Millennium
(Rev 20:1~6)
A woman with a faith life full of fear used to go to a church whose pastor bullied its members with threats and curses when they challenged his authority. After moving with her family to another church, which emphasized the God of love, her mother had a car accident. How scared she must have been? Likewise we can be a prey of fear even in our faith life with this unhealthy perspective of the heavenly kingdom and eschatology. The Millennium is not for extraordinary people but for us Christians. Lets take a look at the Millennium.
1. Its the kingdom where Satan is bound by the gospel of the cross. An angel of God seized the dragon with his chain and key to the Abyss. Then he hurled the dragon into the Abyss and sealed it for a thousand years. This dragon is Satan, the Lucifer who fell from heaven after challenging Gods rule. Thus Satan comes to us as an angel of light. What we need to be wary of is the angel of light within us. David mourned over the death of Saul, who had chased him with life-long hatred and over the death of Abner, Sauls commander of the army, who was killed by his henchman Joab. How can we understand this? Therefore, redemption history is an incomprehensible dialect to non-believers. David came to understand peoples hearts through his trials. He was ready to devote himself to saving others because of his humble self-recognition as a sinner. He was able to bind Satan with the chain of his humility after passing through his deserts. As in Genesis 3: 15, Jesus Christ will crush the serpents head, and Satan, the serpents descendant will strike the heel of the womans offspring. Satans weapons are accusation, lies, malice, envy, and sense of inferiority while the angels is the gospel of Jesus, the womans offspring. God crucified his only begotten son. Even though Christ could have shown his miracle, he didnt. Instead, he demonstrated himself as a sacrifice for sinners by being crucified until he showed his true miracle of resurrection. In order to bind Satan, we need to die for others. Thus Christ has bound Satan for a thousand years.
2. We need to understand Gods Millennium. There are many interpretations of the Millennium. The pre-Millennium theory is that Jesus comes again before the Millennium while post-Millennium theory is that Jesus comes after it. Non-Millennium theory is that the Millennium is nothing but a symbol which transcends the human concept of time and space and demonstrates Gods reign over us. It implies that we belong to our father, the devil until we will be ruled by God. Therefore as long as we mistake the heavenly kingdom as a worldly utopia, trying to bite the bullet here on earth, we are simply another worshipper of the prosperity gospel. Instead of clenching our jaw, we just need to enjoy the love of our faithful and truthful God. Thats how we belong to the Millennium. Therefore non-Millennium sounds right. The sound attitude of eschatology is to enjoy the heavenly kingdom in the frame of today.
3. It follows a period when Satan is unbound for a while. Even though Satan was bound in chains, he will have a time to be unbound temporarily for his last ditch effort. As for Christians, God allows them a period of temporary trials, during which they spread the gospel with authority while they are trained as Gods children. This period is a session of the last days, when people experience both the joy of the heavenly kingdom and trials of hardship. Therefore, Christians proper response to Satans temporary reign is to rejoice. Instead of worrying about Satans provisional reign, we need to keep in mind that the war has already been won. Satans reign might cover our whole life or end right before we die because of Jesus second coming. Anyway, no one can deprive us of godly joy when we are ruled by God and extend Gods reign. Thus we can enjoy the Millennium on earth in advance. How scared the woman was when her mother had a car accident after moving to a new church from her fearful old church! Later she understood that this incident must happen to her just as Jonah should be swallowed by the whale. It dawned upon her that her old church story must happen to her and that she also might be an offender. She also realized how disobedient and conceited she used to be towards her pastors as a one hundred percent sinner. Then her anger and resentment began to draw back and the accident brought her a confidence of the heavenly kingdom. She also experienced Gods grace by facing her suffering and expressing her sorrow squarely. Thus our heavenly kingdom depends on how we interpret our daily life.
4. Its the kingdom that Christians will reign with Christ. Those who didnt yield to the power of evil, standing firm in their faith in the Word belong to the heavenly kingdom even while they are living on earth. Thats how they 'reign with Christ a thousand years.' with the authority of the gospel. No one can prevent us who belong to heaven from enjoying its citizenship wherever we are. What does the phrase reign with Christ mean? Without loving Jesus, we cant go to the Millennium. The heavenly language is love. Through it, we can reign with Christ. Through his resurrection, we can be dead to sin but alive to God in his eternal life. If we die as a Christian after donating our body to someone, we can resurrect not only spiritually but also physically. What truly matters on earth, therefore, is belief in Jesus, which binds Satan. The Millennium is not about circumstances but about resolving our sins. By overcoming our sins, we can reign with Christ. Even though we have lots of things to mourn over because the new heaven and earth have not arrived yet, weve already won the war against the king of the world. We need to wage our war not against circumstances, but against our sins for the eternal life. The Millennium has already begun. We need to enjoy it under all circumstances without wasting time. May God bless us to reach the Millennium despite our trials through our forgiveness, humbleness, and courage consecrated by the cross!
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. (Rev 20:1)
