I. Introduction
-- turn in your Bibles to Revelation
20:1-6
Revelation
20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss
and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient
serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He
threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from
deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that,
he must be set free for a short time.
4
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[a] had not worshiped the beast
or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.
They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the
dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the
first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first
resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests
of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
-- on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the Civil
Rights March on Washington and delivered a speech to bring hope and
encouragement to a people suffering through evil and injustice -- a speech to
help them look past the world they lived in to a new world that was to come --
a new world of peace and equality and justice for all
-- Dr. King’s speech continues to
resonate and bring hope and encouragement to this day -- especially these words,
which we all know so well:
“I have a dream that one day this nation
will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, “We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
“I have a dream that my four little
children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
“I have a dream that one day every valley
shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough
places will be plain and the crooked places will be made straight, and the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
-- his constant refrain, “I have a
dream,” continues to lead us to envision the glory of the world to come and to
look forward to the day when all is finally made right --the day we know from
the Bible as the Day of the Lord -- the Second Coming of Christ
-- this morning, we are finishing up
our series on “Who Jesus Is” -- so far, we have looked at Jesus as our Redeemer
-- Jesus as our Resurrection -- Jesus as our Rest -- and today, we will look at
Jesus as our Ruler as we look forward to His second coming and His eternal
reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords
-- we see the commencement of that
day in the passage from Revelation we just read together -- in this passage, we
read of the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign -- of the thousand-year
reign that will begin at the end of the Tribulation Period
-- at the end of the Tribulation,
Christ will return and battle the antichrist -- the beast of the Book of
Revelation -- and his prophet -- and following His victory, Christ will cast
the antichrist and the prophet into the lake of fire, and kill the rest of
their followers
-- He will then bind Satan in the
Abyss for a thousand years, to keep him from deceiving the nations any longer
-- and those who received Christ as their Lord and Savior during the
Tribulation will come to life and reign with Him for a thousand years, until
Satan is released and the final rebellion and judgment at the Great White
Throne takes place
-- then will come the day that Dr.
King looked forward to -- then will come the Day of the Lord -- as a new heaven
and a new earth are created and God will dwell with us and live with us forever
as our King and our God
-- this will be the time when the
prophecy of Philippians 2:9-11 will come to pass: “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest
place and gave Him the name that is above every name -- that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven an on earth and under the earth -- and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”
-- this is our hope -- this is our
dream -- this is what the prophets in the Bible looked for at the coming of the
Day of the Lord -- and this is what we look for when we pray for the return of
Christ and pray in the Lord’s prayer, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven…”
II. The Kingdom of God
-- when we talk about Jesus as our
Ruler, we need to understand that we are talking about the Kingdom of God in
three separate manifestations
-- first, the spiritual Kingdom of
God that believers are part of right now -- turn with me to Mark 1:14-15 and
let’s read that together
Mark
1:14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good
news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come
near. Repent and believe the good news!”
-- throughout His ministry, the
message of Jesus was always the same -- “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is
near” -- the Kingdom of God that Jesus was talking about is the rule and reign
of God in the lives and hearts of His believers -- it is the spiritual realm where
those who have repented of their sins and been redeemed through the blood of
Christ live
-- that is why the Bible says that
we are not of this world, but we are foreigners and strangers in this land --
formerly, we were all bound by the rule and reign of this world -- but now, our
allegiance and the authority over us has shifted from this world to Jesus
-- what that means is that all of us
who have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior have been born again into His
Kingdom as His subjects -- we already live with Jesus as our Ruler, here and
now
-- so, that’s the first
manifestation of the Kingdom of God we read about in the Bible -- and we will
remain in this Kingdom until the other two manifestations occur
-- the second manifestation of the
Kingdom of God is what we read about in Revelation 20:1-6 -- the Millennial
Kingdom -- the thousand-year reign of Jesus on this earth following the Great
Tribulation and the casting of the beast and his prophet into the Lake of Fire
-- this will be a literal reign of
Christ on earth -- when Jesus returns to earth at the end of the Tribulation,
He will bring with Him all the saints of the church who were resurrected at the
