The necessarily-figurative 1000-year reign of Christ
Jan 9, 2014 22:13:10 GMT
Post by Colossians on Jan 9, 2014 22:13:10 GMT
This material is for the teaching of the Body of Christ, however the author reserves copyright over it.
Forward
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” Rev 20:4
Christ’s coming back to earth to reign on it, let alone a reign for 1000 years, would be quite a significant event.
You’d think therefore that, along with this one and only mention of it in Revelation, there would also be some mention of it from Paul, Peter, or James, in their epistles to the church.
And if not mentioned in the epistles, you’d at least think that Jesus Himself would have mentioned it in the gospels.
But the omission is telling.
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THE NECESSARILY-FIGURATIVE 1000-YEAR REIGN OF CHRIST
“But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool” Heb 10:12,13.
Here Hebrews tells us that Christ is not coming back until all His enemies are made His footstool (until all enemies are put under His feet).
___
“For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet” 1 Cor 15:25.
Here 1 Corinthians tells us that He reigns while His enemies are not under His feet.
___
And so we understand from the combination of Heb 10:12,13 and 1 Cor 15:25 that the only time that Christ reigns is when His enemies are not under His feet. This stands to reason: you don’t need to reign when everyone agrees with you.
And so given that His enemies are not all under His feet now, it is necessarily now that He reigns.
So:
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” Mt 28:18.
___
So what does the 1000 years stand for?
Well simply a perfect length of time with regard to the life of each and every believer.1 And so when the '1000 years' are finished in each believer's life, the believer goes home to be with the Lord, to declare along with Paul:
"O death, where is thy sting?" 1 Cor 15:55.
In other words, death shall then in no uncertain terms, be "under His feet".
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" 1 Cor 15:26.
1 The reader should also note that the number 1000 was the largest single number the Greeks had at the time of the writing of the NT. This is why we don't see, for example, "two hundred million" in Revelation, but "two hundred thousand thousand" (see Rev 9:16). So the 1000 years simply represents a time of full length in God's eyes. Any multiplying of it to make the number bigger, were necessarily redundant by virtue of the fact that one would have to go on forever multiplying to infinity.
Let's go through it again
1. What does the bible say that Christ is doing now in heaven?
Answer: Waiting until His enemies are put under His feet. (Heb 10:12,13.)
2. When does the bible say Christ reigns?
Answer: When His enemies are not yet under His feet. (1 Cor 15:25.)
3. Therefore, when does Christ reign?
Answer: Now.
4. Where does He reign from?
Answer: Heaven (specifically, the right hand of God). (Heb 10:12,13.)
5. What happens when His enemies are put under His feet?
Answer: He will subject Himself to the Father (He will hand the kingdom back to the Father). (1 Cor 15:28.)
6. What do we call the 'time' at which all things will have been put under Christ's feet and at which Christ will Himself be subject to the Father?
Answer: "The end" (1 Cor 15:24).
Summary
Christ reigns from heaven right now, and will do so until the Father puts all His enemies under His feet.
Christ's return will therefore be commensurate with His making Himself subject to the Father ("that God may be all in all") and His destruction of the physical realm as per 2 Pe 3:10-12.
What will be left, will be a realm in which that which is spirit, and that which is spiritual, are together as one.
Amen.
Forward
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” Rev 20:4
Christ’s coming back to earth to reign on it, let alone a reign for 1000 years, would be quite a significant event.
You’d think therefore that, along with this one and only mention of it in Revelation, there would also be some mention of it from Paul, Peter, or James, in their epistles to the church.
And if not mentioned in the epistles, you’d at least think that Jesus Himself would have mentioned it in the gospels.
But the omission is telling.
_______________________________________________________
THE NECESSARILY-FIGURATIVE 1000-YEAR REIGN OF CHRIST
“But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool” Heb 10:12,13.
Here Hebrews tells us that Christ is not coming back until all His enemies are made His footstool (until all enemies are put under His feet).
___
“For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet” 1 Cor 15:25.
Here 1 Corinthians tells us that He reigns while His enemies are not under His feet.
___
And so we understand from the combination of Heb 10:12,13 and 1 Cor 15:25 that the only time that Christ reigns is when His enemies are not under His feet. This stands to reason: you don’t need to reign when everyone agrees with you.
And so given that His enemies are not all under His feet now, it is necessarily now that He reigns.
So:
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” Mt 28:18.
___
So what does the 1000 years stand for?
Well simply a perfect length of time with regard to the life of each and every believer.1 And so when the '1000 years' are finished in each believer's life, the believer goes home to be with the Lord, to declare along with Paul:
"O death, where is thy sting?" 1 Cor 15:55.
In other words, death shall then in no uncertain terms, be "under His feet".
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" 1 Cor 15:26.
1 The reader should also note that the number 1000 was the largest single number the Greeks had at the time of the writing of the NT. This is why we don't see, for example, "two hundred million" in Revelation, but "two hundred thousand thousand" (see Rev 9:16). So the 1000 years simply represents a time of full length in God's eyes. Any multiplying of it to make the number bigger, were necessarily redundant by virtue of the fact that one would have to go on forever multiplying to infinity.
Let's go through it again
1. What does the bible say that Christ is doing now in heaven?
Answer: Waiting until His enemies are put under His feet. (Heb 10:12,13.)
2. When does the bible say Christ reigns?
Answer: When His enemies are not yet under His feet. (1 Cor 15:25.)
3. Therefore, when does Christ reign?
Answer: Now.
4. Where does He reign from?
Answer: Heaven (specifically, the right hand of God). (Heb 10:12,13.)
5. What happens when His enemies are put under His feet?
Answer: He will subject Himself to the Father (He will hand the kingdom back to the Father). (1 Cor 15:28.)
6. What do we call the 'time' at which all things will have been put under Christ's feet and at which Christ will Himself be subject to the Father?
Answer: "The end" (1 Cor 15:24).
Summary
Christ reigns from heaven right now, and will do so until the Father puts all His enemies under His feet.
Christ's return will therefore be commensurate with His making Himself subject to the Father ("that God may be all in all") and His destruction of the physical realm as per 2 Pe 3:10-12.
What will be left, will be a realm in which that which is spirit, and that which is spiritual, are together as one.
Amen.