THE THING ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5rZx-iogyg
The Millennium. Let's begin at the logical place: back at the 144,000. I know. Trust me, we are going someplace special with this.
The Lamb and the 144,000
Revelation 14
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.
3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
NIV
https://www.gotquestions.org/144000.html
The book of Revelation has always presented the interpreter with challenges. The book is steeped in vivid imagery and symbolism which people have interpreted differently depending on their preconceptions of the book as a whole. There are four main interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation: 1) preterist (which sees all or most of the events in Revelation as having already occurred by the end of the 1st century); 2) historicist (which sees Revelation as a survey of church history from apostolic times to the present); 3) idealist (which sees Revelation as a depiction of the struggle between good and evil); 4) futurist (which sees Revelation as prophecy of events to come). Of the four, only the futurist approach interprets Revelation in the same grammatical-historical method as the rest of Scripture. It is also a better fit with Revelation’s own claim to be prophecy (Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 10, 18, 19).
(The Hyper preterist is that of the Post mil believer who says ALL the prophecies were fulfilled at the cross in the first century. It doesn't even get consideration nor mention here. It has that lack of respect from anyone who knows the book of Revelation.)
So the answer to the question “who are the 144,000?” will depend on which interpretive approach you take to the book of Revelation. With the exception of the futurist approach, all of the other approaches interpret the 144,000 symbolically, as representative of the church and the number 144,000 being symbolic of the totality—i.e., the complete number—of the church. Yet when taken at face value: “Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel” (Revelation 7:4), nothing in the passage leads to interpreting the 144,000 as anything but a literal number of Jews—12,000 taken from every tribe of the “sons of Israel.” The New Testament offers no clear cut text replacing Israel with the church.
These Jews are “sealed,” which means they have the special protection of God from all of the divine judgments and from the Antichrist to perform their mission during the tribulation period (see Revelation 6:17, in which people will wonder who can stand from the wrath to come). The tribulation period is a future seven-year period of time in which God will enact divine judgment against those who reject Him and will complete His plan of salvation for the nation of Israel. All of this is according to God’s revelation to the prophet Daniel (Daniel 9:24–27).
Da 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
(ASV)
The 144,000 Jews are a sort of “first fruits” (Revelation 14:4) of a redeemed Israel which has been previously prophesied (Zechariah 12:10; Romans 11:25–27),
Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
(ASV)
Ro 11:25 For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in;
26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 And this is my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins.
(ASV)
and their mission seems to be to evangelize the post-rapture world and proclaim the gospel during the tribulation period. As a result of their ministry, millions—“a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9)—will come to faith in Christ.
(The sidetrack below offers one notion of exactly why the Millennium is misunderstood. It gets sandwiched into theologies meant for the Church Age. Granted, in the example below, REALLY WRONG theologies, but still, so much of the thinking prior to the Arrival of Israel was based on current events, the current state of salvation that we have a difficult time understanding something like the Millennium where some other standard seems to apply. it's very like the scientist today who keep trying to fit creation into their notion of reality and when religious folks try to fit science into our notions of God. All really ignoring that the reality of science inquiry is supposed to not start with the preconceived, that is that God doesn't exist, and that the righteous shouldn't start with the idea their knowledge he exists immediately make their idea of HOW he accomplishes something the right one. The JW treatment of the 144,000 follows that same mistaken path.)
