THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

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[Edit] | Written by MarkOvertSkilbred on Jan-30-09 10:03pm

THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

Christian references to the millennial kingdom are based on various Scripture passages which describe a future kingdom on the earth where Jesus is the Ruler for a period of a thousand years and where He enforces His Laws righteously, where the lion lies down with the lamb, where there is no need of the sun or moon because God is with us and is Himself the Light, where the river of life flows out of His throne, nourishing His creation and the tree of life, which provides a different fruit every month, and the leaves are for the healing of the nations. We see in these references that God’s ultimate plan is that He will rule over us and provide for us in much the same way that He provided for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before The Fall. Later on when God rescued the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, He provided for their nourishment in the desert for a period of forty years and tested them to see if they would be satisfied with His provision. Soon after He had rescued them from Pharoah’s pursuing army, God tested the Hebrews by allowing them to become thirsty in the wilderness before miraculously providing water for them. But we see that most of them were not satisfied with what God provided and did not believe Him when He promised to be with them, provide for them and enable them to defeat their enemies, so they were punished in the wilderness and not allowed to enter God’s Rest in the Promised Land. The Hebrews were dissatisfied with manna, (the complete and perfect angel’s food which God provided them from His heavenly storehouse). Like Eve, the Hebrews believed that God was withholding something from them arbitrarily, (the leeks and meats of Egypt), and this serves as a daily reminder to us. WHO ARE WE TO QUESTION THE WISDOM OF GOD? Jesus taught his disciples the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” so we should be satisfied with God’s daily provision and not complain about what it is or is not. God desires that we be satisfied with the Bread of Heaven (the Things of God), and to bear our times of testing patiently. God disciplines those that He loves so that they will learn to trust in His provision. As the recession deepens, many question where God is in all of this. I believe that our world and nation and we as believers are in the beginning of a great time of testing, similar to that experienced by previous generations and by the Hebrews in the wilderness. He has told us not to “store up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” God is not satisfied with the simple faith that we receive when we first come to Christ, but expects us to grow “from faith to faith.” He is not content to allow us to remain as little children in our faith, but allows times of testing to develop our faith and our patience through a plan of discipline. In the Book of Job there is a verse which says that God enforces peace in heaven, and I find a similarity between that description and the reference to Jesus ruling the millennial kingdom with a rod of iron, (iron does not bend, while steel does.) Whereas mankind was cast out of the Garden of Eden as a result of his disobedience, and prevented from entering the Promised Land for rebelling against His provision, in the millennial kingdom God enforces peace by ruling with an unbending scepter of His perfect and incorruptible rules of discipline and Law. Perhaps this is humanity’s chief misperception of God—that from our sinful perspective there is no perfect law that we should obey. Our sinful natures want laws to remain flexible enough to adapt to our insatiable appetites. The world of sinful mankind fights against any establishment of a Godly Kingdom which has as its ultimate goal the submission of our sinful and rebellious natures. In North America, a recent example of this resistance is the concept of “Jesusland,” (see Google), which depicts Christianity as just so many bumpkins who are attempting to foist their beliefs on an unwilling mankind. Those who criticize Christians and Christianity generally, point out failures of churches to address some of the needs of the social community, their periods of religious intolerance, ongoing examples of hypocrisy, and their tendency to waste time on theology and pious platitudes. Yet even the most hardened critics of the Church acknowledge that Christianity has also done some very commendable things for humanity. We can trace the origin and establishment of universities, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, institutions for the handicapped and underprivileged, disaster and famine relief, skid row missions, programs helping to provide for widows and orphans, poverty relief, jail and criminal rehabilitation, and various other social endeavors directly and indirectly to the Church. You will notice that even some of the most ardent antagonists of Christianity still prefer living in Christian nations and locating themselves within “Christian neighborhoods” and yes, even prefer