Jesus is King now! |
Folks often ask me what I believe about the future. In my many years of being a Christian (accepted Christ when I was 6 years old in 1967), I've been all over the board on eschatology. Eschatology is the study of the last things. I've studied this incredibly popular and interesting subject my whole life and am still doing so. Many things about this subject are obviously mysterious, as Christians all throughout history have also been all over the board on the specifics. However, there are a few basic things that all Christians throughout the entire 2000 years of church history have agreed 100% on. Yes, that includes Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox. These fundamental things are:
- The future bodily coming of the Man, Jesus Christ
- The future bodily resurrection of the just & the unjust
- The future universal judgment of all mankind
- The future coming of the New Heavens & New Earth.
These were depicted early on, in every writing, creed, and council. Though we, as Christians, have a greatly varied opinions on the details and schemes, we all end up in the exact same place in 100% agreement: that is, the New Heavens and Earth in immortal glorified resurrected bodies like Christ, reigning with Him forever. Amen! Praise the Lord!
For example:
The Apostle's Creed (circa AD 120-250) states:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Nicene Creed (AD 381) states:
We believe in one God, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven; He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried. The third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.
The Athanasian Creed (circa AD 500) states:
...The Son suffered for our salvation; He descended to hell; he arose from the dead; He ascended to heaven; He is seated at the Father's right hand; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming all people will arise bodily and give an accounting of their own deeds. Those who have done good will enter eternal life, and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire. This is the catholic faith: one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.
These are universal (ecumenical) truths. But how do we get there? What is going on now? This is where agreement ends.
Having studied the various beliefs I have learned not to be too dogmatic about these things. I am content to not go too much further than the above 3 ecumenical creeds. In fact, as the title to this short article shows, I am content to call myself a Psalm 110-ist. In a bit more detail, this is why:
Jesus is currently at the right hand of God according to the above. Scripture says:
Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
What is He doing at the right hand of God, and why has He not returned to earth yet?
Psalm 110:1 The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."
Acts 3:19 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Hebrews 10:11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
So, Jesus is at the right hand of God "waiting till His enemies are made His footstool," then, and only then, after that point, will He return, and in one appointed day, put the last enemy, which is death, under His feet via the resurrection of the just and the unjust.
Acts 17:30 "The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now He commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained; of which He has given assurance to all men, in that He has raised Him from the dead."
Acts 24:14 "But this I confess to you, that after the Way, which they call a sect, so I serve the God of our fathers, believing all things which are according to the law, and which are written in the prophets; 15 having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."
1Corinthians 15:25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
So, is Jesus king now? Or is He going to become king in some future millennial kingdom?
He is king now:
Acts 2:29 "Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was His soul left in Hades, nor did His flesh see decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this, which you now see and hear. 34 For David didn't ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit by my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."' 36 let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."
Therefore, in my humble opinion, we are not waiting on a secret rapture, but rather we are the means by which Christ is putting all His enemies under His feet. He is reigning right now on the throne of David at the right hand of God. And He will return after all His enemies are made His footstool, and then personally put the last enemy down, which is death, via the resurrection of the dead. Then the New Heavens and New Earth will come and we will reign forever with Him on a New Earth under a New Heavens in our glorified, immortal, resurrected bodies.
Part of participating in the putting down of His enemies is what this blog is all about; getting the sick healed. Sickness is incipient death. And healing of physical sickness is a taste of the full redemption of our bodies in the resurrection to come. How do I know this? Jesus, when He walked the earth, forgave sins based on His [then] coming atonement on the cross, where His precious blood was shed. It is the atonement that bought forgiveness of our sins. Jesus, when He walked the earth, also healed sickness based on His [then] coming stripes He was to receive at the whipping post, where, again, His precious blood was shed. It is this beating that bought redemption of our bodies:
Matthew 8:16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." [quoting Isaiah 53:4]