Much of the confusion regarding the 144,000 is a result of the false doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that 144,000 is a limit to the number of people who will reign with Christ in heaven and spend eternity with God. The 144,000 have what the Jehovah’s Witnesses call the heavenly hope. Those who are not among the 144,000 will enjoy what they call the earthly hope—a paradise on earth ruled by Christ and the 144,000. Clearly, we can see that Jehovah’s Witness teaching sets up a caste society in the afterlife with a ruling class (the 144,000) and those who are ruled. The Bible teaches no such “dual class” doctrine. It is true that there will be people ruling in the millennium with Christ. These people will be comprised of the church (believers in Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 6:2), Old Testament saints (believers who died before Christ’s first advent, Daniel 7:27), and tribulation saints (those who accept Christ during the tribulation, Revelation 20:4). Yet the Bible places no numerical limit on this group of people. Furthermore, the millennium is different from the eternal state, which will take place at the completion of the millennial period. At that time, God will dwell with us in the New Jerusalem. He will be our God and we will be His people (Revelation 21:3). The inheritance promised to us in Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13–14) will become ours, and we will all be co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
Read this again:
Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
(ASV)
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/revelation/related-topics/millennial-reign-of-the-saints.html
As we saw above, Revelation Rev. 20:4+ mentions resurrected saints who rule and reign with Christ. Many other passages, both in the OT and NT, indicate the saints will co-rule with their Lord. Isaiah indicates a coming righteous reign where princes will rule with Messiah:
Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. (Isa. Isa. 32:1).1
Daniel received detailed revelation concerning the timing and reality of the rule of the saints. It does not occur until after the Beast is destroyed, just as the book of Revelation records (Rev. Rev. 19:20+). We know from Revelation Rev. 19:1+ that the Beast is destroyed at the Second Coming of Christ, therefore the reign of the saints has not yet come:
Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. (Dan. Dan. 7:17-18)
I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. (Dan. Dan. 7:21-22)
Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. (Dan. Dan. 7:27)
Prior to their co-rule with Christ, they will undergo tribulation at the hands of the Beast (Rev. Rev. 13:7+, Rev. 13:15+; Rev. 15:2+; Rev. 20:4+). They are not just given a vague spiritual kingdom subject to ridicule by unbelievers who cannot tell it even exists. No! The kingdom and dominion is both spiritual and literal and there will be no question on the part of anyone concerning its reality when it arrives! In the gospels, Jesus indicated that faithful servants would be given authority over cities (Luke Luke 19:17-19). Numerous times James and John sought the position of being on the left and right of Jesus—positions of shared rulership (Mtt. Mat. 20:20 cf. Mark Mark 10:37). In the book of Revelation, Jesus said that overcomers would sit with Him on His throne, even as He then sat on His father’s throne:
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Rev. Rev. 3:21+)
This particular verse is very important because it shows the high degree of authority believers will have with Jesus. It also indicates that in approximately A.D. 95, when Jesus spoke these words, He was not on His own throne! This is a very important point to understand: the throne He will be taking is the throne of David (Mtt. Mat. 25:31) and it is on earth. Although we have been made kings and priests (or a kingdom, priests to God—see commentary on Revelation 5:10), our reign is future and initially upon the earth:
And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth. (Rev. Rev. 5:10+) [emphasis added]
One of the criticisms that has been leveled against the premillennial understanding of the Millennial Kingdom is that it only lasts 1,000 years, whereas Scripture is replete with passages indicating Christ’s kingdom will be eternal.
The amillennialist sees a conflict here and insists that the eternality of Christ’s kingdom does not permit any place for a thousand year reign on earth. Calvin’s reason for rejecting the premillennial view as his concept that the thousand year reign nullified the eternal reign of Christ. Did the premillennialist limit the reign of Christ to a thousand years, his contention that “their fiction is too puerile to require or deserve refutation” would be true. However such is not the case. An important Scripture bearing on the discussion is 1 Corinthians 1Cor. 15:24-28.2
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.
27 For, He put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him.
28 And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.
(ASV)
The solution to this problem is found in recognizing the transition which Paul records in 1 Corinthians 1Cor. 15:24-28. Christ rules in the millennium until the Great White Throne Judgment, when death itself is finally vanquished (Rev. Rev. 20:14+ cf. Rev. Rev. 21:4+). Then, He places His kingdom under the Father. Yet His rule continues into the eternal state, where there is a new heavens and a new earth (Rev. Rev. 21:1+) and where the saints will continue to co-rule with Him for eternity (Rev. Rev. 22:5+).
[1Cor. 1Cor. 15:24, 1Cor. 15:28] does not mean the end of our Lord’s regal activity, but rather that from here onward in the unity of the Godhead He reigns with the Father as the eternal Son. There are no longer two thrones: one His Messianic throne and the other the Father’s throne, as our Lord indicated in Revelation Rev. 3:21+. In the final Kingdom there is but one throne, and it is “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. Rev. 22:3+).3
Now read this again again:
Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
(ASV)
This is a clear statement that the 144,000 rule with Him in the Millennium for a thousand years. They are ones after the Middle Tribulation because the image and the mark are on the scene art the time of their death. They were impervious to almost all the things around them, indestructible. Except we know they died. Rev 14 above shows them "redeemed" in the white robes of glory standing with him on his arrival.
How did they die?
Marvel Comics has given the False Prophet his way to kill them. The character of Wolverine has a healing factor and nothing can truly kill him. A being called Deadpool also has that power. But in the comics, Deadpool was once killed by having his head teleported off his body. In the Marvel movie named after him, Wolverine and his brother cut off the head of a mutant who has been given their healing power.
Also these evangelists are compared to Paul in many commentaries. Paul was beheaded. The legend of Paul's death will call to the FP as well.
And those who rule with Jesus will be one's who have been beheaded. It will be the only way to kill them.
But the important thing is: they only rule for a thousand years. this number is clearly placed on the earthly domain, over and over, in Revelation.
