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Have you ever wondered why we are here?
What is the real
purpose – if any – for our existence? Are we here purely by
chance, the result of an accident, or is there something more to
this life? Scientists, philosophers and some of the greatest
minds have pondered this question and many individual opinions
and theories have been put forward.
However, standing
out from the crowd in this ‘sea’ of theories and ideas is the
Bible. Unlike all other philosophical and religious writings, it
is not the result of just one man’s opinions and observations,
but rather it was written by approximately 40 people covering
many generations and from completely different backgrounds and
situations. The Bible itself claims that these people wrote as
God inspired them (Ex 34:27-28
/ 2 Tim 3:16 /
2 Peter 1:20-21). Furthermore,
the Bible declares that there is a reason, purpose and divine
plan for all that has been, and all that will be in the future.
It is in this
most amazing and unique book that we find a viable alternative
to ‘man’s’ ideas about the meaning of life.
The opening words
of the Bible start with a bold statement:
“In the beginning God…..” No
attempt is made to prove God’s existence, in fact the Bible
itself states that only fools would presume to say ‘there is no
God’. (Psalm 14:1)
The universe and
everything in it provide sufficient proof for the hardest of
sceptics, and if this is not enough, there is the Bible itself.
It is a book that has, without question, stood the test of time;
particularly in regard to the overwhelming number of detailed
prophecies which make up one third of it’s contents. Time after
time after time the Bible has been shown to be supernatural in
origin by the exact fulfilment of prophecies given hundreds and
even thousands of years before!
The constant
theme running through the Bible is that God wants to have a
relationship with His creation, in particular with mankind who
the Bible states was created in the image of God (Gen
1:26-27). No other created being can claim the status
that has been given to mankind, we are the ‘masterpiece’ of His
creation and have been created to walk in perfect harmony with
our Creator.
According to the Bible our history started with Adam and Eve,
God told them to “be fruitful and
multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen
1:28) so that they, and their offspring, could rule and
have dominion over all creation, walking with, and worshipping
their God.
All was going
well until Adam and Eve purposely went against God’s clear
instruction (Gen 2:16-17)
thereby introducing ‘sin’ into the human race.
The Bible reveals
that the Devil, once a mighty angel who rebelled against God,
tempted man into disobeying God in the hope that he could
destroy God’s masterpiece, gain the control of the world for
himself and ruin any plan God had of a relationship with His
creation. On the surface it looked as though the Devil had
succeeded, surely there was no way back for man, no possibility
of God and man ‘walking’ together in harmony? God’s plan however
was much bigger, and God had already allowed for this ‘twist’ in
events.
God had told
Adam: “but of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you
eat of it you will surely die”
(Gen 2:17). It is clear that the punishment for sin was
to be death. However, by making death the punishment for
Adam’s sin, God had ‘built in’ an incredible escape route. If
someone could be found who would die in man’s place, one who
would be a ‘substitute’, God’s judgement (that sin was to be
punished by death) would be satisfied and a way out would be
made available for anyone willing to accept the offer.
To illustrate
this, consider someone who gets a parking ticket, the
authorities are not concerned who pays the fine as long as the
fine is paid. Once this is done the ‘law’ has been satisfied.
God knew that for
this to work a substitute would need to be found who would die
in man’s place. Any scheme based on man would fail because
anyone from ‘inside’ the human race would have inherited sin
from Adam (See Rom 3:10 &
Psalm 51:5) and therefore would
be unable to be a substitute; only someone without sin
could pay.
So God, having
already pre-planned it before creation (Rev
13:8), in His mercy and wisdom decided to send His only
Son into this world. In this way, Jesus, by living a perfect and
sinless life would be able to pay the price of sin on mankind’s
behalf by dying in our place, and thus make a way back to God
for anyone who accepts Jesus as their ‘substitute’.
This is told in
the most famous verse in the Bible:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved.” (John 3:16-17)
So after the
Garden of Eden God’s ‘master plan’ was not dead, in fact it was
just beginning. God had known full well what the outcome of the
‘Garden of Eden’ experience would be. It was not a mistake but a
necessary step toward the ultimate fulfilment of His plan.