Rapture and will resurrect the Old Testament saints -- those who were believers
in the Messiah before the cross -- and the Tribulation saint martyrs -- those
who came to faith in Jesus during the Tribulation period and were martyred for
their faith
-- the resurrected believers will
rule with Christ on earth for the thousand-year millennial period over those
believers who survived through the Tribulation period
-- now, you should know that not all
Christians agree about the thousand-year reign of Christ -- those who believe
in the Millennial Kingdom are called “premillennialists” -- this means that
they believe there will be a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on this
earth prior to the coming of a new earth and a new heaven
-- this was the predominant view of
the church in its early days -- but belief in premillennialism has ebbed and flowed
over the centuries -- it regained popularity in the 1800s, and continues to be
the belief of those who hold to a literal understanding of Scripture and of the
eschatology that affirms there will be a rapture of the church, the rise of the
antichrist, a tribulation period, followed by the millennial kingdom, and
finally the creation of a new heaven and earth and the establishment of Jesus
as ruler forever
-- that’s the premillennial
interpretation of Scripture
-- the next interpretation is called
amillennialism -- “a” meaning “against” or “absent” -- so someone who is an
amillennialist believes this passage in Revelation 20 should be taken
figuratively and not literally -- amillennialists do not think there will be an
actual thousand-year reign of Christ -- and that the spiritual Kingdom of God
will continue until Christ’s final return, when the new heavens and earth will
be created -- you should know that this is the theological position of the
United Methodist Church
-- and, finally, you have the
postmillennialists, who also do not believe in a literal thousand-year reign of
Christ -- instead, they believe that through Christ’s spiritual reign and the
preaching of the gospel, conditions on earth will continue to improve until we
bring about God’s Kingdom on earth in a physical sense -- that eventually there
will be a time of widespread peace and prosperity before Christ’s return, at
which point He will establish His kingdom once and for all
-- it should be noted that
postmillennialism is not a predominant belief at this time -- and there are
very few who believe in this -- you see this in the Unitarians and a few other
denominations, but the two main interpretations are premillennialism -- the
belief in a literal thousand-year reign -- and amillennialism -- the belief
that there will not be a literal thousand-year reign of Christ
-- but here’s the good news -- this
is not a foundational belief -- in other words, this is something that we can
agree to disagree on -- our salvation and our sanctification do not depend on
our views of the thousand-year reign of Christ -- in the scheme of things, it
really doesn’t matter
-- what is important here is to note
that all three views agree that Jesus is the Ruler of all -- that we are
currently living in the Kingdom of God in a spiritual sense -- and that one
day, Christ will return to set up His kingdom on earth forever as our God and
our Ruler and our King -- and that is the blessed hope we all have in Him
-- which brings us to the third
manifestation of the Kingdom of God -- the final Kingdom of Christ that will be
established following the creation of a new heaven and a new earth -- this will
be the time we have all dreamed about -- this will be the time when God will dwell
with us and will be with us for eternity -- He will be here as our Ruler and
our King forever with His Kingdom on earth
III. What will the Kingdom of God Look Like?
-- I want to close by taking a look
at what this final Kingdom of God will look like -- there are many passages in
Scripture where we are given a glimpse of this Kingdom of God -- but I would
like us to turn to Psalm 72 and look at the Kingdom as it is pictured there
-- Psalm 72 was originally written
about King Solomon -- theologians are divided as to whether it was written by
David or whether it was written by Solomon himself -- but it is a psalm
originally written about the reign of Solomon -- however, we know this to be a
Messianic Psalm -- in other words, although the Psalm was partly fulfilled
through Solomon’s reign, it points to the greater fulfillment through the reign
of God’s anointed Son, Christ Jesus -- who will one day reign as God and King
in Jerusalem for all eternity
-- so, let’s look at this now and
see what we can learn about the kingdom we are dreaming about today
-- Psalm 72:1-4
1
Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
2
May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.
3
May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4
May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.
-- the first characteristic of the
Kingdom of God is justice -- the desire for justice is what Dr. King expressed
in his speech during the March on Washington -- the desire for justice is what
is driving the protests and the outcries in our nation today -- the desire for
justice is what we long for when we experience evil and crime and violence in
our midst
-- but the Bible is clear that we
will never truly experience justice through human authority and power -- true
justice and true righteousness only comes through Jesus -- and we will finally
see justice and righteousness reign when He establishes His kingdom on earth
forever
-- verse 5-11
Psalm
72:5 May he endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all
generations.
6
May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
7
In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity abound till the moon is no
more.
8
May he rule from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the
earth.
9
May the desert tribes bow before him
and his enemies lick the dust.
10
May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
bring tribute to him.
May
the kings of Sheba and Seba
present him gifts.
11
May all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him.