living within the so-called “Jesusland” in order to benefit from the civil society which authentic Christianity tends to provide. Our human natures want our laws to consider individual freedoms in their composition, and we demonstrate to voice our disapproval and threaten disobedience if our wishes are not satisfied. We tend to prefer majority rule over all other options, believing that opinion matters more than rules of behavior, and that we can decide as humankind what works best for us without bringing God into the equation. We envision a utopia of our own creation, where mankind’s altruism is sufficient to accomplish the goals of happiness, peace, fulfillment and prosperity for all. Human history has numerous examples of newer, improved versions replacing the status quo, only to be replaced by other “improved” versions, and always falling short of God’s perfection. The arguments go something like this: Why risk offending or excluding any of humanity’s special interests and desires by including God in the formula? Isn’t it more progressive and democratic to envision a world where there is no actual Creator, but rather some sort of beneficial set of circumstances which just happened to develop within the ecological plasma of our existence, and leaving the decision-making to those of us who are most capable? After all, some of earth’s most capable scientists and visionaries feel that we merely created the concept of “God” to explain life’s mysteries. Those who are vocal in their criticism of Church Law point to glaring and hypocritical examples within church leadership attesting to the church’s failure to live up to its own requirements. Often we content ourselves with a haphazard approach to the rule of law which makes exceptions for our own disobedience, but then holds others accountable for their disobedience. We must first “remove the plank from our own eye” so that we can see clearly to “remove the speck from our brother’s eye!” The way some of the world sees it, we in the Church are hypocrites unwilling to admit to our own sinfulness and attempting to saddle the rest of humanity with cruel punishments and unnecessary rules of behavior, all for the sake of maintaining our own particular viewpoint. Those who don’t believe there is a God view the Church as delusional or worse, and as setting precedents which are arbitrary, restrictive and even dangerous for mankind. Their finite minds just cannot accept the existence of Perfect Law because they do not believe that THERE IS ONE GOD WHO IS INFINITELY PERFECT, that every word He says is Truth, and that every Law He has established is Righteous in every aspect. God has designed His Laws with us in mind, knowing that the Perfection which He demands is the only real way to happiness. When was the last time you thanked God for His Perfection? Maybe you are one of those individuals who believes that the world and universe around us merely sprang into existence of its own volition? Do you really believe that we are the result of happenstance? Do you think that our ability to survive is the result of tremendously good luck or that somehow through our own intellect or efforts that we managed to overcome eons of evolutionary chaos? Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t settle for second-best in His universe, that He planned our existence from the beginning, that He really cares when things go wrong and we are mistreated? Do you really believe that all of the Good which is done in this world has its origin in mankind? Remember that God has all of eternity to develop His Kingdom and His creation and that we mortals are only housed within these earthly-shells as a temporary condition. DON’T MEASURE GOD WITH YOUR EARTHLY RULER—IT WON’T WORK! There are various reasons given for not obeying the laws of man and the Laws that God has laid out for us in the Bible. This is referred to as disobedience or sin, (literally: missing the mark). Part of this disobedience is due to a deliberate rebellion similar to a wayward child, and part of it is due to the basic misunderstanding which man has towards God. We forget that God has told us that His discipline of us PROVES His Love towards us. Instead of believing that JESUS IS HIMSELF THE DOOR AND THE STAIRWAY THAT LEADS TO HEAVEN, we choose to focus on the difficulty of the journey. Which of us has not blamed God for our circumstances, for allowing evil to exist, for allowing us to be mistreated by others? Perhaps you are angry with God for several reasons. The more logical they seem to us, the more likely that we will hold onto them like a mantra which reinforces our set of beliefs. Some of the more familiar reasons are: Doesn’t He see our circumstances? Doesn’t He hear us? How can a God who can only do Good Himself allow evil to be committed? How can a loving God allow such pain and misery to exist? If God really loves us, why does He allow our loved ones to die? Why are life’s joys and sorrows so unequally divided among people? It is true that God is not as concerned about our temporary physical, mental and emotional comfort and happiness as He is about our eternal relationship with Him. Rather than trusting that God will provide a way through the wilderness