There are some who hold to this theology who believe that it is the mission of the Church to "christianize" the nations. While it is absolutely true that Jesus has given us a mandate to make disciples of all nations, it is also true that the world will be in its most sinful state at the time of His return. In fact, His second coming is what ultimately puts an end to sin. So therefore we are not making the world a place worthy of Jesus' return, but He returns to restore all things back to His original intention.
There have been several attempts throughout history to create a Christian utopia. Individuals have founded communities where the rule is more like a theocracy than anything else. The idea again being the formation of God's kingdom on the earth, where Jesus can ultimately return to and rule. None of these endeavors have been successful. Each and every attempt has ended in failure. Why?
As I stated previously, Jesus is not returning to a Christian city or nation, (there is actually no such thing), He will return to a wicked world to make things right.
So let's take a look at a few passages of scripture that shed some light on the condition of this present world, and the coming kingdom that Jesus Christ will one day set up.
As mentioned above, there is no such thing as a Christian nation. I know this might seem strange for many to read, but it is true nonetheless. Some nations may base their laws on some biblical values; they may have many moral principles they attempt to adhere to, but that in and of itself does not make a person, much less an entire nation "Christian."
To the contrary we read this,
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
We see from these two passages that the world is under the rule of the evil one, or Satan. Does this mean that God has no power or control over the events that occur, or that He has no sovereignty over this world?
Absolutely not. God is indeed sovereign over His creation. Scripture abundantly shows this to be true. However Satan has been allowed control of this world, as is shown in the account of Jesus' temptation.
And He led him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed to over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall be all Yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
Satan gained this control through the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. They had been given this authority by God (Genesis 1:27-28), but lost it to Satan when they yielded to his temptation and died spiritually (see Genesis 3).
All of this might seem hopeless, but it is not. We read of a coming day when this world will come under the absolute authority of Jesus once again. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a succession of kingdoms which would ultimately be destroyed at the second coming of Christ (see Daniel 2:31-45).
Speaking of the final wicked empire that this world will see, we read this,
"In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy."
A few chapters later Daniel has a vision that pertains to the same events at the end of this age (see Daniel 7:1-28).
"I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."
'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and a half a time. But the court will sit for judgement, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'
We don't see the world get better and better until Jesus returns. Instead we see a point in time when evil has reached its final limit and Jesus steps in to put an end to it.
Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were voices in heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."
The truth is we as followers of Jesus are in, but not of this world (John 17:17). Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). We remain in this world as ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20). Just as an ambassador in a foreign land represents the country that sent him, we also represent the kingdom that sent us: the kingdom of heaven.
I write all of this to show what biblical prophecy teaches. We are not the ones to set up an earthly kingdom for Jesus to return to. Our job is not to form a "Christian" nation and rule over others no matter how noble and right that may sound. We are to make disciples until Jesus returns. He will set up His kingdom, and then, and and only then, we will reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12, Rev 20:6).