Sermon Cloud

More conversation here: http://christiantheology.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/eschatology-101-repent-the-end-is-possibly-nearer/

So as we have stated, the Jewish people had been trained by their scriptures to look forward to a day, THE DAY of the Lord, when all their foes would be eliminated by the visitation of their God, and He would usher upon the earth an eternal state of  joy, peace, and the pursuit of happiness.

And then Jesus comes.  He fulfills the hopes and expectations of the Jewish scriptures; but in a more profound way.  By his physical love and life and obedience and death and resurrection, his visitation becomes a new expression of THE DAY of the Lord and thereby it extends well beyond the boundaries of genetic and geographic Israel; but THIS DAY completely assures a spiritual victory against all our spiritual foes and ushers us into a spiritual reality of joy, peace, and the pursuit of happiness.

So is that it?  Are we done?  Is there anything else for us in the future?  YES.  The New Testament affirms that our salvation is not ONLY spiritual – there is a physical reality yet to be enjoyed in the eternal estate.  The Creeds of the Christian church universally exclaim that our final hope is the return of Christ and the restoration of all things.  Christians should affirm a return of Christ, a resurrection of all flesh, and a final judgment by Christ of all beings, including the elect and fallen angels.

But how we get to the final day has been debated by the church since Christ’s ascension.  And the primary passage that has fueled most of the debate from the New Testament is Revelation 20, with the usage of a single word that appears in Revelation only 6 times in verses, 2,3,4,5,6,7.

The Greek word is Kilia, but translated into Latin it is Millennium.

What is the millennium? A 1000 years!  Is that a real number or a symbolic number? Why do we have to ask that?  Because it is in the book of Revelation.  The book filled with all kinds of Apocalyptic imagery that leads us to wonder if we are reading the text of a science fiction novel or cosmic fantasy.

The way a person interprets the millennium is directly related to what they think the book of Revelation is.

Is it a chronological flow of events that are yet to happen, or of events that have already happened?

Are the visions of Revelation meant to reveal a chronological order at all, or are they a cycle of repeating events meant to communicate a greater spiritual truth?

I think the best answer to all those questions is YES.  Because the book of Revelation concludes with describing the realities of the final judgment and the new heavens and earth – I think the book describes future events.

Because Chapter 12 describes in very symbolic language the birth of Jesus Christ and the spiritual interplay behind the physical events – I think the book describes historic events of the past.

Because throughout the book of Revelation we are over and over again brought up into heaven to see the worship of God, to hear his judgments upon the earth, to look down upon the earth to see the judgments released, to witness the attack of Satan upon the saints, and to witness the return of Christ to destroy the enemies of God and establish a new order of life for the redeemed, I think the book of Revelation is another text that reveals the Jewish Eschatological Hope – 1. Trails will Come, 2. The Messiah will gather the world for judgment and Salvation, 3. The Messiah would establish a new kingdom, 4. God would dwell with His people forever.

So let’s take a look at the opening verses of Revelation 20.

Revelation 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

So from a first reading of this passage, we have an angel binding Satan for a thousand years.  We see judges on thrones.  We see martyred saints coming to life and reigning with Christ for 1000 years.

These verses, along with Revelation chapter 19, which is understood to be a passage describing the return of Christ to earth, becomes the foundation for the PRE-millennial position (Family Page)

This became the primary view of the early church and is still popular to this day by many respected theologians. 

The problem is:  As the church went forward and began to establish her creeds, no real passages could be found in the Bible that clearly described this millennial period.  When people tried to describe it with various passages, a whole host of implications made the prospect complex, for example, trying to figure out how many times Jesus has to come back to judge the earth.  For this and other reasons, a more suitable model was sought.

The next model that was widely adopted was Amillennialism, which I will define in the following way: A thousand years is NOT literal – but a long time.  The Bible says that with the Lord, a day is like 1000 years, and the Lord owns the Cattle on a 1000 hills, and the Lord loves a 1000 generations – this is just Bible speak for , “A Lot.”  Plus this model did not require a literal rule of Christ upon the earth for a 1000 years, while still endorsing a final judgment with the return of Christ.

The problem is: Satan doesn’t seem all that bound today.  Too many atrocaties and heresies are perpetrated by too many.  If Satan is bound, then he’s a Houdini.  Again a more suitable model was sought.

Enter POST millenialism.  This view asserts that the preaching of the Gospel will change the world so much so that the future binding of Satan will be so evident that all the promises of the Old Testament blessings of obedience, including an ideal environment, people living hundreds of years, no shortage of resources, and the society embracing all things Christian that it will be obvious that Satan is under wraps.  And even though Satan will be let loose for a short time to try to gain back influence on the earth, the Lord will return to cast Him away for ever.

The problem for this view became twofold:  First, the message of Christianity became mostly identified with improving the world through social programs rather than the message of the Gospel.  With this came the notion that the Bible was more fairy tale stories that only revealed our true purpose social engineering – Yeah, and that led to state run religions, communism, and a couple World Wars.

The problem for Post Millennialism was that it was co-opted by liberal theologians and discarded by popular opinion when the worst of humanity was revealed in recent history.

So what do we have left?  The church still trying to define what the millennium is supposed to be, and our relationship to it!  The question is, even if we have differing views about it, can we still be friends? Can we still affirm the basics of the Gospel while at the same time affirming the importance of eschatology?

Now I’m a pastor with theological convictions that I think are firmly rooted in Christian history and in Biblical passages.  I would love to continue reading Revelations 20 and describe for everyone why the view I have adopted makes the most sense – That’s why I love Sunday School!

My question to conclude today’s message is this:  Does eschatology – stuff that may happen well beyond our days, really impact our life and faith today?  Does any of this really matter if we will not be around to see it? Absolutely!  BECAUSE, we are a part of it!  Since the Birth, death, and resurrection and ascension of Christ, we have entered the Last Days!  Because of the Gospel – a new way of living and believing has come to US!

If Christ has come to establish a kingdom, that means all of our allegiance to His rule and laws are more important to us than any administration, or state, or society which attempts to force us to believe something different!

If Jesus is the King of a new humanity not defined by genetics or geography, then we have a message to send to all the nations about a reconciling God who is building a kingdom that includes every tribe nation and tongue – we have a responsibility to reach them.

If we are to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” that means our calling is to take dominion over the territory where God has planted us – not in a militaristic way, but with the spiritual weapons of truth, love, mercy, justice, and conscience.

Because we know that Christ will come again to establish a new heaven and a new earth we have a profound appreciation of all of creation today!  We know that it belongs to Him and reveals his purpose and design.  And when we take it in by our senses and imagine what it might look and smell and taste like when everything is renewed, we become tremendously awe struck with the idea that God could even have something far better for us!

If Christ did not come to establish his rule over a people, we would not know how to organize our churches, or to interpret scripture, or raise our families, or invest our resources, or rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Christ does reign, and He is fitting a people with eternal values so that they will contribute to every earthly good!

Or, finally, with the words of Al Mohler: The Christian doctrine of eschatology is necessary to the biblical story and the Gospel narrative.  There is no Gospel if history simply unwinds into a meaningless puddle, or a cosmic black hole.

The Gospel unravels unless God brings the entire course of human history under His visible and perfect judgment, unless God's justice is perfectly displayed, unless Christ is revealed in glory so that every knee bows and every tongue confesses that he is Lord, unless Christ claims His redeemed people, unless God's triumph in Christ over death, sin, evil, and injustice is made universal. Put simply, unless every eye is dry and every tear is wiped away.