of our earthly existence, we complain bitterly about our steadily-deteriorating physical bodies and emotions as if they were themselves the goal and prize, rather than the vehicles and tools for our journey. Instead of remaining faithful to our heavenly journey, we rebel against the opportunity to grow in faith and discipline, preferring to remain in a static, more “comfortable” state of being. Instead of trusting that the Holy Spirit Who lives inside of us is enabling us to reach the perfection which God demands of us, we too quickly fall back on our humanity and endlessly offer excuses for our mistakes. God has not left us orphans! Indeed, one of the Holy Spirit’s works is the development of our spirits into fitting vessels in which the Father and Son may dwell. But God knows that in order to develop, the original seed we have been given must fall into the earth and die so that it can be reborn again to a new and more abundant life. OUR HUMAN NATURE MISTAKENLY CHOOSES TO GLORIFY OUR FLESH WHICH IS PERISHING RATHER THAN VALUING THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT WHICH GOD IS DEVELOPING WITHIN US AND WHICH LIVES FOREVER! We also behave towards our Creator much in the same way that Eve did, by believing the false notion that somehow God is withholding something from us for arbitrary or selfish reasons, and that He could actually treat us better if He were only more generous and forgiving, etc. We choose to focus on what we perceive has been withheld rather than on what is being created. We allow the cares and riches of this world, (the thorns in the Parable of the Sower), to choke our life in the Spirit. We are resentful toward our Creator for what we perceive as his withholding of blessing, when only God knows what blessings await those who trust in God. We must trust that God knows what is best for each one of us, and refuse to give in to our selfish natures which demand our independence and private set of rules. There is resentment toward God by humanity which He sums up for us in Psalm 2 when He asks, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One, (Jesus). “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath, saying, “I have installed My King (Jesus) on Zion, My Holy Hill,” I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You (Jesus) will rule them with an iron scepter; You will dash them to pieces like pottery.” Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” When the Bible says “that at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” It is verifying what God has already told us by stating factually what our future holds for us within the millennial kingdom and in the future judgment. Those who have failed to recognize the authority of Jesus Christ as Messiah and King of all creation, will now submit and acknowledge Him as their Ruler, whether gratefully and willingly, or ungratefully and unwillingly. Who are these people and leaders who rebel against their Creator? Potentially all of us fit into this category, since we are all sinners, but God has provided a way that we can be rescued from our sins, much as He rescued the Hebrews from their slavery. That way is available to all of us, but our rebellion has blinded us to the reality of God’s provision. Just like the Hebrews in the wilderness and those who handed Jesus over to be crucified, we fail to recognize our Deliverer when He is with us. He wants to rule over us, and promises us eternal blessing and security if we will obey His voice, submit to His authority and continue to trust in His unfailing love and provision. Instead, many of us listen to the same voice of the serpent in the garden who tempted Eve, and fall into the same trap of believing that somehow we are being cheated by our Creator, who has been holding-out on us and denying us the pleasures which we somehow feel are better for us. How long will it take before we realize that ONLY THE ONE WHO MADE US COULD POSSIBLY KNOW WHAT WILL ULTIMATELY SATISFY AND PRESERVE OUR LIVES? There are those who reject the notion of a theocratic kingdom because they do not believe in God’s perfection and His ability to design the perfect kingdom, far better than anything that mankind could ever imagine, because the present reality is not conducive to or predictive of its establishment—in other words, mankind will not generally seek its establishment and God’s patience with mankind has not yet been exhausted, since “He is not willing that any should perish,” and the times are “not-bad-enough-yet” to require its final establishment by God Himself. Even so, this should not discourage effort on our part to aid in its establishment, (indeed, Peter says that we can hasten the coming of the kingdom), since every step toward God is a step in the right direction, and God enables us in our efforts to cooperate with Him. What can be said in favor of mankind continually seeking to establish God’s kingdom here on the earth in advance of God’s actual millennial kingdom? Perhaps you are one of those lone ranger Christians who is fed up with the hypocrisies of the organized church, and have decided that you would rather go-it-alone rather than trust your spiritual development to an imperfect humanity and her