CHRIST’S REIGN: Ruling in Majesty

Read Revelation 20.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” He was not teasing us. There is literally a time coming when Christ will return and bring the Kingdom of God to earth and the will of God to be done for a thousand golden years. Jesus will sit on the throne of global dominion and rule in majesty.

The Millennium—the thousand year reign of Christ on earth—means that Satan will be bound (v.1-3). When the Serpent slithered into Eden, paradise was lost. Then paradise is regained as he is chained and cast into the bottomless pit.

It will be a time when saints will be enthroned (v.4-6). The people of God will be delegated areas of responsibility during the Millennium. The church—raptured from earth and glorified—returns with Christ to reign. Then the Tribulation martyrs are raised, as well as the Old Testament saints, so all the people of God reign with Christ.

There will be people who survive the horrors of the Tribulation, who bowing to Christ, will be welcomed into the Millennium. These will have children as earth is repopulated. As wonderful as the conditions—Christ reigning and Satan removed—these must still deal with their fallen nature, and sadly some will rebel and face the consequences.  In fact, when Satan is released, many will follow him (v.7-10). That rebellion is quickly crushed and Satan joins the Beast and False Prophet in Hell.
It is then time for all the wicked dead to be raised and judged (v.11-15). They will be given bodies suited for their eternal state of torment—the second death, in dying and being unable to die as they are cast into the lake of fire.

Paradise or punishment?  Where will you spend eternity?

CHRIST’S REIGN: This Age and Ages to Come

Read Ephesians 1:15-23; 2:4-7.

“Jesus is Lord.”  That has been the universal confession of the church for the last 2000 years.

Jesus is Lord in this age. He has conquered death, risen in glory and power, and ascended to heaven where He reigns. All things are beneath His feet, in that He is working out His will. In particular, the church, as His body is under His Lordship. Paul prays that the eyes of the saints will be opened to understand the extent of our inheritance, that we share because of our identity in Christ.  We have been spiritually made alive together with Christ.  We have risen together with Christ in new life. We are spiritually so identified with Him that in this age we are seated with Him in Heavenly places.  All things are under His feet—so remember this today: there is nothing over your head that is under His feet!

Jesus will be Lord in the ages to come. That which is a spiritual reality will someday become a literal fulfillment. It is obvious that having new life in Christ has not actually made us glorified in the absolute sense.  We still live in this material world full of sin. We still live in this physical form that is decaying and dying. We still live in the battle zone where Satan is on the prowl. Yet, when Christ returns, the manifestation of our inheritance and actualization of our hope will be experienced. The dead in Christ will rise with new bodies, and the living saints will be changed into a glorified state. His kingdom reign will be extended over all the earth. Righteousness will reign on the globe. Satan will be bound—imprisoned in the bottomless pit. Happy day!  My heart sings, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

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!”

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!

THE KINGDOM COME

So the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on, even forever.  (Micah 4:7b)

Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father, “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  (Matt.6:10)  He means to literally answer that petition that has been countlessly offered for two thousand years.  The fourth chapter of Micah tells us of a future time—much closer now than ever—when the kingdoms of men are supplanted by the kingdom of God.

Our Lord was born into this world to be Lord and Savior, yet rejected by man.  Jesus presented Himself to Israel as their Messiah.  He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, but within days they demanded His crucifixion.  There is coming a day, when the King who rode on a donkey into the city of David will the next time ride into Jerusalem on a white horse as King of kings.  The return of Jesus to Jerusalem will usher in earth’s golden age (v.1-2).  The nation of Israel that last saw Him crowned Him with thorns will see Him crowned with glory!  A new temple will be built, with all people flowing into it for worship.  Jews and Gentiles will be gathered to study His Word and submit to His will.

This violent, war-wracked world will see an industry of selling arms, transformed into supporting agriculture (v.3-5) for the Prince of Peace will reign in Zion.  At the outset of the Millennium—the thousand year reign of Christ—the nations will be gathered for judgment.  The sheep will be divided from the goats—the saved separated from the sinners.  All who enter that kingdom will be those who are God’s redeemed.  Tragically, the rest will be cast into hell.  

The lame will be made to walk, the outcast will be welcomed, the afflicted will be healed—all that Jesus previewed in His first coming will be realized fully in His second coming (v.6-8).  That thousand year reign on earth will give way to the eternal state, voiced in the Hallelujah Chorus, “and He shall reign forever and ever!”  (Rev.11:15b).  

The Jews—now hated and across the ages persecuted—will in that day be delivered.  The suffering brought on by rejecting Christ will be reversed when they receive Him.  A new world order will be birthed, but first the labor pains of the tribulation will be experienced (v.9-10).  Following the rapture of the church, there will come seven years of God’s wrath being poured out on a Christ-rejecting world.  The last half will be the Great Tribulation—three and one half years of unprecedented horror.  The effect on the Jews, however, will be to drive them to cry out for their King—and Christ will return to save the seed of Abraham.

At the climax of those seven years, all the nations will encircle Jerusalem—the battle of Armageddon will ensue (v.11-13).  In their folly, the rulers of earth will gather to war against Christ—and the battle is over as soon as it is begun.  Israel is delivered as God’s wheat by the threshing of tribulation, while the sinners are as chaff to be blown away.

Looking about at what is happening now—seeing the suffering wrought by sin—wrings from my throat a cry to the skies, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”  (Rev.22:20b).  With great expectation, may we join our prayer to those voiced across the centuries and repeated in churches around the globe today, “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”