The Purpose of the Millennium
Revelation 20:4-6
“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. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 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.”
When we get to Revelation 20, John has taken us through the Tribulation and the return of Jesus Christ in chapters 4 to 19. Now John is sharing with us about the one-thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. He tells us that both the saints who were martyred in the Tribulation by the Antichrist, and all those who are part of the first resurrection, will reign with Christ.
Remember the “first resurrection” includes everyone who has repented of their sins and by faith believed in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ in both the Old and New Testaments. Daniel the prophet wrote about this resurrection in Daniel 12:2. Jesus also spoke about these two resurrections in John 5:28.
Today we want to talk about the purpose of the Millennium. For many centuries, man has dreamed of a "golden age," a "utopia" in which the human race will be free from war, sickness, and even death. Men have tried to achieve this goal on their own and have failed. Remember the League of Nation that was formed at the end of World War 1. They hoped that their efforts would bring lasting peace and that War World 1 was the “war to end all wars”. As we obviously know today, that was not the case. There have been multiple wars since then and even today a terrible war is raging in Ukraine. It is only when Jesus Christ comes back as the Prince of Peace and reigns on David's throne that the “kingdom will come” and the earth be delivered from the oppression of Satan and sin.
One of the first purposes of the Millennium Kingdom is to fulfill both the prophesies and the promises that are through out the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. The most important aspect of this fulfillment is that Jesus Christ Himself will sit on the throne in this kingdom in fulfillment of dozens of prophesies. Mary was told by the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:31-33, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Isaiah the prophet saw this kingdom as clearly as any prophet in the Old Testament. He hardly starts writing his book and you read about the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ in Isaiah 2:1-5: “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD'S house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD.”
It is interest to note that the last part of these verses are engraved on a granite wall just across from the United Nations Building in New York. The world wants peace but do not care to have the God of the Bible who alone can bring peace.
My friend, not only will Jesus Christ bring peace to the world one day in His Kingdom, but He alone can bring peace to our troubled hearts today! (Romans 5:1) Jesus promised: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
God bless!
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