When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4) …..

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. (Rev 1: 5)…..

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. (Rev 20:6)

Jesus has promised us a wonderful start to our future with Him, being with Him in His physical presence. A time we can truly look forward to. A vision we can relate to right now, in this present world. A vision of such vividness that it will ignite our collective imaginations: To serve a righteous leader who will transform this present world into the place of love, harmony and peace that we all desire.

• This world leader is Jesus.
• His capital city will be Jerusalem, the renewed and rebuilt capital city of this new world.
• His kingdom rule will last a thousand years.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. {2:10} But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 Cor 2:9-10)(ref Is 64:4) …..

 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Rev 4:11

A thousand years of rest for this troubled planet, a Millennium of Peace, a Sabbath Millennium. A final millennium on planet earth as a crescendo of praise to our amazing Creator and Sustainer, Father God. The Utopia mankind has always desired will now arrive. The Utopia so desperately desired through the ages, but which has so repeatedly escaped mankind’s grasp.

Our most promising leaders in history, having swept millions off their feet in expectant admiration, have invariably turned from heroes to villains.

Now we can look forward to have a leader of the most impeccable character, who we can truly admire and who will never fail us. A fitting closure to Gods plan to gather together a people for Himself. And after that we experience the new heaven and earth, currently even more unimaginable, which is to  be our eternal dwelling place of joy, peace and purpose.  Refer to the link ‘5A – Millennium‘ , from slide 15 onwards, for a summary of this expectation, as given to us in scripture. For the full end-time study series, refer to Appendix J. For a brief Revelation overview, click 1a- SUMMARY of REVELATION

On this journey, we will seek Him, recognize His beauty, desire to experience His power and faithfulness in this world and the world to come. Ultimately, our desire is to be with Him forever.

Fly above the storm

Our aim, during the next few years, is for you and me to become battle-ready soldiers in Christ’s spiritual army. The first step in our spiritual preparation involves our mental focus. What we will learn is to mentally picture a biblically inspired ‘desired outcome’. Not just a vague “heavenly expectation”, but to have a clear pictorial vision of the future, an inspired desired outcome to our life here on earth.   We need to know what it is that we are preparing for and why. We also need to understand why this includes some effort. Our training as spiritual soldiers will require a concentrated and systematic application of our abilities.

In this first step, we prepare ourselves by clarifying our vision of who Jesus is to us. Jesus’ rescued us from destruction. He purchased us, He paid with His life, we now willingly belong to Him. We look up to Him as our Hero, the One we can follow, the One with whom we can experience the depth of our being, our identity. The One who can truly make us come alive! He is the One who is able to fulfill us. He is the One  (as Ps. 103) who will make us fly like the eagle! With His presence in us we will fly above the coming storm and not be engulfed by it. By recognizing the reality of the coming storm, we can practice relying on God’s strength and avoid getting all mangled up when the storm hits.

Reigning with Jesus for a 1000 years:

The primary passage on the millennial kingdom is found in Revelation chapter 20:1-7 (see below). The scene is set in chapter 19, where Jesus’ second coming is described:

• “I saw Heaven opened. And behold a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns. And He had a name written, one that no one knew except Himself. 13 And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”

Jesus will come in splendour and glory to establish his millennial reign. The millennial reign of Jesus is described in Revelation chapter 20. For a thousand years Jesus will reign on this earth. And at the end of His 1000 year reign on this current but restored earth, the history of this earth will be concluded.

Continuing with chapter 20 we read in Revelation 20:1-7:

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.4 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.5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 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. 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison.”

This passage makes several things clear.

• The duration of this kingdom will be one thousand years. This passage makes this very clear by telling us not just once but six times that it will last one thousand years. Satan will be released for a brief period after the one thousand years for the final ‘showdown’, which then concludes the thousand years, and seven millennia of biblically recorded human history.
• Verse six shows that the first resurrection occurs at the beginning of the kingdom. This is the resurrection of the deceased believers to reign with Christ. All who have made the choice to believe in Jesus, proclaimed and confessed Him as their God and Saviour will be there. If you pass away before the second coming you will also be there. (more on this in 2.2)
• Satan will be bound and unable to influence mankind during the millennium.

How can we  be sure?

