The Age of the Spirit, the Coming Kingdom, and the Gospel

A couple posts ago, I talked about the fact that the thousand year reign of Christ mentioned in Revelation 20 is happening right now and that Satan is bound. I also briefly mentioned what Satan's being bound looks like - namely, "that Satan has been chained up 'that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended' (Revelation 20:3). It means that the gospel message propagates throughout all tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations without demonic hindrance, that 'the mystery hidden for ages and generations...[is] now revealed to his saints' (Colossians 1:26)." But we can do a little better than that - I'd like to unpack this idea a little more in this post...namely, how has the extent of Satan's influence changed from before Christ to the time of his coming?

Going back to Matthew 12, Jesus says he is able to cast out demons because of two things - (1) he has bound the strong man (Satan) by overcoming the desert temptation, and (2) he works with the power of the Holy Spirit. This second point is very important. It is important because Jesus realizes his own ministry on earth was limited. While he had most certainly bound the strong man, Jesus in fleshly form working in the power of the Spirit could only be in one place at one time. This is the reason why he tells the disciples in John 16, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7). The outpouring of the Spirit prophesied about in the OT prophets could not take place until Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father (e.g. Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, Joel 2, etc.). After Jesus ascends to the Father's side, he pours out his Spirit at Pentecost (exactly 7 weeks after his resurrection from the dead, denoting a Sabbath rest coming with the age of the Spirit and the inauguration of Christ's kingdom in this world).

Now Christ has overcome the grave and the Spirit is here - so what has changed? Looking back at Revelation 20, John says that Satan has been bound during this millennial reign of Christ, no longer able to deceive the nations as he did before (Revelation 20:3). But does that mean that everyone in the world will now believe the gospel? Paul clarifies what this new age of the Spirit looks like - he says, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). Only those "who are perishing" are still blinded by Satan's deceptions - and Paul mentions again in Ephesians 2 that those who are perishing under the deceptions of Satan are the "sons of disobedience", those "following the prince of the power of the air [Satan]" (Ephesians 2:2). But the favor and mercy of God has found a select group, the saints of the Lord. In that group, the same God who declared at creation, “'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). This veiled nature of the gospel throughout biblical history is the reason why Paul continually refers to the different aspects of the message of Christ crucified as the "mystery hidden for ages" (Colossians 1:26), "the mystery of Christ" (Ephesians 3:4), and the "mystery of [God's] plan" (Ephesians 1:9).

On the other hand, the restraining of Satan is mentioned by Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians, when he says, "the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way" (2 Thessalonians 2:7). The one who restrains the "man of lawlessness" is probably the archangel Michael, mentioned earlier in Daniel 10-12 as the one who, as the protector and prince of Israel, contends with the rulers, authorities, and principalities - the same Michael who is mentioned in Revelation 12 as the one who battled against Satan in heaven and cast him down. Michael is able to battle the lawless serpent, cast him down into the lower parts of the earth, and restrain his current efforts of deceiving the nations on the sole grounds of Christ's resurrection - on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus. In a future post, I will try to show how all of these events correspond with the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 16:19) and the "keys to Death and Hades" (or "the keys to the abyss," Revelation 1:18, 20:1).

So while there is still a partial veiling of the gospel to the world by the ploys of Satan, it is only to those who are perishing. But to God's saints, he dispenses his Spirit, enabling men to respond by faith to the message of Christ's dying for our sins and being raised for our justification. The universal deception of all the nations is over. God is currently restraining the efforts of evil, is renewing his creation order, and is reconciling the lost to himself. And while we still dwell in these "earthly tents" (as Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5), something mysterious has occurred in the realms unseen - "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13-14).

SDG

The Cosmic Scope of the Resurrection at Easter

Today is Good Friday, the day in accordance with the Jewish lunar calendar when Christ was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. I know there will be devoted Christians everywhere who will get slightly offended when the world commercializes the idea of Easter for their capitalistic benefit. They respond with the patented answer, "Easter is about Christ's crucifixion and resurrection!" I agree wholeheartedly, but, in the same breath, Easter is a celebration with cosmic implications - not just concerning the resurrection in isolation, but what the resurrection means and represents throughout the ages. To be sure, we as Christians rejoice at the idea of the empty tomb, not because of the act in and of itself, but because it is the wonderfully anticipated climax of all the promises of God in the Old Testament. The resurrected Christ is the true son of Abraham through whom all the nations are blessed, the Passover Lamb offered up for the sins of many, the true Temple where God meets with man to forgive transgression, and the true son of David through whom the Lord establishes his kingdom forever. But in Scripture, there is yet another event tied in with the cosmic story of Easter Sunday - namely, that of the story of our origins, of Adam and Eve in the garden.