Now we have a whole selection of churches today. Protestant, Catholic, every shade of gifted and gift-obsessed, that know, KNOW that the Church Age itself, OUR age, was never really revealed. It was a hidden thing clued at only vaguely but promised, PROMISED to Abraham in that God would bless ALL races through him. (See our last post.) And that's it. We suggested it was foreshadowed in Judges, but we see that only after the fact. We can see traces of it in the forefathers, the way Jacob so looks like a gentile in every way, but God keeps going after him, pursuing him as he has pursued all of us in the Holy Spirit. But that again is an afterthought. No one could have foreseen us before we actually came into being.
But here, in Revelation, we have another very specific age, with a very specific time limit, with more clear prophetic details then you will ever find in Scriptures about OUR age and yet we have all these Christians believing it is just a Spiritual thing. That "it's all over now, Baby Blue." Or that they need to bring it about and be ruling when Jesus arrives even though they would in reality have to have died and come back and have a Jewish heritage to do it. The last is blasphemy, but we seem more worried about liberal ideas than blaspheming God's word these days.
Why? Why is it so hard to get the idea that the End Times are true even as they openly unfold before us?
Begin with Tradition. I can see Tevye singing out about tradition even as his is being taken from him by the changing civilization around him, his daughters each marrying someone worse and worse from his perspective even as his love for them refuses to die. Fiddler on the Roof is all about changes that make our traditions fall away. Amillennialism is a tradition of the Catholic church that some folks refuse to let go, but should have fallen away decades ago. it exists in some Protestant churches as well and some grand theologians like the late R. C. Sproul have gone there because they couldn't adequately explain to atheists what Jesus meant when He said He was returning soon and yet He is not yet back. By spiritualizing the event, and saying the Millennium AND Tribulation are going on together spiritually NOW they can say Jesus returned and all the other stuff of Revelation and prophecy has been concluded. We have all manner of things. It is far simpler to suggest Jesus was speaking from God's perspective when He offered His return "soon". Many prophecies come without a time designation because some of the Bible's predictions were literally hundreds of years even thousands from coming true. But they were always made with a sense of urgency. since God has a sense of time that makes "a thousand years seem as a day", from His perspective, only a couple days have passed and the return will in fact be soon. Plus Jesus saying it would be a couple thousand years would have enforced their human perspective and hardly have given the church the urgency it exhibited at birth.
Look at the lack of urgency the church now feels. Amil churches are profoundly good at social helps and keep falling short on evangelism. Catholicism stressed membership in the church over confession of Christ. Some Protestant churches keep that tradition and make their baptism into THE only baptism that is correct. The tradition of popes and bishops and the power of the clergy also echos sometimes softly and sometimes deafening loud in Protestant churches. Some are founded by a pastor and he keeps total control of who becomes an elder. Some are founded BY elders and they keep a partnership with the ministers which seems much more the Biblical way. Then we realize the mistakes of the Sanhedrin and see that isn't always the perfect way either.
Tradition itself isn't awful unless we look on the past as the way the future must unfold. America and it's Trump fixation fit that error perfectly. A plurality that elected this President seems focused on his meaningless slogan to "Make America Great Again." Return to the wild west mentality I talked about months ago here, the one I grew up with in the Fifties, the one based on the false legend of the gun and cigarette smoke, the one so many in my generation seem unable to let go due to all the cloying about the past. In fact, the Old West proved that guns had to be taken away once the drovers hit town for peace and safety to be kept. That lesson gets deposed by the message of "freedom" in the gun. contacted an old friend and he just posted a montage of pictures about the great good old Fifties days, most of them featuring segregated white kids and one with segregated black kids, all playing marbles some climbing chain link fences. All the kids were wearing what looked like hand-me-downs, were playing in the streets. I recall my Dad's main bragging right as a parent after we had grown centered around us kids never going hungry. I'm very much afraid that is where we are headed as we approach the Tribulation: parental pride that their kids didn't starve to death today. The good old days were largely agrarian and food was cheap but labor go paid, when I started working on a farm part time at 14, a penny for a bale of hay baled or a dollar an hour for farm work. If the great retro Party wants to drop gas prices to $.10 a gallon and bread to $.25 a loaf, then we can talk. But all they are promising is to drive wages down. We all have a tradition of lying to ourselves about things in the past. This one just happens to be what will prove fatal to the USA if it doesn't grow up.
But that is the secret of Tradition, it is the egoism that we had it better when we didn't have responsibilities, that our growing up disrupted the otherwise perfect life of our yesterday.
Christianity, though, is about growing up and OUT of "childish things."
I Corinthians 13:
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 12 Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.…
Our egos kill us. They form part of that dark reflection in the mirror.