The Devil, realising that he hadn’t ‘won’ by tempting Adam and
Eve into sinning, tried again to destroy God’s plan, and mankind
in the process! Genesis 6:1- 8
records how the Devil sent some of his angles to infiltrate the
human race. The offspring of these ‘fallen angles’ were the
giants of whom so much legend and folklore is told.
God in His mercy
rescued a man called Noah and his family but destroyed these
evil beings by sending the flood that destroyed all living
things from that face of the earth (Gen
6:13 & Gen 7:4). Noah and
his family were saved and then went on to repopulate the earth.
In fact, all the nations in the world today can trace their
ancestry back to Noah and his three sons!
Sometime after
Noah, God chose one man by the name of Abraham and promised him
that He would make his descendants into a great nation, and that
eventually, all the nations of the world would end up being
blessed because of him.
"Now
the LORD had said to Abram:
"Get out of your country, from your family and from your
father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you
a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and
you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I
will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of
the earth shall be blessed."
(Gen 12:1)
God made an
everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants to be
their God and for them to be His people. (Gen
17:1- 7). In the book of Exodus, God reiterated this to
Moses and told him to tell the people of Israel (Abraham’s
descendants): “Now therefore, if you
will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall
be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth
is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation.” (Ex 19:5-6)
And again:
"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your
God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special
treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”
(Deut 7:6)
However, once
again the Devil tried to thwart God’s plan by sending yet more
fallen angles that, in turn, produced more giants, the intention
being that these giants would annihilate Israel. The reason for
this was that God had told Adam back in the Garden that He would
send a Saviour, (Gen 3:15), now
it was clear that the promised Saviour would be one of Abraham’s
descendants. If the Devil could wipe out Israel, the Saviour
could not be born, and humanity and God’s ultimate plan would be
over. To this end these tribes of giants centred on the land
that God had promised to Abraham – what we now know as Israel.
However, as one
would expect, God engineered the circumstances to ensure
Israel’s survival.
During the lifetime of Jacob (Abraham’s grandson), as recorded
at the end of the book of Genesis, God took Jacob’s family
(comprising just 75 people) out of the land of Canaan and
brought them to the land of Egypt. Joseph, who became 2nd
in command of the land of Egypt, knew that all that had befallen
him had been part of God’s plan. In replying to his brothers
regarding the way they had treated him he said:
“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for
good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many
people alive.” (Gen 50:20-21)
Israel were saved
and although eventually made to work as slaves by the new
Pharaoh, by the time they came out of Egypt 430 years later,
Israel had grown into a nation of approximately 2 million people
– with an incredible amount of wealth! Now they were ready to
take back the Promised Land from the giants! And this they did
under the leadership of Joshua.
In the 40 years
after leaving Egypt and before entering the ‘Promised Land’, God
gave Israel his Law (including the 10 commandments). This was a
very important step in God’s plan. In order to prove to mankind
that we were sinners, God set a list of rules – rules that He
knew in advance we could not keep!
“Now we know that whatever the law
says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in
His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
(Rom 3:19-20)
The apostle Paul
said in the book of Galatians “But
the Scripture has confined all under sin”, in other
words, because no one is able to keep God’s law, everyone is in
the same boat, everyone is a sinner.
Initially people
may feel offended at the thought of being called a sinner,
however we can soon see that there is no getting away from it.
All of us have lied at some time – this makes us a liar.
Probably all of us have at some time ‘borrowed’ something –
regardless of the size this makes us a thief. And this is just
looking at two of God’s commandments; there are about 300
different commands in all!
The Apostle James
said, “For whoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not
murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder,
you have become a transgressor of the law.”
(James 2:10-11)
When explaining
the real purpose of the Law, Paul said
“Therefore the law was our tutor to
bring us to Christ,” (Gal
3:24)
So Paul says in
effect, that by giving us His law, God has enabled all mankind
to see that we are guilty before Him – and the purpose of the
law was to show that we needed a Saviour!
After the Law had been given, God said to Israel
"Now it shall come to pass, if you
diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe
carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that
the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the
earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake
you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God”
(Deut 28:1-2).
