The coming kingdom

[B-A-C]

Now of course the kingdom of God is already on the earth. We Christians... the global church body
is that kingdom. But Christians are currently a small minority of the earth. The majority of people are against Christianity. The Bible has a lot to say about this and even says many will find the path to destruction and
few will find the path to (eternal) life.

But the Bible says Jesus is coming back.... just like He left.

Acts 1:9; And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Acts 1:10; And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
Acts 1:11; They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

Just as Jesus was bodily taken up into the clouds.... He will return in the clouds.

After Jesus was resurrected... all power and authority was given to Him. ( Matt 28:18; )
This was over the entire earth, but He has not exercised that authority yet. Most of this earth is still under the
influence of "the god of this earth". ( 2 Cor 4:4; ) Satan is also called the "Prince of the power of the air".
( Eph 2:2; ) The Bible says this spiritual battle between Satan and God is still going on. Our mind,
our soul, our very conscience is the battle field.

Eph 6:12; For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

But eventually this battle will be over. Jesus will take complete dominion over the entire earth.
Satan will be imprisoned (for a while). Jesus will rule with a rod of iron. There will be no other religions
on the earth when He returns. When He returns it will be with a sword on a white horse.

Rev 19:11; And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Rev 19:12; His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
Rev 19:13; He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14; And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
Rev 19:15; From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
Rev 19:16; And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

When He returns the entire earth will see it. It won't just be a hidden "spiritual" thing that only Christians know.

Rev 1:7; BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
Rev 1:8; "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

When He comes back.. every eye will see Him. Not just believers.

Right now most people do not follow Jesus, nor do they have any desire to do so.
But one day...

Php 2:9; For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
Php 2:10; so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11; and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

On that day... "Every" knee will bow.... "Every" tongue will confess that He is Lord.

Of course none of this has happened yet. But it will.

 

[B-A-C]

When Jesus reigns on the earth, it will only be for a thousand years.

Rev 20:1; Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2; And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
Rev 20:3; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
Rev 20:4; Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5; The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6; Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

Satan will be imprisoned during this thousand years. He will be unable to influence anyone during this time.
This hasn't happened yet either. Satan has been here since the garden of Eden.

When John wrote Revelation... he said these are the things will "will" come to pass. Meaning they hadn't happened yet.

Rev 1:1; The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,

Many things in Revelation still haven't happened yet.
Many of these things are prophesies from the old testament also.

Psa 2:6; "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."
Psa 2:7; "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
Psa 2:8; 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
Psa 2:9; 'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'"

Rev 2:26; 'He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS;
Rev 2:27; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father;
Rev 2:28; and I will give him the morning star.

Rev 12:4; And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
Rev 12:5; And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
Rev 12:6; Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Rev 19:15; From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
Rev 19:16; And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

When Jesus comes back to rule over the earth, It won't be a democracy. You won't get to choose who you want to follow.
Also keep in mind if this has already happened....

Rev 20:7; When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
Rev 20:8; and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
Rev 20:9; And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
Rev 20:10; And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

If this has already happened then Satan has already been thrown into the Lake of Fire and can't bother us anymore.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Rev 22:20; He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

 

[Dave M]

what happens after the 1,000 years ??

 

[B-A-C]

There is a new heaven and new Earth. A whole thrread could be written about this, there are dozens of verses about this. Even in the old testament.

Rev 21:1; Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
Rev 21:2; And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3; And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
Rev 21:4; and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
Rev 21:5; And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
Rev 21:6; Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
Rev 21:7; "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
Rev 21:8; "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

There is also the New Jerusalem, which doesn't appear until after the millennial reign, in fact it doesn't appear until the new earth (and heaven).

Rev 21:9; Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
Rev 21:10; And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11; having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
Rev 21:12; It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
Rev 21:13; There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
Rev 21:14; And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Rev 21:15; The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
Rev 21:16; The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
Rev 21:17; And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
Rev 21:18; The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
Rev 21:19; The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
Rev 21:20; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
Rev 21:21; And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Rev 21:22; I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Rev 21:23; And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Rev 21:24; The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
Rev 21:25; In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
Rev 21:26; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
Rev 21:27; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

It is unknown whether it will float above the earth or rest on the earth, but either way it comes down out of heaven.
I personally believe almost all of the verses in the Bible about God reigning from Mt. Zion (in Jerusalem) are really
about Him reigning from the New Jerusalem. (There are a couple dozen of these verses also)

Finally Jesus gives it back to the Father....

1 Cor 15:23; But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming,
1 Cor 15:24; then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
1 Cor 15:25; For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
1 Cor 15:26; The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Cor 15:27; For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
1 Cor 15:28; When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

 

[B-A-C]

There is some controversy about after that. But it is thought Jesus will continue to reign over the Jews.

Luke 1:33; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

These things obvious haven't happened yet either. More reasons to know this is yet to come.
Even the resurrection hasn't happened yet.

2 Tim 2:18; men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.

People who say this has already happened, have gone astray from the truth.

