CHRIST’S REIGN: Returning in Glory

Read Revelation 19:1-21

The overthrow of evil in the world will come.  The age of rebellion will end with the return of Christ to establish His kingdom of righteousness. Revelation 19 describes those climactic events.

It begins with the overthrow of this world’s political, economic, and religious system—Babylon (v.1-10). The great whore of one world government under the Antichrist, with its capital seated in Rome will be decimated.  While these tribulation events visit judgment on earth, the church is enjoying the marriage supper of the Lamb, safely in heaven.

But, the church will exchange her wedding gown for armor, as we will ride beside Christ in His return to earth to establish His dominion, where we will reign at His side (v.11-18). His description is awe-inspiring to the saints, but to His foes it will be fearful. Jesus is coming to reign on earth—the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” All His enemies will be conquered.

The Antichrist and his armies, gathered at Armageddon will be destroyed in a battle that is over as soon as it begins (v.17-21). None can stand before our Conquering King!  Even as the Bride of Christ has enjoyed a wedding feast in heaven above, now the carrion birds will be summoned to feast on the carcasses of those who dared fight the Lord. The Beast who directed the global political system and the False Prophet who led the global ecclesiastical system are first to be cast into eternal hell.

I want to be on the winning side, don’t you?

CHRIST’S REIGN: The Manifestation of Sovereignty

Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-28.

There has never been a time that Jesus has not been Lord, nor a time that He will not be. As the Second Person of the Godhead, He reigns as God eternally. The incarnation did not make Him less than fully God, rather it made Him fully man.

In His crucifixion, He died as man, but in His resurrection, He rose as glorified humanity. In doing so, He conquered death and crushed the serpent’s head. Satan is still dangerous in his death throes, however, as a snake can inject venom as it writhes in dying. The devil has been cast down, but not cast out—not yet.

Christ has ascended, and is extending His reign spiritually as He calls the elect to salvation. Each time a sinner repents of his rebellion and bows at the feet of the Savior, His reign is extended on earth.

The full manifestation of that awaits the future. Christ’s resurrection is the prototype of those whom He will raise from death. There is an order in the resurrection, as Paul  notes here. The dead in Christ will rise at the rapture of the church, to be joined by the living saints, transformed and taken up to glory. Following seven years of tribulation judgments on earth, Christ returns with His bride to reign. The Old Testament saints and tribulation martyrs will be raised to share in a thousand years of Christ’s reign on the earth. Following that the wicked will be raised and judged. Then Christ delivers over the kingdom to the Father and the Eternal State of new heavens and a new earth begins.

“And He shall reign forever and ever! Hallelujah!”

ETERNAL HOPE; EVERLASTING HOME

Unless Christ rose from the dead, I am wasting my time writing this and you are wasting your time reading.  Thankfully, He lives!  There are so many implications to that truth.    For one, it establishes eternal hope and provides an everlasting home.  Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10.

Life is relentless—it just keeps coming at you, like the waves of the restless sea.  At times, those waves become tsunamis of trouble.  It is easy to lose heart.
 
Yet, we need not.  Paul reminds us here that although the pain of earth is real, the promise of eternity is far superior.  Outwardly, our strength and health will decline over time—this physical frame eventually grows frail and will fail.  Inwardly, the real person that is housed in a body, can grow stronger and stronger, and with it, the magnetic appeal of heaven overcomes the bonds of earth and we are lifted up to real home in glory.

Paul knew what it was like to suffer.  Do you hear him whining?  His tone is one of triumph.  Far from affliction overwhelming him, he sees how pain aids him—the knowledge that God uses the sorrows of this world to shape us into Christlikeness—that the weight of glory is incomparable when placed on the scales of our soul, in relation to the lightness of difficulty. What we see is temporary, as this material universe passes away, while what we know by faith concerning the spiritual, invisible Kingdom of God is eternally fixed.

For now, we groan.  Today we abide in a tent—a temporary structure that houses our souls.  Someday it will be exchanged for a permanent dwelling in a resurrection body.  Our groans give way to glory!  Our homesickness for heaven will eventually be met with a happy homecoming.  God’s Spirit within the child of God gives us that tug heavenward and His presence assures us of ultimate arrival.

So, let us walk by faith, and not by sight.  Looking around us will burden us.  Looking above us will bless us!  The moment we die, gazing into the face of Jesus will make every heartache forgotten.

Some have accused Christians of, “being so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good.”  Not so!  Paul tells us that a correct perspective of eternity brings a compelling passion on earth.  Living in light of eternity makes us into difference-makers!  We labor for the Lord as those who must give account at the judgment seat of Christ.  Lord, make us faithful that in the judgment we may be declared fruitful!

MARCH ON!

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. ”

And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit.

When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.