In the end our egos keep us from seeing the End times clearly(yes, I include myself) because those times are about the very end of us as we know ourselves. Those beings wearing Final Flesh will not be us anymore. Today we are the babies who first burst from our mothers' wombs. Those children had to grow up as much as they could here, gestating in the womb of this Earth, to be ready to be born by death or Rapture into that new world.
But all the traditions and the trappings of this world get mixed in with the mission each of us is given with our gift. We struggle with holding to this Earth and to it's perspective, swimming back against the tides of time, telling ourselves we are not getting older, not moving toward the Savior's embrace, even as we sing so happily about it in Church. We leave churches for something better, because our idea of better always harks back to something we had before, to better prepare for the eternity ahead that we can vaguely see.
But something else kind of disguises the End Times even to those who claim it. we seem to think things will be going on there as here. But they will not.
The Millennium is not the eternal kingdom. 1000 years does NOT equal eternity. The 144,000 group is designed by God to rule that thousand years then to slide into the eternal kingdom with us, even as we were designed to do service with our gifts today.
I suspect many of us can't see it clearly simply because we have nothing much to do with it. We seem not to be there for it. They will be busy cleaning the planet. Cleansing the mess left behind. But nothing will have happened to clean up the sin.
Think on that. The Millennium will have only those resurrected 144,000 in their Final Flesh, connected by the Spirit to Christ as coordinator. And the Law will reign. Jesus will rule with an iron fist. Jews will be envied because they will have grown up with that Law and others will be learning it. Disobedient children will be stoned to death. Failure to welcome strangers will have consequences. Those Millennials will follow the Law implicitly or suffer whatever punishment God laid down in it. Those who want to enforce the Law themselves today have no real idea of the consequences they bring on themselves by wishing it and how much worse it would be to seize that power against God's will. It will be absolute power for the rulers, but it is Jesus ruling through them not them empowered by God that makes this a true kingdom of the Lion.
But what the Law does not do is SAVE:
Romans 7:7-25 New Living Translation (NLT)
God’s Law Reveals Our Sin
7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”[a] 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
Struggling with Sin
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[b] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[c] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin
Do you see it?
The Law is the beall reason for the Millennium. It will tell every being on the planet that they are in sin, that they have failed God and Jesus himself will rule over them strictly enforcing that law and our sin nature will still be there. Thriving despite the perfect exterior condition to scare it away from us.
The Post mil misses the truth and the Amil doesn't understand the necessity of the event. Post mils would have an eternal kingdom where sin would be a bloated evil hidden waiting for a tempter to turn it loose again even as Satan will at the end of the thousand years. Jesus' Earthly throne, separate from God's would not please either of them and the dreams of the Post mil are for their own power not for God's will.
God's will has ever been for those who will have the power of Christ to operate in the will of love, for that is the source of all His power. He longs to again walk in the cool of the evening with us. If he wanted robots he could have had them. If he wanted trembling serfs, he could have had them. He prefers our worship to our cringing
Many of us miss the idea of the millennium because it IS the Law incarnate holding sway over sin incarnate in our Fallen Flesh. It is about the truth that our Flesh IS Fallen, that we have accepted IT as the reality when we walked in a freedom we never deserved. It s about what it would be like for our fallen selves had we not been given a choice, if the one who gave us that choice had not been so powerful the sacrifice He made reached back in time to Eden and forward to the end of the Millennium. It tells us there is a prison of the Law that issues demands we could meet but never a love for the issuer that freedom allows.
What we needed was not a book of rules to handle our illness of sin nature. It is like diabetes today. A daily shot of insulin can relieve the symptoms, but the disease continues to corrupt the body and can kill by destroying the vital organs even as the insulin seems to make the dying process bearable. But there are those who choose to think that the disease is cured, even many who have the disease.
We treat our sin nature that same way. we get all wrapped up in being gifted and forget that we can misuse the gift. We want to rue the world for Him but OUR way. We belief we know what is best so deeply that we ignore bible verses that tell us otherwise. Lately, we have come to believe politics solve something despite centuries of proof that human nature undermines every system ever bult.
We refuse to realize we are come down with the illness of death in our Fallen Flesh and that the Spirit can only give us a taste of eternal life. We have the cure, but we must wait for the final outcome of the treatment.
Our job, nonetheless, is living for the tomorrow of that perfected flesh, because we have the joy of knowing, knowing that taste and knowing the outcome. We have it because he gave us the cure. Because of what Paul described as our healing.
