The Gospel – The Message of Jesus Christ

Thy Kingdom Come – More than Personal Salvation

 

Revelation 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. Even so. Amen. NASB

 

The Second Coming of Christ

An essential element of the Gospel is that we preach Christ Jesus as Lord and King. We warn mankind to come voluntarily under His authority and rule before it is too late and they die in their rebellion against Him and face Him in judgment, or He returns to establish His Kingdom and they are found in their rebellion against Him and then face Him in judgment. We call mankind to repentance from sin and faith in our Lord Jesus in order to flee from the coming wrath. (Eph 5:6, Col 3:6, 1 Thes 1:10, Rev 6:16-17, 11:18) When Christ returns there will be several tasks at hand that He will accomplish. I have put them into (4) categories here for the sake of brevity. The warning that we give in the Gospel embodies these inevitable and unavoidable events to come upon the entire world.

·         Rescue and Resurrection

·         Destruction of Evil Authorities

·         Establishment of Earthly Kingdom

·         Consummation of the Ages

Below we will briefly describe these events for the reader’s education of general categories of “end time” events of which they are warning people will soon take place.

1. Rescue and Resurrection

In the course of this Gospel age, there will come a time of terrible tribulation on the earth unlike any other time before it. Christ will “cut short” the time of tribulation on the earth in order to rescue His people from the greatest persecution ever to come upon them by the hands of Antichrist (Dan 7:21-27, 12:1-2, Rev 13:4-10).

Matthew 24:21-23 – 21 for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. 22 “And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.  NASB

When this rescue takes place, the dead in Christ shall be raised first, and the Church will be caught up in the air to meet Christ and to stand with Him in glory as He puts all of His enemies under His feet and establish His reign as King. This is the first resurrection (Rev 20:4-6).

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 – 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 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. NASB

Matthew 24:29-31 – 29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken,  30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. NASB

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 – 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. NASB

2. Destruction of Evil Authorities

When Christ returns to rescue and resurrect His people, He will then swiftly destroy the Antichrist and arrest every earthly authority (Rev 19:11-21).

Revelation 19:19-21 – 9 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him[Christ] who sat upon the horse, and against His army. 20 And the beast[antichrist] was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. NASB

Daniel 7:25-27 – 25 ‘And he[antichrist] will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. 26 ‘But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. 27 ‘Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’ NASB

Evil will be brought under control on the face of the earth at the hand of Jesus the King, and be brought under the rule of the Kingdom of God.

Isaiah 2:2-4 –  Now it will come about that In the last days, The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways, And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. NASB

Even Satan himself will be bound and have no influence on the earth for 1000 years.

Revelation 20:1-3 – And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 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, 3 and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. NASB

3. Establishment of Earthly Kingdom

At this time Christ will establish His rule upon the earth. His long awaited government will be established. His rule will be Sovereign and will never be destroyed. It will be everlasting!

Daniel 2:44 – 44 “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. NASB

Daniel 7:13-14 – 13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed. NASB

He and His saints (the church of all time), will rule over the nations, there will be no war, and the world will enjoy a time of great peace (Rev 20:4-6).

Psalm 22:27-28 – 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before Thee. 28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s, And He rules over the nations. NASB

Zechariah 14:16-20 – 16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. NASB

Daniel 7:27 – 27 ‘Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’ NASB

Revelation 5:10 – 10 “And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” NASB

This time period of 1000 years is commonly called the Millennium. There is much controversy concerning the nature and circumstances of this time.

Consummation of the Ages

Toward the end of the Millennium, there will be a final rebellion against Christ by the nations of mankind, at which time He will destroy them forever, along with Satan. This will be the final doom of Satan and all the wicked, and the reign of sin and death upon the earth will be brought to a close by God’s power.

Revelation 20:7-10 – 7 And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 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. 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. 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. NASB

Death will be destroyed, and Satan with it as they are forever cast into the lake of fire. At this time, God will resurrect all the dead from all ages and they will stand before God in judgment. If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, He is forever cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:11-15 – 11 And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. NASB

Now after the wicked and Satan and death are destroyed, the Eternal State will be ushered in. In the Eternal State, sin will be banished from the Kingdom of God forever and God will create a “New Heavens and Earth.” In this renewed creation, sin will never destroy again and the creation will perpetually live in peace and utter fulfillment forever and ever, world without end. According to Scripture, there will “no longer be any death, …or mourning, or crying, or pain.”

Revelation 21:1-6 – 21 And 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. 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. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, 4 and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 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.” NASB

In this Eternal State, God’s people will lie down in peace, never again to know any curse or pain. God will dwell among His people forever and ever, and the will forever enjoy the happiness and satisfaction they were created for in its fullest capacity.

Revelation 22:3-5 – 3 And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; 4 and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever. NASB

The coming ages will hold out one glorious revelation of the kindness of God after another, and all our capacities to appreciate and worship God is all of His Glory will be utterly fulfilled. The Gospel promise of eternal life will be fulfilled in a perpetual state of experiencing the lavish blessings of the Eternal God, forever and ever!

Ephesians 2:5-9 – 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast. NASB