However if they
did not obey His voice, they would be punished and scattered
throughout the world: “If you do not
carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in
this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE
LORD YOUR GOD, then………… the LORD will scatter you among all
peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you
shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have
known--wood and stone. And among those nations you shall find no
rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but
there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes,
and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you;
you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. In
the morning you shall say, 'Oh, that it were evening!' And at
evening you shall say, 'Oh, that it were morning!' because of
the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight
which your eyes see”.
(Deut 28:58-66)
This is one of
the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible and has been
fulfilled with amazing accuracy, the people of Israel have been
scattered around the world and experienced persecution unlike
any other nation. Their life has indeed ‘hung in doubt’!
The book of
Judges records that Israel served God all the days of Joshua,
and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua (Judges
2:7), but when these people had died,
‘every man did what seemed right in
their own eyes.’ (Judges 17:6).
The majority of
the rest of the Old Testament is taken up with the stories of
how Israel served God for a short time, soon forgot Him, became
oppressed by their enemies, cried out to God for help, witnessed
a mighty deliverance, and then repeated the above time and time
again.
In between all of
this is the story of king David, whom the Bible says was ‘a
man after God’s own heart’
(1 Sam 13:14). God made various promises to David
regarding his future including that his throne and kingdom would
last forever: "When your days are
fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your
seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will
establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I
will establish the throne of his kingdom forever………..This
referred to David’s son, Solomon, but the prophecy continued…
And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever
before you. Your throne shall be established forever." (2
Sam 7:12-16)
History confirms
that Jesus was a descendant of king David (See
Matt 1:1-17), and it was to be
through Jesus that David’s throne would be established forever;
although as we will see, God’s plan for David himself wasn’t
finished yet either.
After David’s time, things in Israel started to get
progressively worse with kings abandoning the worship of the one
true God and following after idol gods. God allowed the nation
to be split in two, the northern part being known as ‘Israel’,
and the southern part being known as ‘Judah’.
Although Judah
was not quite as bad as Israel, both ‘halves’ of the nation
continued to disobey God. In response to this and in accord with
prophecies that had been given, God allowed Israel and Judah to
be oppressed by the surrounding nations and eventually to be
taken captive. Israel was the first to be ‘carried away’ from
their land in about 722 BC by the king of Assyria. Most of these
people (and their descendants) have remained in exile to this
day. Finally, after a siege at Jerusalem, the people of Judah
were also taken away from their own land in about 586 BC by king
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
However after 70
years of this captivity in Babylon, as prophesied by the prophet
Jeremiah (Jer 29:10), a
‘remnant’ of Judah returned to the land of Israel and rebuild
the city of Jerusalem as recorded in the books of Ezra and
Nehemiah. It was from this time on that these returning
Israelites became known as ‘Jews’.
The Jews remained
in their land up until the time that Jesus came. However as we
know, the Jews rejected Jesus, not believing Him to be their
Messiah, and had him crucified.
The book of John
says, “He came to His own
(i.e. the Jewish people), and His
own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He
gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe
in His name” (John 1:11-13)
On the surface it
looked as though things were not going too well. God’s
‘special treasure’ and ‘chosen nation’ were mostly
scattered around the world, the few that had returned from exile
had rejected Jesus and had Him crucified. To the casual
observer, God’s promise that ”they
(Israel) shall be My people, and
I will be their God” (Jer
24:7) (Jer 32:38) (Ezek 11:20) (Zech 8:8) looked
remarkably unlikely to happen any time soon!
However as we now
move into New Testament times, the ‘pieces of the jigsaw’ start
to fall into place and God’s complete plan starts to unfold.
When Jesus came
He said that He would build His church – and that not even the
gates of hell would be able to prevail against it. The Devil had
tried repeatedly throughout the Old Testament to destroy God’s
plan and His people; indeed he has made further attempts
throughout the history of the church and will continue trying
until the end of the age, but he will not prevail.
