Adventist Teaching: No
Biblical Teaching: Yes
A key aspect to Seventh-Day Adventist theology is that Jesus didn’t receive His kingdom at His ascension (Daniel 7:13-14), but that it will happen after he completes the investigative judgment which they claim started in 1844.
The Bible teaches that Jesus already has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18-20) and is presently seated on His throne in Heaven as he rules and reigns with that authority until all of His enemies are made His footstool (Acts 2:34–35; Hebrews 1:13; Psalm 110:1; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Hebrews 10:13).
Jesus also plainly said, when accused of casting out demons by the power of the Devil, that if He cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit and not the Devil, then the Kingdom of God has (present tense) come upon you (Matthew 12:27-28, Luke 11:20). Jesus did indeed cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit which means the Kingdom had arrived.
When questioned about the Kingdom of God and it’s arrival by the Pharisees, Jesus told them it wouldn’t arrive with signs to be observed which cause one to say, “Look here,” but that the Kingdom was in their midst (Luke 17:20-1). He also went about preaching “the Gospel of the Kingdom” and that the Kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 9:35, Mark 1:14-15, Luke 8:1). “At hand” is not thousands of years into the future.
In Mark 9:1, Jesus proclaimed that some standing there hearing Him would see the Kingdom of God before tasting death. This has wrongfully been attributed by many to the Second Coming which has led many skeptics to assert Jesus is a false prophet because the Second Coming didn’t take place in that generation. But it’s actually in reference to the Kingdom of God being established—which happened just as Jesus said it would. This is part of the good news (gospel)—that the Messiah and His Kingdom have come.
The Adventist Church cannot have this be the case, though, because it’s central to their theology that Jesus is still dealing with sin—in a sanctuary in Heaven—in a work of investigative judgement to see who is and isn’t His. He will receive the Kingdom after this work is finished. Except, as we see, He already possesses it, the Kingdom is here, and His governance will know no ends (Isaiah 9:7). He will physically return one day to throw the wicked out of His Kingdom into outer darkness (Matthew 13:41-42) while His people will inherit the Kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 6:9). The Adventist position contradicts this.