Romans 8
8 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life [a]in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, [b]weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of [c]sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is [d]alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [e]through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you [f]must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery [g]leading to fear again, but you have received [h]a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, [i]in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Our Victory in Christ
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the [j]saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that [k]God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was [l]raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of [m]Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(NASB)
But the struggle is not over yet. Nothing in all our flaws and misunderstandings can overcome the love of God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTmTMcdxOs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5rZx-iogyg
The Millennium. Let's begin at the logical place: back at the 144,000. I know. Trust me, we are going someplace special with this.
The Lamb and the 144,000
Revelation 14
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.
3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
NIV
https://www.gotquestions.org/144000.html
The book of Revelation has always presented the interpreter with challenges. The book is steeped in vivid imagery and symbolism which people have interpreted differently depending on their preconceptions of the book as a whole. There are four main interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation: 1) preterist (which sees all or most of the events in Revelation as having already occurred by the end of the 1st century); 2) historicist (which sees Revelation as a survey of church history from apostolic times to the present); 3) idealist (which sees Revelation as a depiction of the struggle between good and evil); 4) futurist (which sees Revelation as prophecy of events to come). Of the four, only the futurist approach interprets Revelation in the same grammatical-historical method as the rest of Scripture. It is also a better fit with Revelation’s own claim to be prophecy (Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 10, 18, 19).
(The Hyper preterist is that of the Post mil believer who says ALL the prophecies were fulfilled at the cross in the first century. It doesn't even get consideration nor mention here. It has that lack of respect from anyone who knows the book of Revelation.)
So the answer to the question “who are the 144,000?” will depend on which interpretive approach you take to the book of Revelation. With the exception of the futurist approach, all of the other approaches interpret the 144,000 symbolically, as representative of the church and the number 144,000 being symbolic of the totality—i.e., the complete number—of the church. Yet when taken at face value: “Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel” (Revelation 7:4), nothing in the passage leads to interpreting the 144,000 as anything but a literal number of Jews—12,000 taken from every tribe of the “sons of Israel.” The New Testament offers no clear cut text replacing Israel with the church.
These Jews are “sealed,” which means they have the special protection of God from all of the divine judgments and from the Antichrist to perform their mission during the tribulation period (see Revelation 6:17, in which people will wonder who can stand from the wrath to come). The tribulation period is a future seven-year period of time in which God will enact divine judgment against those who reject Him and will complete His plan of salvation for the nation of Israel. All of this is according to God’s revelation to the prophet Daniel (Daniel 9:24–27).
Da 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
(ASV)
The 144,000 Jews are a sort of “first fruits” (Revelation 14:4) of a redeemed Israel which has been previously prophesied (Zechariah 12:10; Romans 11:25–27),
Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
(ASV)
Ro 11:25 For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in;
26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 And this is my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins.
(ASV)
and their mission seems to be to evangelize the post-rapture world and proclaim the gospel during the tribulation period. As a result of their ministry, millions—“a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9)—will come to faith in Christ.
(The sidetrack below offers one notion of exactly why the Millennium is misunderstood. It gets sandwiched into theologies meant for the Church Age. Granted, in the example below, REALLY WRONG theologies, but still, so much of the thinking prior to the Arrival of Israel was based on current events, the current state of salvation that we have a difficult time understanding something like the Millennium where some other standard seems to apply. it's very like the scientist today who keep trying to fit creation into their notion of reality and when religious folks try to fit science into our notions of God. All really ignoring that the reality of science inquiry is supposed to not start with the preconceived, that is that God doesn't exist, and that the righteous shouldn't start with the idea their knowledge he exists immediately make their idea of HOW he accomplishes something the right one. The JW treatment of the 144,000 follows that same mistaken path.)