The church that
Jesus spoke of was to be a people of all nations, tribes and
tongues, not just Jews. In fact Paul tells us that through
Jesus, God has taken away the division between Jews and
Gentiles, male and female, masters and servants, slaves and free
men, all are equal. Romans 10:12-13
says: “For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all
who call upon Him. For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD
shall be saved."
“There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor
female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you
are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise.”
(Gal 3:28-29)
The Apostle Paul was making it clear that any who put their
trust in Jesus would be classed as Abraham’s offspring and now
be a part of his family, not from a physical point of view
(Christians don’t become Jews), but from a spiritual
perspective. Christians are now ‘heirs of the promise’ given to
Abraham.
Paul, said to the
gentile Christians at Ephesus that he wanted them to
“understand my knowledge in the mystery
of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of
men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy
apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs,
of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through
the gospel.” (Eph
3:1-6)
Israel had been
chosen from all the nations of the world to be ‘God’s holy
family’, now the offer was to go out to all people everywhere
that they were invited to be a part of that family – through
Jesus!
‘Membership’ of
this new ‘combined’ family was not dependent on a direct
ancestral line back to Abraham, but rather dependent on faith in
Jesus Christ.
“For they are not all Israel who
are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the
seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called."
That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not
the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted
as the seed”.
(Rom 9:6-9)
In this verse
Paul was saying that just being born an Israelite was no longer
a qualification to be part of God’s ‘holy nation’. John the
Baptist had already preached this to the Pharisees and Sadducees
when he said to them: ” do not think
to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say
to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from
these stones. And even now the axe is laid to the root of the
trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt 3:7-10)
So through the
Apostles God revealed that the church was to be God’s ultimate
‘special treasure’ and ‘chosen nation’, this had
been His plan all along! The Apostle Peter confirmed this
when he wrote to his fellow Christians:
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the
praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His
marvellous light; who once were not a people but are now the
people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained
mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
Initially the
Jewish Christians had reservations about welcoming non-Jews into
their family. The ‘turning point’ came one day as recorded in
the book of Acts: “Peter went up on
the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very
hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell
into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great
sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down
to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the
earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a
voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter
said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or
unclean." And a voice spoke to him again the second time,
"What God has cleansed you must not call common." This was done
three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again”.
(Acts 10:9-16)
This passage goes on to say that the vision was explaining to
Peter (and the church) that non-Jews (considered by the Jews to
be ‘un-clean’) were to be welcomed in to God’s family.
“Then Peter opened his mouth and
said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in
every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is
accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of
Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all”
(Acts 10:34-36)
As the church
grew, Peter carried on preaching to the Jews and Paul took the
good news about salvation through Jesus, and that all were now
invited to be part of God’s family, to the Gentiles.
However before
long questions started arising in the church about Israel’s
future. If the church was God’s holy nation and royal
priesthood, what about all the promises regarding the nation of
Israel itself? Was the church to supersede Israel? Could the
prophecies regarding Israel be meant for the church?
In what is one of
the most important few chapters in the Bible (Romans
9-11) particularly in regard to understanding God’s plan,
the Apostle Paul asks the same question:
“I say then, has God cast away His
people?” Paul’s answer is
emphatic! “Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the
seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not
cast away His people whom He foreknew.” (Rom 11:1-2)
And again Paul
asks: “I say then, have they
stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their
fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the
Gentiles”.
By ‘their fall’
Paul is referring to their rejection of Jesus as the promised
Messiah, and their disobedience to God’s laws.
“Now if their fall is riches for
the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much
more their fullness!”
In other words, if the world has
been blessed by their rejecting Jesus, how much more blessing
will there be when Israel finally accept Him as their Messiah!
Paul concludes
this passage by saying: “For I do
not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that
blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of
the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it
is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will
turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with
them, When I take away their sins."
(Rom 11:11-33)
This is an
amazing statement/prophecy that makes sense of so many other
prophecies in the Bible. God has allowed Israel to carry on in
their state of unbelief until all of the gentiles who will
accept God’s offer of Salvation have ‘come in’. When this is
done, the Jews’ eyes will be opened and they will finally
believe, accepting that Jesus really is their promised Messiah.
