In the preceding chapters we spoke of what it means for Christ to be here on earth and welcomed as king and when his kingdom is realized in new heavens and new earth in the ages to come, including the coming Millennial age of Revelation chapter twenty. We showed that the miracles and supernatural works that Christ performed while on earth, during the time of his public ministry, are miniature examples of what life will be like in the coming ages.
The Kingdom's Presence On Earth, in the person of King Jesus, will effect the very things that Christ was doing through his many miracles.
Some of the miracles of Christ involved healing of every sickness and disease. To the extent that people were healed to that extent the kingdom was realized. In the Millennial age, and in the ages that follow, healing and excellent health will be the norm. On that we will elaborate further as we study more on civilization in the Millennial time of the kingdom and in the ages following in John's vision of new heavens and earth, particularly on picturing the lives of the glorified redeemed in the city of God, New Jerusalem.
Some other miracles involved raising the dead. This too is what awaits the coming of Christ when all the righteous dead will be raised and their bodies, made glorious, will be reunited with their spirits, and have bodies incapable of infirmity or weakness or death. On that extensive part of this study, in upcoming chapters, we will study how resurrected believers will have immortal bodies and supernatural gifts and powers.
Other miracles of Christ involved wonderful manifestations of omnipotence in the physical world, turning water into wine, multiplying loaves and fishes, cursing a fig tree, walking on water, etc. These abilities will be at work in the ages to come. The natural and the supernatural will not be so separated then as now.
Further, other miracles of Christ involved the casting out of demons, of rebuking them, and controlling their doings. In the cleansing of the heavens they will be rid of every evil spirit. To the extent this work of Christ was advancing while he was here on earth, to that extent the kingdom of God had literally come. Christ's miracles were demonstrations of what the kingdom of God being present on earth will mean for the earth and for its occupants. This we showed earlier in this series.
J.A. Seiss in "The Apocalypse" (Lecture forty eight - see here; emphasis mine)
"The regeneration is the making of Christ’s miracles universal. The miracles of Christ were the preintimations and beginning of the great Regeneration to come, and the new creation is simply those miracles carried out into universal effect."
It is in the Millennial Age that the saved of all the nations (up to the time of Christ' return) will see such a renewed world, one being exemplified in the miracles of Christ.
In upcoming chapters we will explore this fact even further, especially when focusing on the abilities of the glorified immortal bodies of the resurrected believers.
Just as there are old testament singular prophecies of the coming Messiah that have a dual fulfillment (1st and 2nd comings), so too of the prophecies of new heavens and earth (Millennial and the ages thereafter), and of the prophecies of the coming of Elijah (John the Baptist and Elijah personally).
Amillennialists will often cite scriptures from the new testament which state that believers are said to be in the kingdom, and the kingdom in them, by their being incorporated into the visible church, or body of Christ, or else enjoying in some way the kingdom now. But, as we will see further, there is both a present aspect, or initial fulfillment of the kingdom of God, in the lives of Christians and their assemblies, and a future aspect. But, to say that such a present limited enjoyment of the kingdom nullifies a larger future fulfillment of the prophecies being fully realized on earth and in the heavens when Christ comes and begins the Millennial Age is untenable.
Notice these words of Christ: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." (Matt. 12: 28 nkjv) Christ did not, however, cast out all the demons from our world, from the heavens, when he was here the first time. That will not happen till he comes the second time and binds the chief wicked spirit, Satan, the Old Serpent the Devil, as we saw from Revelation chapters nineteen and twenty. The "kingdom of God" was present with people in the person of the King, Jesus the Son of David and "the second Adam."