Much of the confusion regarding the 144,000 is a result of the false doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that 144,000 is a limit to the number of people who will reign with Christ in heaven and spend eternity with God. The 144,000 have what the Jehovah’s Witnesses call the heavenly hope. Those who are not among the 144,000 will enjoy what they call the earthly hope—a paradise on earth ruled by Christ and the 144,000. Clearly, we can see that Jehovah’s Witness teaching sets up a caste society in the afterlife with a ruling class (the 144,000) and those who are ruled. The Bible teaches no such “dual class” doctrine. It is true that there will be people ruling in the millennium with Christ. These people will be comprised of the church (believers in Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 6:2), Old Testament saints (believers who died before Christ’s first advent, Daniel 7:27), and tribulation saints (those who accept Christ during the tribulation, Revelation 20:4). Yet the Bible places no numerical limit on this group of people. Furthermore, the millennium is different from the eternal state, which will take place at the completion of the millennial period. At that time, God will dwell with us in the New Jerusalem. He will be our God and we will be His people (Revelation 21:3). The inheritance promised to us in Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13–14) will become ours, and we will all be co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
Read this again:
Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
(ASV)
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/revelation/related-topics/millennial-reign-of-the-saints.html
As we saw above, Revelation Rev. 20:4+ mentions resurrected saints who rule and reign with Christ. Many other passages, both in the OT and NT, indicate the saints will co-rule with their Lord. Isaiah indicates a coming righteous reign where princes will rule with Messiah:
Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. (Isa. Isa. 32:1).1
Daniel received detailed revelation concerning the timing and reality of the rule of the saints. It does not occur until after the Beast is destroyed, just as the book of Revelation records (Rev. Rev. 19:20+). We know from Revelation Rev. 19:1+ that the Beast is destroyed at the Second Coming of Christ, therefore the reign of the saints has not yet come:
Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. (Dan. Dan. 7:17-18)
I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. (Dan. Dan. 7:21-22)
Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. (Dan. Dan. 7:27)
Prior to their co-rule with Christ, they will undergo tribulation at the hands of the Beast (Rev. Rev. 13:7+, Rev. 13:15+; Rev. 15:2+; Rev. 20:4+). They are not just given a vague spiritual kingdom subject to ridicule by unbelievers who cannot tell it even exists. No! The kingdom and dominion is both spiritual and literal and there will be no question on the part of anyone concerning its reality when it arrives! In the gospels, Jesus indicated that faithful servants would be given authority over cities (Luke Luke 19:17-19). Numerous times James and John sought the position of being on the left and right of Jesus—positions of shared rulership (Mtt. Mat. 20:20 cf. Mark Mark 10:37). In the book of Revelation, Jesus said that overcomers would sit with Him on His throne, even as He then sat on His father’s throne:
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Rev. Rev. 3:21+)
This particular verse is very important because it shows the high degree of authority believers will have with Jesus. It also indicates that in approximately A.D. 95, when Jesus spoke these words, He was not on His own throne! This is a very important point to understand: the throne He will be taking is the throne of David (Mtt. Mat. 25:31) and it is on earth. Although we have been made kings and priests (or a kingdom, priests to God—see commentary on Revelation 5:10), our reign is future and initially upon the earth:
And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth. (Rev. Rev. 5:10+) [emphasis added]
One of the criticisms that has been leveled against the premillennial understanding of the Millennial Kingdom is that it only lasts 1,000 years, whereas Scripture is replete with passages indicating Christ’s kingdom will be eternal.
The amillennialist sees a conflict here and insists that the eternality of Christ’s kingdom does not permit any place for a thousand year reign on earth. Calvin’s reason for rejecting the premillennial view as his concept that the thousand year reign nullified the eternal reign of Christ. Did the premillennialist limit the reign of Christ to a thousand years, his contention that “their fiction is too puerile to require or deserve refutation” would be true. However such is not the case. An important Scripture bearing on the discussion is 1 Corinthians 1Cor. 15:24-28.2
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.
27 For, He put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him.
28 And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.
(ASV)
The solution to this problem is found in recognizing the transition which Paul records in 1 Corinthians 1Cor. 15:24-28. Christ rules in the millennium until the Great White Throne Judgment, when death itself is finally vanquished (Rev. Rev. 20:14+ cf. Rev. Rev. 21:4+). Then, He places His kingdom under the Father. Yet His rule continues into the eternal state, where there is a new heavens and a new earth (Rev. Rev. 21:1+) and where the saints will continue to co-rule with Him for eternity (Rev. Rev. 22:5+).
[1Cor. 1Cor. 15:24, 1Cor. 15:28] does not mean the end of our Lord’s regal activity, but rather that from here onward in the unity of the Godhead He reigns with the Father as the eternal Son. There are no longer two thrones: one His Messianic throne and the other the Father’s throne, as our Lord indicated in Revelation Rev. 3:21+. In the final Kingdom there is but one throne, and it is “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. Rev. 22:3+).3
Now read this again again:
Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
(ASV)
How did they die?
Marvel Comics has given the False Prophet his way to kill them. The character of Wolverine has a healing factor and nothing can truly kill him. A being called Deadpool also has that power. But in the comics, Deadpool was once killed by having his head teleported off his body. In the Marvel movie named after him, Wolverine and his brother cut off the head of a mutant who has been given their healing power.
Also these evangelists are compared to Paul in many commentaries. Paul was beheaded. The legend of Paul's death will call to the FP as well.
And those who rule with Jesus will be one's who have been beheaded. It will be the only way to kill them.
But the important thing is: they only rule for a thousand years. this number is clearly placed on the earthly domain, over and over, in Revelation.