So it is clear from the Bible that
although the church was the holy nation that God had desired
since before creation, Israel was not to be forgotten. Israel
has remained up unto this day the nation that God chose. It had
been to Israel that God had given His laws and through whom His
holy prophets have spoken. Indeed it is through Israel that the
word of God (the Bible) has been given to mankind. Most
importantly, it was through Israel that the Messiah came into
this world. The prophecies regarding the land of Canaan, (given
as a permanent possession to Abraham and his descendants), are
yet to be fulfilled, but when they are it will be by the
‘blood-descendants’ of Abraham known as the Jews. The
unconditional promises made by God to Abraham will not be
broken.
As we know, many
Jews did put their trust in Jesus through the preaching of the
Apostles and the early church, however history records that in
AD70 the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the remaining Jews were
scattered around the world in fulfilment of prophecy.
In the book of
Matthew, Jesus, after talking to the disciples about the events
that will take place at the end of this age, likened Israel to a
fig tree and said: "Now learn this
parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become
tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So
you also, when you see all these things, know that it is
near--at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation
will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
(Matt 24:32-34)
In 1948 – the
very year as prophesied by Ezekiel! – the ‘fig tree’ put forth
it’s leaves! Israel, despite overwhelming odds became a nation
again and the Jews started returning in large numbers to their
homeland!
This has led many
to believe that within a generation, all of the events foretold
by Jesus will come to pass, including His Second Coming!
Just a brief look
at the events taking place on the world scene would strongly
suggest that this is the case; with wars and rumours of wars,
earthquakes and famines in various places becoming everyday
headlines.
Numerous passages
in the Old Testament explain that God will
“set His hand the second time to
recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and
Egypt, from Pathros and Cush
(Africa & Arabia), from Elam and Shinar (Iran, Iraq etc),
from Hanath (Turkey etc) and all the islands of the
sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will
assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the
dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
(Isaiah 11:11)
In addition to
this, an event prophesied by Daniel over 2500 years ago is
immanent and likely to take place any time now!
In the Book of
Daniel we are told that a great world leader will arise who will
confirm a 7-year peace treaty with Israel and the surrounding
nations. (Given the current situation in the Middle-East this is
of particular interest at this time). He will allow Israel to
start their sacrifices again as detailed in the Old Testament.
However half-way through this treaty, this man – who will be
Antichrist – will break his covenant (agreement) with Israel and
will turn against them.
The prophet Jeremiah said regarding the time to come:
“Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time
of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.”
(Jer 30:7) This time of persecution will end with
the infamous ‘battle of Armageddon’ when Jesus will return to
deliver Israel and defeat the nations that have declared war on
her.
Finally Israel
will realise that Jesus is, and was, the Messiah.
"And I will pour on the house of David
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and
supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced;
they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and
grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
(Zech 12:10)
Once Jesus has
returned He will set about judging the nations of the earth
depending on how they have treated Israel.
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels
with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the
nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them
one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the
goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the
goats on the left.
Then
the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed
of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food;
I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you
took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you
visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' "Then the
righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You
hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When
did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe
You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to
You?' "And the King will answer and say to them,
'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the
least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
"Then He will also say to those on
the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and
you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I
was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not
clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
"Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see
You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison, and did not minister to You?' "Then He will answer
them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not
do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
"And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life."
(Matt 25:31-46)
Hence those
nations that have treated Jesus’ brethren well will be invited
into Jesus ‘millennial’ kingdom. Those who have persecuted and
shamefully treated the Jews will go away to everlasting
punishment.
Before we look at
the Millennium in more detail, we will turn our attention back
to Jesus’ Church.
A Christian
author by the name of Paul E Billheimer goes as far as saying
that: “The sole reason for the universe and all therein, is to
produce and prepare an eternal companion for Jesus who will
reign with Him for all eternity.”
In the book of Ephesians we are
told that Jesus loved the church – His bride – so much that ‘He
gave Himself for her‘ in order that she might be with Him
forever. Marriage itself is symbolic of this joining together of
Jesus and His people that God planned before the creation of the
world.
