Premillenialism
by
Philip du Nard
The Scripture that I would call attention to is I Corinthians 15:22-26 which reads as follows: “22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
It seems that many believers imagine that because we are changed in the twinkling of an eye at the resurrection, that just about everything else associated with Christ’s kingdom happens virtually instantaneously as well or at least in a comparatively short time e.g. seven years or what have you. No, we don’t base our beliefs on one scripture but let’s realize that the above passage sets forth a progressive unfolding of God’s ultimate plan rather than an instantaneous leap into the eternal state.
Christ was the first to rise from the dead; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Preterists notwithstanding, we can say with certainly that there has been at least a two thousand year period between these two events. No mention is made in this passage of when unbelievers are raised to face judgment but the next event mentioned here is “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father.” St. Paul does not say here how much time passes between believers being raised and Christ delivering the kingdom up to the Father but it is hard to escape the impression that more time is involved than a day or two or they wouldn’t have been worth mentioning as separate events.
And what happens in the meantime? Paul tells us. “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” God is all powerful and one would think that it wouldn’t take too terribly long to accomplish this. But “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” That suggests that during Christ’s reign, there is still a certain amount of dying going on, not among resurrected Christians, however. And where would Christ be reigning? Do people die in heaven? No, they don’t. So it appears that Christ will indeed reign on earth.
This would appear to be generally supportive of premillenial views. That is not to say that there will not be developments before Christ’s return that are in preparation for that.
by
Philip du Nard
The Scripture that I would call attention to is I Corinthians 15:22-26 which reads as follows: “22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
It seems that many believers imagine that because we are changed in the twinkling of an eye at the resurrection, that just about everything else associated with Christ’s kingdom happens virtually instantaneously as well or at least in a comparatively short time e.g. seven years or what have you. No, we don’t base our beliefs on one scripture but let’s realize that the above passage sets forth a progressive unfolding of God’s ultimate plan rather than an instantaneous leap into the eternal state.
Christ was the first to rise from the dead; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Preterists notwithstanding, we can say with certainly that there has been at least a two thousand year period between these two events. No mention is made in this passage of when unbelievers are raised to face judgment but the next event mentioned here is “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father.” St. Paul does not say here how much time passes between believers being raised and Christ delivering the kingdom up to the Father but it is hard to escape the impression that more time is involved than a day or two or they wouldn’t have been worth mentioning as separate events.
And what happens in the meantime? Paul tells us. “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” God is all powerful and one would think that it wouldn’t take too terribly long to accomplish this. But “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” That suggests that during Christ’s reign, there is still a certain amount of dying going on, not among resurrected Christians, however. And where would Christ be reigning? Do people die in heaven? No, they don’t. So it appears that Christ will indeed reign on earth.
This would appear to be generally supportive of premillenial views. That is not to say that there will not be developments before Christ’s return that are in preparation for that.