus is reigning and will continue to for all the remaining time of this world. 1 Corinthians 15:23-26 says,

“But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.” 

Christ is reigning now and will continue throughout the entire Christian age, the millennium (1000 years). The thousand years is now. It is not a future event that will come. We are there now in a time period when Christ rules from His heavenly throne. 

The more important question is this: Will you submit to the rule of Jesus as He reigns?

I love you, 

Alex Mills