“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

(Matthew 26;30, 39, 57; 27:2, 31, 50, 59-60; 28:6-7, 16; Acts 1:9-11)

Jesus left the Upper Room following the institution of the Lord’s Supper—crossing the Kidron Valley and up the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane.  Knowing what He was going to face, He did not hesitate. March on Jesus!  March on!

Into the garden, He left the disciples to pray—and instead, they slept—so He prayed alone, wrestling as He would drink the cup.  Might it be avoided?  No, for this cause He came.  March on Jesus!  March on!

The violent mobbed seized Him.  Peter whipped out his sword to fight for Him, but He could have summoned the legions of heaven to rescue Him.  But, He surrendered Himself—the Holy One in the bloody hands of those brutes.  March on Jesus!  March on!

Marched to trial before the religious and government authorities—a kangaroo court—yet He did not protest, a Lamb led to the slaughter. Brutally beaten and cruelly mocked, yet He did not flee.  March on Jesus!  March on!

Shouldering the cross:

Up Calv’ry’s mountain, one dreadful morn,
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn;
Facing for sinners death on a cross,
That He might save them from endless loss. (Avis Christiansen)

March on Jesus!  March on!

And so He was nailed to that cross—suffering as none had ever suffered, paying the excruciating price of all sins of all men of all time, that we who received Him might be forgiven.  He went where no one else could go—marching to the gates of hell—and declaring His victory over the demonic realm.  He crushed the serpent’s head!  March on Jesus!  March on!

Out of the grave, He walked!  Conqueror over death, hell, and the grave—nail-scarred feet strode from the tomb in triumph!  No stone could seal His grave.  No guards could prevent His exit.  March on Jesus!  March on!

He walked among men, the Lord of Glory for forty more days until He met the disciples on the Mount of Olives again, where He would commission His church and depart through the clouds—and on to heaven itself.  What a reception He received as He returned from His mission now accomplished—on to the throne of His Father, and reunion!  March on Jesus!  March on!

And the promise is that the very place where His feet last touched the ground, will once more be the place where they will touch down—maybe very soon—and He will seize the scepter of universal dominion, treading all His foes beneath those blessed feet.  Lord, hasten that day!  March on Jesus!  March on!

PEACE ON EARTH

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.  Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.  (Revelation 20:1-10)

That first silent night was suddenly shattered by spectacular sights and sounds, as angels said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”  The heavenly messengers announced the fulfillment of the messianic promises of the Old Testament.  For example, Isaiah called Jesus, “the Prince of Peace,” and said that in His reign the nations would beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, with war and violence banished from the earth.  Yet, as we end this Christmas season and stand on the threshold of a new year, we see a world filled with bloodshed and fear the threat of terrorism.  Still, the child of God can submit such fear to the promises of a sovereign God and supplant them with faith in His supreme purposes.  There may be horror today, but there is hope for tomorrow.  Jesus is coming again and He will put things right in this world.  That is what the twentieth chapter of Revelation proclaims.

This chapter commences with the seven-year tribulation period concluded.  All the terrible judgments described in the bulk of the book reached their climax with the Lord Jesus coming with heaven’s armies to wipe out the Antichrist and his military.  The global economic system of the Beast and the worldwide ecclesiastical system of the False Prophet have been destroyed and the demonically driven duo cast into the Lake of Fire.  Next in Revelation 20:1-3, we read that the third member of that terrible trinity of terror—Satan himself—will be bound with chains and imprisoned in the bottomless pit.  The world will be liberated by the Lord!

This will inaugurate 1000 years of heaven on earth (v.4-6).  The church will reign with Christ—in all probability from the New Jerusalem which is suspended above the earth.  We will have freedom of movement throughout the universe in our glorified bodies.  John writes of the first resurrection.  It is the first of its class—a resurrection to life.  Blessed are all those of the first resurrection order for they are all those who have died in faith.  The second kind of resurrection is that of the wicked who will be raised to stand before the Great White throne and sentenced to everlasting damnation (v.11-15).  We say that these are two classes of resurrection in that several resurrections of the first order have already occurred at this point—Jesus, a handful of Old Testament saints with Him, the dead in Christ at the rapture of the church, and the two witnesses in Revelation 11.  As the millennial reign of Christ begins the tribulation martyrs are raised, and I believe the rest of the Old Testament saints as well.  The latter group will reign, I think, from the old Jerusalem—possibly with David sitting on his former throne as Christ’s regent on earth.

We will need to reign, for as strange as it seems, even in this environment, the evil hearts of humans will need to be governed.  Those who survive the tribulation and are converted will repopulate the earth and their offspring will need to be saved.  Many will reject Christ and at last, when Satan in released, will follow him to their doom (v.7-10).  Such is the depraved heart of man!  I am glad I am part of the first resurrection class!