multiple churches. There have been various attempts by Christians down through history, on an individual and group level to organize churches based on Biblical example. All of them fail partially, and some completely fail to live up to God’s standards for His Church. This serves as a temporary setback to some groups and as a roadblock to other groups who fail to measure up to God’s standards at even the most basic level. Some cannot even be called churches at all, but are churches of Satan here on earth, (think of Jonestown). Other church groups learn from their mistakes and move ever-closer to following the Biblical Church as described by Jesus in the New Testament. Meanwhile the world observes these various entities claiming to embody the Church on earth, scratches its head and decides for and against various memberships and associations. It matters a great deal to God and to our fellowman what examples we set as Christians and as church groups representing ourselves as followers of God. The Holy Spirit provides discernment which protects us from fellowshipping with unbelievers and leads us in the Path of Life. There have been enough terrible errors perpetrated by groups passing themselves off as God’s representatives to discourage many outside the church from entering into Christian fellowship and causing many to leave these groups. The world is in no mood to be misled by yet another group promising heaven on earth. God’s Church and His representatives must serve as honest guides and servants willing to model Biblical Christianity in our daily walk. God is well-able to counteract these negatives and renew His Church, and He continues to do this on a moment-by-moment basis. God draws us to himself through various means which many would call unorthodox. After all, how many Christian groups today would go into the highways and byways and compel fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes and derelicts of every stripe to come and be a part of God’s Church? Remember that Jesus said that it is those who are sick who have the need for a physician and a Savior. The story of the prodigal son reminds us that we have left home, (our Divine relationship with God), and must come to our Godly senses and return to our proper place with our Heavenly Father. The bitter brother who stayed at home could be compared with the Pharisees and members of organized churches who use churchianity rules to restrict their memberships, comparing their prodigal brothers’ poor choices with their own correct choice to remain “at home”, but self-righteously forgetting that each of us is guilty of sin and in need of a Savior, and assuming that stability is the only qualifying factor in being a member of God’s kingdom. Those outside the Church must come to The Father as repentant sinners who acknowledge themselves as unworthy to be called children of God, and those within the Church must not only welcome the world’s prodigals, but reach out to the world and make disciples. What about you? Do you attend church with other believers? We are commanded by Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations. We are also told not to forsake gathering together with fellow believers. Are you actively participating in this discipline, or is it just all about you-and-yours getting into heaven? Just as the churches have a goodly number of hypocrites, they are also gathering places for God’s True Church here on earth who are proactively awaiting Christ’s second coming. Christians refer to God in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit, because of numerous Biblical references to three Persons in which God reveals Himself. There are some who make the mistake of demanding that God’s Kingdom come right now, corresponding to OUR preferred schedule, even predicting dates, which Jesus told us The Father has forbidden, reserving that knowledge for Himself alone. What we perceive as errors-in-timing on God’s part are in-fact errors in perception on our part. God cannot make mistakes, or else He is not Who He says that He is—God Himself! He is the source of light and hope and creation itself, His kingdom is eternal and His principles are unchanging. When we align ourselves with His purposes and begin to develop ourselves in correspondence to His principles, we become a part of the eternal kingdom, both without and within. So what are we to make of all of this? If so many religious people have made such serious errors throughout history, how will our attempts at seeking God’s Will for our lives result in anything but more confusion? The key lies in seeking God with our whole hearts. Just as the prodigal discovered in the parable, while he was still a good way off, his Father recognized him and ran to meet Him. God is not the author of confusion—we are, when we put our own selfish wishes and aims ahead of God’s kingdom. The implication is clear—if God’s kingdom is a reality, (and it is), and if its further establishment is unstoppable, (and it is), then any attempts at preventing God’s kingdom are futile. Those who attempt to prevent God from doing His Will are doomed to fail before they begin. Ultimately, whose side you are on makes all the difference in the world, and for all