Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 Vs. 34

 The Final Judgment

Matthew 25:34 “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:”

inherit the kingdom... The purpose of this judgment is to determine who shall enter the kingdom (Dan. 7:9-14, 7:22; Rev. 11:15), and to give the meek the earth as promised (Psm. 37:11; Mat. 5:5).

prepared for you... This terminology underscores that their salvation is a gracious gift of God, not something merited by the deeds described in verses 35-36. Before the foundation of the world, they were chosen by God and ordained to be holy (Eph. 1:4). Predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image (Rom. 8:29).

Eph. 1:4-5 “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love” “Having predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”

Rom. 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

So, the good deeds commended (in verses 35-36), are the fruit, not the root of their salvation. The deeds are not the basis for their entrance into the kingdom, but merely manifestations of God’s grace in their lives. They are the objective criteria for judgment, because they are the evidence of saving faith (Jas. 2:14-26).

Jesus in this verse, calls Himself King for the very first time. That will be His title when He returns to the earth. Messiah, Jesus, Lord, Word, now King. He is inviting the saved to come and reign with Him. We Christians, will be joint heirs with Jesus.

You see, God did predestinate us to be saved, but God knew (had foreknowledge), that we would accept the grace that Jesus provided us. This kingdom has truly been prepared from the foundation of the world. God knew that we would be saved even then.

foundation of the world... Greek: katabole, to cast or throw down (see the verb kataballo, translated cast down in 2Cor. 4:9; Rev. 12:10). Katabole should have been translated overthrow or casting down of the world in Mat. 13:35; 25:34; Luke 11:50; John 17:24; Eph. 1:4; Heb. 4:3; 9:26; 11:10; 1Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8; 17:8. With the exception of Heb. 11:10, katabole is used with Kosmos, social world, and refers to the overthrow of the pre-Adamite world by the flood of Gen. 1:2; 2Pet. 3:5-7; Psm. 104:5-9; Jer. 4:23-26 and the defeat of Lucifer and his earthly kingdom before Adam (Isa. 14:12-14; Eze. 28:11-17; Luke 10:18).

Katabole is not the ordinary word for founding or foundation. A reference to the founding of the world would require the use of themelios, as in Luke 6:48-49; 14:29; Acts 16:26; Rom. 15:20; 1Cor. 3:11-12; Eph. 2:20; 1Tim. 6:19; 2Tim. 2:19; Heb. 6:1; 11:10; Rev. 21:14, 21:19. This word is never used with kosmos, social system, or used of ge, the earth. The verb, themelioo, occurs in Mat. 7:25; Luke 6:48; Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:23; Heb. 1:10; 1Pet. 5:10. This verb is used only once of the founding of the earth (Heb. 1:10).

Katabole, therefore, means the disruption, overthrow, or ruin of the social system before Adam. In Gen. 1:1 we have the themelioo, founding of the earth (Heb. 1:10), and in Gen. 1:2 we have the katabole, overthrow of the social system on the earth by a flood. Note in the first scriptures above that from is used seven times and before is used three times in connection with the overthrow of the social world. Thus, the New Testament is very clear that the earth became desolate and empty before it was re-created in the six days of Gen. 1:3-31.

It is the first and only time that Jesus calls Himself the King. He has displayed His royalty in His acts; He has suggested it in His discourses and His parables; He has claimed it by the manner of His entry into His capital and His Temple; He will afterwards assent when Pilate shall ask Him the plain question; but this is the only place where He uses the title in speaking of Himself. How significant and impressive is this! It is as if He would once for all before, He suffered disclose the fullness of His majesty. His royalty, indeed, was suggested at the very beginning by the reference to the throne of His glory; but inasmuch as judgment was the work which lay immediately before Him, He still spoke of Himself as the Son of man; but now that the separation is made, now that the books have been opened and closed, He rises above the Judge and styles Himself the King.

We must think of Him now as all radiant with His royal glory-that visage which, was so marred more than any man now shining with celestial light-that Form which was distorted more than the sons of men, now seen to be the very form of God, the chiefest among ten thousand of the highest angels round Him, altogether lovely, the personal embodiment of that glorious kingdom He has been preparing through all the centuries from the foundation of the world-disclosed at last as the answer to every longing soul, the satisfaction of every pure desire, the King.

There already is involved all that follows: all the joy of the welcome Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

The King on His throne (Mat. 25:31) will extend an invitation to those on His right hand, the sheep, to enter the kingdom God had prepared… since the Creation of the world.