 

[Born Again 2004]

Hi B.A.C, your quote and writing are correct. Yes Jesus is coming back soon.All eyes will see Him. Fact.But it is only the righteous ones that will enjoy his coming.

More accurately, those who have the righteousness of Jesus in them!

 

[Lanolin]

Isnt the name of the New Jerusalem Beulah. Isaiah 62:4
Zion is another name for it. The temple/ark of convenant did used to be in Shiloh but since Eli's sons profaned it, it was moved to Jerusalem. But we do know that temple also was destroyed. I mean you can go to where it used to be and it isnt there anymore!

Paul said God hasnt forsaken his people...Israel. Although he was crying over them because many refused Him. The bible says the gentiles will know salvatian to provoke the jews to jealousy. It is very interesting that the jews themselves still believe, since they have the oracles of God, that they are set apart from the gentiles. They will even call gentiles who were kind to them 'righteous gentiles'. (As if this is an odd thing) But very interesting and sad the way they currently treat strangers and foreigners in their land that was given to them. Especially after God brought them out of egypt, parted the red sea, etc.

Many still await their Messiah but are told Jesus was not their Messiah. Many still want nothing to do with gentiles and are clinging to their traditions of men.

The bible tells us how big the city will be, its very large, of course to fit all the believers in it. We will get to see Jesus everyday.

You think of how many people get to see the Queen or, in americans case, have an audience with the president. Well Jesus reign will be so much greater than any kingdom or empire we currently have on earth.

The ratio of christians to non christians of the current world population I think is estimated to be 1/3. But then you think of all the believers that have already been saved who are resting and awaitng resurrection. Revelatian does confirm this by saying a third of the earth will be hurt in the plagues.

 

[Born Again 2004]

1 Cor 15:28; When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

I am glad that you listed this verse. It has always perplexed my thinking and , so far, God has not enlighten me yet. I have studied a many commentaries and they are just that...commentaries. I am thinking that spiritually and currently Jesus and God are, essentially the same but at the end the Devil is gone and all things are subject to Christ, then Christ will turn over everything to God....I am thinking he will still be the SON but, maybe, somehow he is no longer himself God?What do you think?

 

[B-A-C]

Jesus has always been God, and will always be God. But He is not the Father.

Matt 26:39; And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

Not as "I" will.... but as "you" will. It isn't a sin to have a different will from the Father in all cases.
I guess the question is... which will are you obedient to?

The Father was in heaven when Jesus was on the earth. Jesus is seated ...at the right hand... of the Father.
No man comes .. "to".. the Father... except through Jesus.

I never view them as the same person. But I view them both as God.... I believe in only one God, but He has multiple facets.

 

[Dave M]

One God with three God heads is the way I understand it, Father Son and Holly Spirit

 

[Born Again 2004]

That's not what the verse says...it is not talking about the Trinity.......at the end, when the Devil has been vanquished and ,all is subject to Jesus Christ, then He will subject himself to God....what does it mean "so God can be all in all" ? I believe in the Trinity....hasn't God always been all in all? No big deal, was just curious!

 

[Dave M]

So at the end of the 1,000 years Jesus hands over the Kingdom to God, that has puzzled me because Jesus is God, so what happens to Jesus then?

 

[B-A-C]

I believe in the Trinity....hasn't God always been all in all? No big deal, was just curious!

That's a fair question. I think from one perspective.. nothing.. no one.. exists without God. He creates everything. So we can't exist without Him.
But from another perspective... not everyone acknowledges Him. Many don't even believe in Him. That doesn't make Him less God.
But to me... I think it does mean He isn't "all" to them. I think we have to be "subject" (surrendered) to Him. At the end, even the Son will be
subject to the Father.... He already is in many ways, but the "kingdom" currently belongs to the Son.

 

[Born Again 2004]

That's a fair question. I think from one perspective.. nothing.. no one.. exists without God. He creates everything. So we can't exist without Him.
But from another perspective... not everyone acknowledges Him. Many don't even believe in Him. That doesn't make Him less God.
But to me... I think it does mean He isn't "all" to them. I think we have to be "subject" (surrendered) to Him. At the end, even the Son will be
subject to the Father.... He already is in many ways, but the "kingdom" currently belongs to the Son.

It is real interesting what Jesus was telling us.

 

[Lanolin]

If you know the son then you will know the Father because the son is like the Father and they are one. (by 'one' meaning 'together')

People often dont understand royalty maybe they come from a country that doesnt recognise royalty. When a King has an heir, he will hand his Kingdom to his eldest son to reign and rule upon his death or retirement.

Not saying God the Father will die, cos He cant..but its like a handover of soveriegnty.


Going back to genesis you think about it God created all that exists, and mankind on the very last day of creation to rule over everything he created. Adam and eve were the original heirs...but they messed up and couldnt even tell one tree from the other. Well God wants his kingdom in more capable hands than sinning humans. So Hes sending His son. Who, like us is human but is also of God. So thanks Lord Jesus cos He showed us that only the Lamb is worthy to take the throne.

Look at all the kings in the old testament did they mess up...they sure did!