If you wish to be sure of your own salvation, remember that Jesus has made it simple. A child can understand the nature of it. If there is one thing a child understands, it is about how to receive a gift. They love gifts and accept them gladly, unquestioningly. So also with salvation. By simply believing that Jesus offers us a gift that He has paid for, and receiving this same gift that He offers us, the gift of eternal life, you are saved (Eph 2:8). Jesus has done everything needed to offer every person on earth the gift of salvation. The only part we have to do is to believe it and accept the gift. That is how easy Jesus has made it for us. That is the reason why we think the Gospel is such good news! We are saved from that path of self destruction that we all are on, and rescued forever when we accept Jesus’ offer of eternal life through faith in Him. A free offer, no strings attached.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.  John 11:25,26a

Study the following verses which explain the Good News of Jesus’ gift of eternal life:

• Sin has separated us from God: our destiny without God is hell.
• Rom 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
• Rom 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”
• Rev 20:14,15 ”And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
• Rev 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”
• Jesus rescues us and dies in  our place, to show God’s love for us:
• Rom 5:8 “But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Ephesians 2:4,5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (made us alive) together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
• Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
• What must we do? “Believe”.
• Acts 16:29-31 “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
• John 6:28,29 “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent“
• John 6:47 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me hath everlasting life”
• John 6:40 “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
• John 3:36 “He that believes on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.”
• Receive the gift of everlasting life, of salvation from sin.
• John 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: {2:9} Not of works, lest any man should boast
• John 1:12 “But as many as received him, gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
• John 10:28,29: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
• Rom 6:23b “; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• Titus1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”

Refer to Appendix F for further assurance, if you wish to be sure of your own spiritual condition.

Once we are firm on our own salvation, and understand that it is a gift we can’t earn or work for, by believing and receiving it, we can now explore some further questions of the gift of eternal life. What does this eternal future  look like? “Can I  know more about my eternal future? What does the bible say about the exiting future that Jesus has planned for us?”

What becomes clear when reading the prophets and Revelation is that this future starts here on earth. With Jesus ruling as the global King for a 1000 years: The Millennium.

Despite the clear evidence for a literal millennium as presented above (Revelation 20:1-7), many theologians believe that Revelation chapter 20 is insufficient for such a literal interpretation. They consider the believers in a literal millennium as a little naïve. To a degree that is true. We are not as educated as the theologians on the circumstantial culture surrounding each of the prophets. However, does the bible and prophecy then not apply to the man in the street because he hasn’t studied cultural context? Did God not know in advance that many of his people would be uneducated and even be illiterate? Does he not invite children to be saved? Was the greatest period of church growth not in the first centuries among the illiterate? These believers were Greek speaking Christians with little education. They would most certainly have had very little knowledge of the Jewish culture, let alone any understanding of their Old Testament Jewish language and culture.

Based on the success of the church in the first centuries it should be clear to all that education is no prerequisite in order to benefit from God’s Word and the prophets. Similarly the determination of cultural context is also no prerequisite to reading and interpreting prophecy.

We agree, up to a point, that context is important. It is wrong to string bible verses together to prove a theory, and use them out of the context in which they were written. Using the Word in this extreme way is disrespectful and manipulative. Generally speaking, it is much safer to quote an entire passage than just a single verse. Context is very important to understanding the author’s intent, but we should be careful not to over-contextualize. Many theologians tend to do this, comparing for example, God’s message to the other religions of the day in order to find similarities, as if the biblical view was dependent or influenced by what the pagans believed and practiced.  This is the other extreme.

To further answer the claims that a figurative rather than a literal interpretation of the 1000 year millennium is required read Isaiah and the minor prophets (Refer to Appendix E). There is truly a mountain of evidence of a literal reign of the Messiah on this very earth that needs to be downplayed as ‘poetic’, ‘apocalyptic’ or figurative. The general approach of figurative interpreters seems to be to compartmentalize such scriptures and then ignore them.

• The theologians generally have an ‘A-millennial interpretation’, i.e. that there is no literal millennium.
• Figurative post-millennial interpreters rely on believing that the millennium started with the first coming of Jesus and is happening now. After Jesus’ second coming, they hold, we move straight into the eternal kingdom. There will be no further events played out on earth,. We believe that such a figurative approach is incorrect.
• We believe that a literal approach brings much more clarity and is also much more inspiring.  Confusion abounds with the figurative approach, because no agreement among theologians exists when it comes to solving the various conundrums presented in these scriptures. The literal approach minimizes such disagreements.

You will have noticed by now that this blog is based on the firm belief that there will be a literal millennium. The thousand year kingdom of Jesus on earth will then be followed by the eternal kingdom.

Only after the conclusion of the history of this earth, after the 1000 year reign of Christ, will God’s eternal kingdom commence, the eternal New Jerusalem descending down from heaven. This New Jerusalem will be unlike anything we know or are familiar with. Chapters 21 and 22 of Revelation describe a completely new heaven and new earth.

But we will not explore this New Jerusalem further, as our study focus will remain with this earth, and on the millennial reign of Jesus from Jerusalem.