Ephesians 5:25-32
says
“Husbands, love your wives, just
as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that
He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by
the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that
she should be holy and without blemish.”……….."For this reason a
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
One of the
loveliest stories in the Old Testament is the story of how
Abraham sent his faithful servant to find a wife for his son,
Isaac, from amongst his relatives in order that Isaac would not
have to marry a Canaanite wife. (Remember fallen angels had
‘infected’ the land with their offspring, so Isaac could not
intermarry with these people).
In a story that
amazingly mirrors what God has done, Abraham the father, sends
his servant, as God sent the Holy Spirit, to find and prepare a
bride from his own family. This parallels the way the church was
‘born’ out of the nation of Israel, the Holy Spirit was given
for the Church, to ‘prepare’ us for meeting our Bridegroom –
Jesus. (Read the account in Genesis chapter 24!).
(NB: It assumed
from this point that the person reading this is a Christian and
therefore a part of the bride of Christ. If you are not a
Christian and reading this, it should be stressed that you will
not take part in the following events, (the good bits anyway!)
unless of course you accept the free offer of salvation through
Jesus! – If you want to know more, and we sincerely hope you do,
see the contact details on this web site.
The bride that
Jesus will present to Himself will be an innumerable company of
people from all ages that have put their trust in Jesus for
their salvation. This will include all Christians throughout the
ages as well as all the Old Testament people who had been
looking forward to the coming Messiah.
Paul said to the
Ephesian Christians: "God has told
us his secret reason for sending Christ, a plan he decided on in
mercy long ago; and this was his purpose: that when the time is
ripe he will gather us all together from wherever we are-in
heaven or on earth-to be with him in Christ forever."
(Eph 1:9-10 The Living Bible)
As the above
explains, at some point in the future, Jesus will gather
together all those in heaven, and all Christians on earth at
that time, and we will then be with Jesus forever!
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
describes this event: “For the Lord
Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
The ‘Rapture’, as it is known, could occur at any time; suddenly
we will be caught up in the air, our bodies will be changed into
new bodies that will not grow weary or decay (See
1 Corinthians ch.15); and as
Jesus promised His disciples in John
14: 2-3, He will take us back to the place that He has
been preparing for us.
We will remain in
heaven with our Lord for at least 7 years, during which time
God’s wrath and judgement is poured out on this world (See
Revelation ch. 6-18). In God’s
mercy a great multitude of people ‘come out’ of this time of
tribulation (Rev 7: 9-17). These
will be people who eventually realise that Jesus Christ is the
Lord of all, but they will be martyred for their faith and trust
in Jesus and for refusing to receive the Mark of the beast.
From what we are
told in the book of Ephesians, it is clear that the Church are
the bride of Christ. However by studying Revelation 6-20 we
discover that this great multitude are the wedding guests who
are invited and given white wedding robes to wear (Rev
6:11 / Rev 7:13). Revelation
19:7 records their great shout of joy as they announce
the wedding: “Let us be glad and
rejoice, and give honour to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is
come, and his wife has made herself ready
In Revelation
19:9 John is told to write: “Blessed
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
(Rev 19:9) (See Jesus’ parable about this in
Matthew 22).
Note: although these are clothed in
white robes, they do not receive resurrected bodies until after
the Second Coming (Rev 20:4-5)
thus clearly distinguishing them from the Church.
After the wedding
supper, Jesus will return with His newly wed Bride to set up His
Kingdom on this earth – this is the Second Coming. This will
occur at the end of the seven years of Tribulation when
Antichrist will have deceived the nations of the world into
marching against Jesus at the infamous battle of Armageddon (Rev
16:13-14 / Rev 19:19). Jesus will destroy his enemies,
reclaim the ‘title’ to planet earth that was lost by Adam to
Satan back in the Garden of Eden, and restore the earth to the
way it was when it was created. (Acts
3:21/ Isaiah 65:17-25/ Isaiah 11:6-9).
Thus Jesus will
begin His 1000 year reign on earth from 'David's throne' in
Jerusalem as prophesied in many places in the Bible, not least
in Luke chapter 1:32 (spoken by the Angel Gabriel to Mary).