The resurrected Christ is the second Adam who crushes the serpent's skull. Something mysterious occurred in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned. It had cosmic implications for not just Adam and Eve but all of human posterity afterwards. All of humanity without exception born into this world would be born into sin, under the curse of the first Adam. As a result of this event, the Lord told the ancient serpent of old that there would be an Offspring from Eve that would rise up and crush his skull (Genesis 3:15), that he would deal Satan such a blow as to render him impotent. John expands on this in Revelation by saying that it was Christ who dealt this blow to Satan by the powerful workings of his own resurrection. John records that on the grounds of his own blood, Jesus cast down the ancient serpent from heaven, that he might not accuse the brothers in the courtroom of the Lord any longer. Prior to this, the great Deceiver accused the brothers day and night to the Lord (see Job 1) and deceived the nations from knowing the one true God, but now, by the power of his resurrection, Jesus has crushed the serpent's skull, rendered his efforts ultimately ineffective, and confined him to gloomy chains (Revelation 12:9-11, 20:1-3). But that is not all - Paul says further that the second Adam also succeeds where the first Adam failed. Where the first Adam disobeyed, Christ perfectly submitted to the will of his Father. And in this one act of righteousness - namely, that of offering himself up as a penal substitute for sinful man on the cross - he now gives grace that abounds to eternal life for those who by faith identify themselves with him (Romans 5:12-21).

With the resurrection, the second Adam reverses the curse of the first Adam. Adam's disobedience pervades into Israel's own story, as they move from exodus through the wilderness to attempt to claim the promised land. It was because of Israel's own disobedience, echoing the failure of their father Adam in the garden, that they could not maintain their kingdom habitation in Canaan. The second Adam and true Israel of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, succeeded where his historical types had failed. His bodily resurrection from the grave, conquering sin and death and thereby inaugurating his kingdom into this world, comes to us in the powerful message of the gospel today.

Happy Easter - soli Deo gloria!

The Millenium is Now and Satan is Bound

There are many views out there right now being discussed in Sunday school classes, from the pulpit, in mass-produced book series and movies, and on TV show prodcasts concerning the nature of the end times (or, as theologians refer to it, eschatology). These various views can typically be categorized under the following major headings: historic premillennialism, dispensationalism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. With broad, sweeping strokes, they generally portray the following beliefs -

1. Historic Premillennialism explains that Christ returns bodily before the millennium from Revelation 20, to establish a future, literal 1000-year reign with those believers living in that day. Historic premillennialists also believe in a post-tribulation rapture;
2. Dispensationalism is much more complicated, but briefly stated, it explains before the tribulation occurs (therefore, pre-tribulation), believers are raptured up to heaven with Christ where they will begin a 1000-year reign, while the Jews reoccupy Jerusalem and re-institute the OT sacrificial order within the temple; 
3. Postmillennialism simply explains that Christ does not return until after this future 1000-year reign, which is constituted by an extended period of Christian prosperity without worldly persecution; 
4. Amillennialism explains that the millennium is not a future event nor is it literal, but it is the time frame between Christ's first and second advents, and it is happening now in the free proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. 

It is this latter interpretation of the millennium that I find the most biblical support. Christ's reign is not a future event, but it is occuring now. Hear what Paul says to the Corinthians, "Then comes the end, when he [Christ, the Son] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he [Christ] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). Before handing the kingdom over to the Father, the Son must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And Paul clarifies that this reign began at Christ's resurrection (vv. 20-23). Paul says with more emphasis in his letter to the Ephesians that God, the Father of glory, gives his saints wisdom and knowledge, "according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:19-23). Christ currently reigns far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, not only in this age but also in the age to come - the millennium is now.

To be sure, there was already an assured message of victory at Christ's resurrection. See what Paul says in his Ephesian letter, "When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men" (Ephesians 4:8). The nature of his ascension was that of a triumphal procession, where he dragged his enemy captives of war in his train for all to see. Look again in Colossians 2, where Paul describes the identities of these captives, "He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in the cross" (Colossians 2:15). And again, see what Peter says in his first letter, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they did not formerly obey" (1 Peter 3:18-20a). Peter and Paul are declaring that as Christ rose from the grave, death no longer had dominion over him - in the train of his triumphal procession as he ascended on high, he dragged those captive spirits (the rulers, principalities, and authorities, including death and sin - 1 Corinthians 15:56-57) for the entire church of believers to see and rejoice over.

And what's more, Christ mentions in Matthew 12 that he was able to cast out demons because he had bound the strong man [Satan] and has begun to plunder all of his household goods (Matthew 12:29, the "goods" referred to here are probably the same "gifts given to men" that Paul mentions in Ephesians 4). It is in this manner, Jesus says, that "the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Matthew 12:28, the establishment of Christ's millennial reign). What does this mean? It means that Satan has been chained up "that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended" (Revelation 20:3). It means that the gospel message propogates throughout all tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations without demonic hindrance, that "the mystery hidden for ages and generations...[is] now revealed to his saints" (Colossians 1:26). That there is now "neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).

SDG