Christ Will Show Us How It’s Done

“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God.  … they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4, 6) 

For the last two millennia the Church of Jesus Christ has been praying, “Thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10). But until Jesus’ Millennial Reign, that prayer has only been partially answered. God’s kingdom came to the earth in Jesus’ first advent. For Jesus did say, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God then the Kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28; Luke 11:20).   

But until the Millennium, God’s Kingdom is restricted to the hearts and lives of believers. God’s Kingdom came “undercover,” without signs to be observed. For the Kingdom of God would begin in men’s hearts and work its way out into their lives (Luke 17:20-21). As Jesus explained, the Kingdom of God would be like leaven hidden in three pecks of flour, doing its transforming work from within (Matthew 13:33). But apart from God’s rule in the hearts and lives of believers, society would remain under the dominion of Satan (1 John 5:19). 

All of that will change during Jesus’ reign upon the earth for one thousand years. During the Millennial Reign of Jesus, Satan will be banished, and Christ’s will shall be law. He will rule the nations with an iron scepter (Psalm 2:9) and will use His saints to administer His law and justice (e.g. Matthew 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:2). But far from being unpleasant, Christ’s rule will be sublime. Under Christ’s kingship, conditions in the world will change dramatically for the good. Pollution, pandemics, natural disasters, famines, earthquakes, and tsunamis will disappear. For the King of kings will not only rule earth’s inhabitants, but all its natural forces. The hydrological cycle will water the deserts of the earth and cause them to blossom as a garden. Wind currents will distribute the equatorial heat all the way to the poles and make places like Greenland and Antarctica completely habitable. But there’ll be no global flooding from melting ice sheets. Christ will merely deepen the ocean basins to make room for all the excess water. Crime, war, hunger, and want will all be things of the past. Conditions under Christ’s dominion will be perfect. Christ will show the earth how good things can be when He is in charge.

Yet, despite the perfect conditions Christ will bring, many people will hate His rule. They’ll harbor rebellion in their hearts and long for the day when Satan returns (Psalm 2:1-3). Satan will find them willing followers when he’s released from his prison for one last rebellion Revelation 20:7-10). And this will be sinful humanity’s indictment.  They preferred Satan’s rule over Christ’s, even when they saw how much better life with Jesus in charge. They will prove themselves fit only for hell at the judgment. 

Should it surprise us that so many people will gladly follow Satan at the end of Jesus’ Millennial Reign? Didn’t Jesus’ own generation prefer the murderer Barabbas over Jesus, though Jesus had healed their sick and raised their dead? 

What is your daily conduct proving? Is it demonstrating that you are more fit for heaven or for hell? 

PRAYER: Search me, O God, and know my heart. Examine me and see if there is any hurtful way in me. Create in me a clean heart and renew a loving and obedient spirit within me. And through all the noise and chaos of this world, may I never lose sight of Jesus and of the kingdom and judgment He will bring to this world. Until that time comes, Lord Jesus, make me a peacemaker and an instrument of Your healing and love. Day by day, O God, transform me into Your glorious image. Amen.