As we have
already seen, one of Jesus’ first acts of government will be to
gather all the nations of the world before Him and we read that
He will separate them as a shepherd separates sheep and goats
(See again Matt 25:31-46). Jesus
will delegate authority in His government to those who have
proven themselves faithful to Him and we read that once again
king David will be appointed to rule over the house of Israel.
“For it shall come to pass in that
day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'That I will break his yoke from
your neck, and will burst your bonds; foreigners shall no more
enslave them. But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David
their king, whom I will raise up for them.”
(Jer 30:8-9)
“Therefore I will save My flock,
and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between
sheep and sheep. I will establish one shepherd over them, and he
shall feed them--My servant David. He shall feed them and be
their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My
servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.”
(Ezek 34:22-24)
At that time God
will also “give
Israel one heart, and I will put a
new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their
flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My
statutes and keep My judgements and do them; and they shall be
My people and I will be their God” (Ezek 11:16-20).
God said through
Jeremiah “But this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says
the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on
their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people.” (31:33) Hence
the promises God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be
fulfilled and they will be a ‘holy nation’ before Him for
eternity.
King David however is not the only one to be given a position of
authority in Jesus’ government, for authority is also given to
His bride! Paul said to Timothy:
"For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we
endure, We shall also reign with Him."
(2 Tim 2:11-12) In the book of revelation John sees a
vision of the saints (Christians) worshipping God in heaven
saying to Jesus: "You have redeemed
us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people
and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."
(Rev 5:9-10) Paul says in
1
Corinthians 6:3
“Do you not know that we shall
judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?”
Jesus also told
the parable of the talents, those who were faithful with what
they had been given were given cities to rule over (Luke
19:12-27). There are many who believe this parable to be
anticipating this time. Those who have been faithful in their
walk with the Lord will be given the greater responsibility.
After this period of 1000 years will come ‘Judgement Day’. God
will call before Him every life that has lived and require an
account of every word, thought and deed.
“And whosoever was not found written in
the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”.
(Rev 20:11-15) NB: Jesus’
Bride will not be judged at this time because Jesus has paid
completely for our sin, taking upon Himself the judgement that
we deserved.
(For more on this subject, see DCF study notes on ‘Judgement’
available free from www.dcf-online.co.uk)
God will then
create a new heaven and a new earth:
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new
earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
away.” (Rev 21:1)
“Nevertheless we, according to His
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.”
(2 Peter 3:13).
The Bible explains that God has already prepared an amazing
capital city 1500 miles square x 1500 miles high from which
Jesus will rule with his ‘Bride’ at His side! There will be no
more sin, sickness or disease and therefore no more sorrow or
crying. (Rev 21:4, 16-17)
John’s vision
recorded in Revelation is breathtaking:
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new
earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.
Next John
witnesses the moment waited for since before creation, the time
when God declares, “It is done”!
And
I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall
be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall
be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more
pain, for the former things have passed away. " Then He who sat
on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said
to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." And He
said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the
water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall
inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My
son.”
(Rev
21:1-7)
So finally God’s
plan will be complete. All who accept Jesus as their
‘substitute’ (prior to the Rapture) will live eternally in the
New Jerusalem as Jesus’ Bride. God’s perfect walk with man that
began in the Garden of Eden will be resumed, but this time there
will be no end!
“For by Him all things were
created that are in heaven and that are on the earth, visible
and invisible, weather thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers. All things were created through Him and for
Him”
(Col 1:16)
This is the plan,
this is the purpose for every single human life that has ever
lived on this planet. The universe and all of creation are there
to fulfil this one purpose. Jesus the Creator, mankind created
in His image, together in perfect union, eternity is just
beginning!
All are
invited, not all will make it - Will we see you there?
All scripture
quotations from The New King James Version. 1996, c1982 . Thomas
Nelson: Nashville (unless otherwise stated)
For
more information contact:
Deal Christian
Fellowship, Sutherland Road, Deal, Kent
CT14 9TQ
01304-371363
E-mail:
info@dcf-online.co.uk
Web:
www.dcf-online.co.uk
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