Now we have a whole selection of churches today. Protestant, Catholic, every shade of gifted and gift-obsessed, that know, KNOW that the Church Age itself, OUR age, was never really revealed. It was a hidden thing clued at only vaguely but promised, PROMISED to Abraham in that God would bless ALL races through him. (See our last post.) And that's it. We suggested it was foreshadowed in Judges, but we see that only after the fact. We can see traces of it in the forefathers, the way Jacob so looks like a gentile in every way, but God keeps going after him, pursuing him as he has pursued all of us in the Holy Spirit. But that again is an afterthought. No one could have foreseen us before we actually came into being.
But here, in Revelation, we have another very specific age, with a very specific time limit, with more clear prophetic details then you will ever find in Scriptures about OUR age and yet we have all these Christians believing it is just a Spiritual thing. That "it's all over now, Baby Blue." Or that they need to bring it about and be ruling when Jesus arrives even though they would in reality have to have died and come back and have a Jewish heritage to do it. The last is blasphemy, but we seem more worried about liberal ideas than blaspheming God's word these days.
Why? Why is it so hard to get the idea that the End Times are true even as they openly unfold before us?
Begin with Tradition. I can see Tevye singing out about tradition even as his is being taken from him by the changing civilization around him, his daughters each marrying someone worse and worse from his perspective even as his love for them refuses to die. Fiddler on the Roof is all about changes that make our traditions fall away. Amillennialism is a tradition of the Catholic church that some folks refuse to let go, but should have fallen away decades ago. it exists in some Protestant churches as well and some grand theologians like the late R. C. Sproul have gone there because they couldn't adequately explain to atheists what Jesus meant when He said He was returning soon and yet He is not yet back. By spiritualizing the event, and saying the Millennium AND Tribulation are going on together spiritually NOW they can say Jesus returned and all the other stuff of Revelation and prophecy has been concluded. We have all manner of things. It is far simpler to suggest Jesus was speaking from God's perspective when He offered His return "soon". Many prophecies come without a time designation because some of the Bible's predictions were literally hundreds of years even thousands from coming true. But they were always made with a sense of urgency. since God has a sense of time that makes "a thousand years seem as a day", from His perspective, only a couple days have passed and the return will in fact be soon. Plus Jesus saying it would be a couple thousand years would have enforced their human perspective and hardly have given the church the urgency it exhibited at birth.
Look at the lack of urgency the church now feels. Amil churches are profoundly good at social helps and keep falling short on evangelism. Catholicism stressed membership in the church over confession of Christ. Some Protestant churches keep that tradition and make their baptism into THE only baptism that is correct. The tradition of popes and bishops and the power of the clergy also echos sometimes softly and sometimes deafening loud in Protestant churches. Some are founded by a pastor and he keeps total control of who becomes an elder. Some are founded BY elders and they keep a partnership with the ministers which seems much more the Biblical way. Then we realize the mistakes of the Sanhedrin and see that isn't always the perfect way either.
Tradition itself isn't awful unless we look on the past as the way the future must unfold. America and it's Trump fixation fit that error perfectly. A plurality that elected this President seems focused on his meaningless slogan to "Make America Great Again." Return to the wild west mentality I talked about months ago here, the one I grew up with in the Fifties, the one based on the false legend of the gun and cigarette smoke, the one so many in my generation seem unable to let go due to all the cloying about the past. In fact, the Old West proved that guns had to be taken away once the drovers hit town for peace and safety to be kept. That lesson gets deposed by the message of "freedom" in the gun. contacted an old friend and he just posted a montage of pictures about the great good old Fifties days, most of them featuring segregated white kids and one with segregated black kids, all playing marbles some climbing chain link fences. All the kids were wearing what looked like hand-me-downs, were playing in the streets. I recall my Dad's main bragging right as a parent after we had grown centered around us kids never going hungry. I'm very much afraid that is where we are headed as we approach the Tribulation: parental pride that their kids didn't starve to death today. The good old days were largely agrarian and food was cheap but labor go paid, when I started working on a farm part time at 14, a penny for a bale of hay baled or a dollar an hour for farm work. If the great retro Party wants to drop gas prices to $.10 a gallon and bread to $.25 a loaf, then we can talk. But all they are promising is to drive wages down. We all have a tradition of lying to ourselves about things in the past. This one just happens to be what will prove fatal to the USA if it doesn't grow up.
But that is the secret of Tradition, it is the egoism that we had it better when we didn't have responsibilities, that our growing up disrupted the otherwise perfect life of our yesterday.
Christianity, though, is about growing up and OUT of "childish things."
I Corinthians 13:
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 12 Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.…
Our egos kill us. They form part of that dark reflection in the mirror.
In the end our egos keep us from seeing the End times clearly(yes, I include myself) because those times are about the very end of us as we know ourselves. Those beings wearing Final Flesh will not be us anymore. Today we are the babies who first burst from our mothers' wombs. Those children had to grow up as much as they could here, gestating in the womb of this Earth, to be ready to be born by death or Rapture into that new world.