Since the kingdom offer was rejected by the Messiah's covenant people, i.e. the Hebrews, in their rejection of him as their Messiah and King, the offer of the kingdom was withdrawn for the time and postponed until another time, to the time of Christ's return. The Jewish nation, by her leaders and by the majority of the people, said to their Messiah "We will not have this man to reign over us." (Luke 19: 14) Notice also these words of Christ:
"42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
45 Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they [h]perceived that He was speaking of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet." (Matt. 21: 42-46 nkjv)
The "nation" to whom it was given are described by the apostle Peter who wrote:
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." (I Peter 2: 9-10 nkjv)
This chosen generation, royal priesthood, is the same as "holy nation," and in this text does not refer to "Israel after the flesh." (I Cor. 10: 18) They are those who have believed in Christ and made their calling and election sure (II Peter 1: 10). They were not of the people of God before they were called to the Christian faith.
Israel's widespread national acceptance of Christ did not occur at Christ' first coming but will at his second coming. Many prophecies point to a mass conversion of the Jewish nation to Christ when he appears the second time.
"25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own [f]opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be [g]saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy." (Romans 11: 25-31 nkjv)
This text clearly teaches that an end time conversion of the whole Jewish nation is to be expected, and that it will occur "when the fullness of the Gentiles" has been reached. So, Jesus said: "For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Matt. 23: 39 ESV)
Obviously then, there is a sense in which "the kingdom of God" (or "kingdom of heaven") was a present reality when 1) Christ the King was on earth, teaching, healing, etc., and 2) was a reality for individual Christians (Jew and Gentile) in the church or by the gospel. Christ declared the following things in support of this:
"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." (Matt. 11: 12)
"The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it." (Luke 16: 16)
These texts show that the kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God was in existence during the time of John's and Jesus' ministries. Certainly, as we have seen, it was truly present in the presence of King Jesus and present in the miracles and wonders he performed.
"Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Rom. 14: 16-17 nkjv)
So, we can affirm, whether we be Amillennial, Postmillennial, or Premillennial, that since we have, to some degree, as believers in Christ, "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" we must therefore have also the kingdom within us and we within the kingdom. But, the error of some is to think that the present aspect or blessings of the promised kingdom of heaven in the lives of Christians and churches exhausts all that is promised to exist when the kingdom is fully come on earth. This is another case of dual fulfillment. Some kingdom blessings are enjoyed by believers in their lives on earth, in the assemblies of the saints, and in their private walk with the Lord. But, the kingdom blessings received in life by the child of God are only a foretaste, a sample, of what is to come. The best is yet to come when the kingdom of God is fully realized on earth in the lives of the redeemed.
Future Kingdom
"And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." (Rev. 5: 9-10 nkjv)
"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." (20: 4)
Amillennialists affirm that this reigning on earth with Christ as kings and judges by the saints is what is being fully experienced in the church or in the lives of believers. But, that is clearly a gross and false opinion. The reigning of the saints spoken of in these texts occurs after the resurrection of the bodies of the saints. That alone is enough to show that the idea of a present fulfillment of the reign of saints in the churches and lives of believers is all there is to it.
"25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I [k]shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we [l]may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire." (Heb. 12: 25-28 nkjv)
If one says that this prophecy of the saints "receiving a kingdom" is completely fulfilled in conversion, and in the present Christian life, the above text refutes it. The kingdom is not received till the time of the shaking of the heavens and earth, and that is future.
The present tense verb of the words "are receiving" is a present tense participle. It is I believe what is called a "futuristic present tense." But, even if not, it is still true that believers do receive many things pertaining to the kingdom promised to the little flock in their lives for Christ, and yet will receive the greater part when they reign on earth a thousand years.
Questions
1. So, what does it mean by the Lord "giving the kingdom"?
2. Who is the "little flock"?
3. Are they the only ones who are given the kingdom, or are there others?
4. When is this kingdom given and when is it received and fully realized?
5. Who will be the citizens of that kingdom?
6. How is the kingdom of God or Heaven related to the new heavens and earth?
7. How is the kingdom related to receiving the "eternal inheritance"?
8. Where will the resurrected believers live?
9. What will resurrected believers do?
10. What about their individual personas and unique identities?
11. How will glorified believers socialize and rule over the nations?
12. How will lust and natural depravity (original sin) be dealt with?
Some of these questions we have addressed already. Others will be answered in the next chapters.
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