eternity. Also, on the practical side, it is delusional to believe that humanity can understand better than our Creator what true happiness and fulfillment are. We so often choose what we believe to be the better, more enjoyable, fulfilling and expedient path, but which sooner or later leads us toward disappointment and failure. Let’s learn God’s plans for our perfect blessing, fulfillment and ultimate reward and then ask Him to show us how we can help Him to accomplish it in our lives! So how do we go about learning God’s plans? The best place to start is by reading the Bible, which is God’s revealed Truth to us through His Word. While you are seeking the knowledge which only God can provide to you, ask Him to reveal the Truth as you read His Word, because without the Holy Spirit’s help, the knowledge you gain is merely historical and subjective. As the Spirit of God reveals meanings to you, faith enters as a gift from God and He opens your understanding of spiritual things. Jesus said, “The Kingdom is within you.” Once this has been accomplished, Bible reading is transformed into the living Word of God. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to remove doubt, so that we may experience life more abundantly. Although the entire Bible is spiritual food for the believer, I especially recommend the Gospel of John and the Book of Romans--chapters 3-10 are called the Roman Road to salvation. When you are in God’s Presence in the Person of the Holy Spirit, He reveals the many ways in which you fall short of His Perfection, referred to in the Bible as sin. The Holy Spirit will give you a spirit of repentance, which means that you reverse the direction of your sinful life and are no longer a slave to it. Jesus says that WE WILL BE FREE INDEED FROM THE SLAVERY OF SIN! In addition to revealing truth to us in the Bible, the Holy Spirit also speaks to us and guides our perceptions and actions. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our Comforter, because He enables us to cope with life’s inevitable troubles, and helps us to make the important decisions which affect our Christian life. His goal is to conform us to the very image of Christ Jesus and to enable us to stand in God’s presence for evermore. He tests us to see if we will rely on Him in our times of trouble. God promises that if we seek Him with our whole hearts, that we will surely find Him. He also says that His eyes are steadily watching the whole earth, seeking after those whose hearts are turned towards Him. Therefore, God is pleased with those who steadfastly seek to know more about Him and are concerned with the same things that He is concerned with. These are the members of God’s Church which exists here on earth and in heaven--in the past, the present and the future, and regardless of your background, church affiliation, class, color, creed or language. This is why the Holy Spirit has been given to us individually, because there is no partiality with God—all have an equal chance to be admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said that His mother and His brothers are those who do the will of His Father in heaven. Jesus said to His mother, that He must be about His Father’s business. We should also be about our Father’s business. Do you find yourself concerned more about yourself and how you can lead a more fulfilling life? Welcome to humanity! Jesus says that we are first to seek God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness, and that all these things will be ours as well. If you are really serious about discovering the ultimate in happiness and fulfillment, you need look no further than your Creator Himself. When you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to you about Jesus and The Father’s love for you, both here and now and in the millennial and eternal kingdom to come. Confess your sins to God and ask Him to help you lead a better life in conformity with His Will. When you admit to your Creator that you are not able to accomplish this task by yourself, He graciously supplies the ability to turn away from your sins and begin moving towards Him. Think of your present reality as a journey towards God and His millennial kingdom. Often our journeys are full of dangers and troubles. Some of us have more difficulties than others, so we are apt to protest like Peter. Remember Jesus’ response, “What’s that to you?—Follow me.” Let’s stop complaining about what we haven’t got and concentrate on what God provides for us on a daily basis. God’s well never runs dry, His jar of oil is always full, His storehouse is always well-stocked and full of blessings for evermore. So what should we do in the meantime? As you read the Bible, diligently seek to know the One Who made us all and sacrificed Himself so that we can spend eternity with Him. When you are ready, God will make use of you to bless others and further His Kingdom. And what is that Kingdom of God like? Isaiah tells us in chapter 26 that “we have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect piece him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. All that we have accomplished You have done for us.” God bless you as you seek God with your whole heart!

Mark Overt Skilbred