-- the second characteristic of the
Kingdom of God is persistence -- when Jesus returns as our Ruler, His kingdom
will know no end -- it will persist -- it will endure -- as it says here in
verse 5, the King and His Kingdom will endure as long as the sun and the moon
-- a figurative way of saying His Kingdom will not end
-- it will be an enduring Kingdom
and will encompass all of the new creation -- He will rule over the entire
earth, from sea to see and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth
-- everyone will recognize Jesus as
their Lord and their Ruler -- every knee shall bow -- every tongue will confess
-- that Jesus Christ is Lord
-- from those who dwell in the
desert - to the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores -- meaning those who
live on the coast or on the islands -- to those in Sheba and Seba -- that is
Arabia and Ethiopia -- representing all who live on the land apart from the
coast
-- in other words, every person and
every nation and every kingdom will belong the Kingdom of God and will worship
Jesus and serve Him forever
-- verse 12-14
Psalm
72:12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13
He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14
He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
-- once again, we see here that the
Kingdom of God will be a place where justice and equality and righteousness are
the rule and not the exception -- the needy and the afflicted will be cared for
-- the weak and the oppressed will be protected -- and there will be no
violence or bloodshed -- no crime or sin or death -- for both sin and death
were defeated at the cross and at the resurrection -- and Satan has been cast
into the Lake of Fire forever
-- verse 15-17
Psalm
72:15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May
people ever pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16
May grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
May
the crops flourish like Lebanon
and thrive like the grass of the field.
17
May his name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun.
Then
all nations will be blessed through him,
and they will call him blessed.
-- the third characteristic of the
Kingdom of God is prosperity -- the new creation will flourish under the rule
of Christ -- it will be a return to Paradise -- it will be a return to the
Garden of Eden
-- grain and fruit will abound
throughout the land -- never again will we know famine or drought or plague --
but the Lord will provide food and sustenance for us forever
-- we will know His Kingdom as a
land truly flowing with milk and honey -- a land blessed by God’s very hand and
presence
-- verse 18-19
Psalm
72:18 Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19
Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his
glory.
Amen
and Amen.
-- the Psalmist closes here with a
doxology -- a hymn of praise -- to the Lord God Almighty -- the God of Israel
-- the only One who can do all this -- the only One who has the power and the
authority and the righteousness and the grace to establish a perfect Kingdom
with a perfect King
-- the Kingdom of God will be
literally heaven on earth -- it will be all that we have hoped and dreamed of
-- and we will live with God and He will be our King and our Ruler forever --
Amen and Amen
IV. Closing
-- but unfortunately, we are not
there yet -- although our hearts cry out for God’s Kingdom to come -- although
all Creation groans for the curse to finally be lifted and for Jesus to make
all things right -- it has not happened yet -- and we know it -- we feel it --
we live it
-- Chris Tomlin captured this
longing for the Kingdom in the midst of a broken world in his song, “Is He
Worthy?” -- Tomlin opens his song with this lament:
“Do you feel the world is broken? (We
do)
Do you feel the shadows deepen? (We
do)
But do you know that all the dark
won't stop the light from getting through? (We do)
Do you wish that you could see it
all made new? (We do)”
-- we understand this -- we
understand this longing for peace and righteousness and justice in the world --
we look around us and see a world that has been broken by sin -- a world that
is filled with shadows and not light -- we can all agree that things are not
what they should be -- we all understand Tomlin’s lament
-- but his song doesn’t end there --
it goes on:
“Is all creation groaning? (It is)
Is a new creation coming? (It is)
Is the glory of the Lord to be the
light within our midst? (It is)
Is it good that we remind ourselves
of this? (It is)
“Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break the seal and
open the scroll?
The Lion of Judah who conquered the
grave
He was David's root and the Lamb who
died to ransom the slave
Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
Of all blessing and honor and glory
Is He worthy of this?
He is”
-- He is -- Jesus is worthy of all
blessing and honor and glory -- and Jesus alone is the One who is able to fix
that which is broken -- to bring light into the darkness -- to destroy sin and
evil and injustice once and for all
-- we may live in a broken and
damaged world -- but our hearts are already with Jesus in His spiritual kingdom
and we long for the day when He returns -- when the heavens and the earth are
recreated -- and His kingdom is made manifest on earth forever and ever, Amen.
-- let us pray for that day -- let
us pray for His kingdom -- and let us remember our Lord and our Savior and our
Ruler today as we close in prayer
-- let us pray