But all the traditions and the trappings of this world get mixed in with the mission each of us is given with our gift. We struggle with holding to this Earth and to it's perspective, swimming back against the tides of time, telling ourselves we are not getting older, not moving toward the Savior's embrace, even as we sing so happily about it in Church. We leave churches for something better, because our idea of better always harks back to something we had before, to better prepare for the eternity ahead that we can vaguely see.
But something else kind of disguises the End Times even to those who claim it. we seem to think things will be going on there as here. But they will not.
The Millennium is not the eternal kingdom. 1000 years does NOT equal eternity. The 144,000 group is designed by God to rule that thousand years then to slide into the eternal kingdom with us, even as we were designed to do service with our gifts today.
I suspect many of us can't see it clearly simply because we have nothing much to do with it. We seem not to be there for it. They will be busy cleaning the planet. Cleansing the mess left behind. But nothing will have happened to clean up the sin.
Think on that. The Millennium will have only those resurrected 144,000 in their Final Flesh, connected by the Spirit to Christ as coordinator. And the Law will reign. Jesus will rule with an iron fist. Jews will be envied because they will have grown up with that Law and others will be learning it. Disobedient children will be stoned to death. Failure to welcome strangers will have consequences. Those Millennials will follow the Law implicitly or suffer whatever punishment God laid down in it. Those who want to enforce the Law themselves today have no real idea of the consequences they bring on themselves by wishing it and how much worse it would be to seize that power against God's will. It will be absolute power for the rulers, but it is Jesus ruling through them not them empowered by God that makes this a true kingdom of the Lion.
But what the Law does not do is SAVE:
Romans 7:7-25 New Living Translation (NLT)
God’s Law Reveals Our Sin
7 Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”[a] 8 But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. 9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, 10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. 12 But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
13 But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
Struggling with Sin
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[b] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[c] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin
Do you see it?
The Law is the beall reason for the Millennium. It will tell every being on the planet that they are in sin, that they have failed God and Jesus himself will rule over them strictly enforcing that law and our sin nature will still be there. Thriving despite the perfect exterior condition to scare it away from us.
The Post mil misses the truth and the Amil doesn't understand the necessity of the event. Post mils would have an eternal kingdom where sin would be a bloated evil hidden waiting for a tempter to turn it loose again even as Satan will at the end of the thousand years. Jesus' Earthly throne, separate from God's would not please either of them and the dreams of the Post mil are for their own power not for God's will.
God's will has ever been for those who will have the power of Christ to operate in the will of love, for that is the source of all His power. He longs to again walk in the cool of the evening with us. If he wanted robots he could have had them. If he wanted trembling serfs, he could have had them. He prefers our worship to our cringing
Many of us miss the idea of the millennium because it IS the Law incarnate holding sway over sin incarnate in our Fallen Flesh. It is about the truth that our Flesh IS Fallen, that we have accepted IT as the reality when we walked in a freedom we never deserved. It s about what it would be like for our fallen selves had we not been given a choice, if the one who gave us that choice had not been so powerful the sacrifice He made reached back in time to Eden and forward to the end of the Millennium. It tells us there is a prison of the Law that issues demands we could meet but never a love for the issuer that freedom allows.
What we needed was not a book of rules to handle our illness of sin nature. It is like diabetes today. A daily shot of insulin can relieve the symptoms, but the disease continues to corrupt the body and can kill by destroying the vital organs even as the insulin seems to make the dying process bearable. But there are those who choose to think that the disease is cured, even many who have the disease.
We treat our sin nature that same way. we get all wrapped up in being gifted and forget that we can misuse the gift. We want to rue the world for Him but OUR way. We belief we know what is best so deeply that we ignore bible verses that tell us otherwise. Lately, we have come to believe politics solve something despite centuries of proof that human nature undermines every system ever bult.
We refuse to realize we are come down with the illness of death in our Fallen Flesh and that the Spirit can only give us a taste of eternal life. We have the cure, but we must wait for the final outcome of the treatment.
Our job, nonetheless, is living for the tomorrow of that perfected flesh, because we have the joy of knowing, knowing that taste and knowing the outcome. We have it because he gave us the cure. Because of what Paul described as our healing.
Romans 8
8 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life [a]in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, [b]weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of [c]sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is [d]alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [e]through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you [f]must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery [g]leading to fear again, but you have received [h]a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, [i]in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Our Victory in Christ
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the [j]saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that [k]God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was [l]raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of [m]Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(NASB)
But the struggle is not over yet. Nothing in all our flaws and misunderstandings can overcome the love of God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTmTMcdxOs
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