CHAPTER 2 — THE KINGDOM IS TOMORROW
IN our introductory chapter, we sketched several prevailing interpretations of the Kingdom of God and then attempted a basic description. The Kingdom of God is basically the rule of God. It is God's reign, the divine sovereignty in action. God's reign, however, is manifested in several realms, and the Gospels speak of entering into the Kingdom of God both today and tomorrow. God's reign manifests itself both in the future and in the present and thereby creates both a future realm and a present realm in which men may experience the blessings of His reign.
The Kingdom of God is, then, the realization of God's will and the enjoyment of the accompanying blessings. However, it is a clear teaching of the New Testament that God's will is not to be perfectly realized in this age. Central in Biblical Theology is the doctrine of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Schweitzer was to this extent right, that the so-called apocalyptic or "otherworldly" aspect of the Kingdom of God is not an extraneous appendage which can be sloughed off without impairing the Biblical teaching. The Bible conceives of the entire sweep of human history as resting in the hand of God, but it looks for the final realization of God's Kingdom in a realm " beyond history," i.e., in a new and different order of existence.
Yet while this is true, there is a very real and a very vital sense in which God has already manifested His reign, His will, His Kingdom, in the coming of Christ in the flesh, by virtue of which we may experience the life of the Kingdom here and now. As there are two advents of Christ, one in the flesh which we call the Incarnation, the other in glory which we call the Parousia or Second Advent, so there are two manifestations of God's Kingdom: one in power and glory when Christ returns, but one which is present now because God's Son has already appeared among men. In this chapter, we are concerned to ascertain what the New Testament tells us about the future aspect of His reign; but throughout the rest of the book we shall devote ourselves to the present aspect of God's Kingdom as it has to do with present experience.
In order to understand this theme and to appreciate how the Kingdom of God can both be future and present, we need to sketch this truth against the background of another Biblical teaching which has been infrequently emphasized and may seem to some quite novel. In popular Christian idiom, we often contrast the life of the present with that of the future by use of the words earth and heaven. We live our bodily life here on earth, but the future salvation will be consummated in heaven. A more philosophical approach contrasts time and eternity as though they represented two different modes of existence. Our present life is lived "in time" while the future order will be "beyond time" in eternity. This concept is reflected in our popular religious idiom in the song:
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,
When the morning breaks eternal, bright and fair . . .
One of the most brilliant recent discussions in Biblical Theology is that of Oscar Cullmann in which he successfully demonstrated that such concepts are foreign to the Biblical view. His book, Christ and Time, [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1950, London: S.C.M. Press, 1951.] has shown that the Biblical world-view involves a linear concept, and that "eternity" as it belongs to redemptive history is simply unending time. This fact is obscured in both the Authorized or King James Version and in the Revised Version, which mistranslate the word underlying this Biblical world-view. There are two words in the Greek New Testament which are translated by the single English word "world"—a fact which is obscured in our older English versions. First, there is the Greek word kosmos. A kosmos is something which is in proper order or harmony, something which enjoys proper arrangement. Our word "cosmetics" is derived from this Greek word. Cosmetics are aids for the ladies in arranging their faces, to put them in proper order, to adorn them. Kosmos in its most common Greek usage is the world as the sum and total of everything constituting an orderly universe.
However, there is another word which is often grievously mistranslated in our Authorized Version. This word is aion, from which the English word aeon is derived. Primarily, aion has no connotation of an order or a structure but designates a period of time and ought to be translated by the English word "age."
When we trace this word in the New Testament, we discover that in the course of God's redemptive purpose, there are two ages which are frequently called "This Age" and "The Age to Come." In Matthew 12:32 the A.V. reads, " Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." However, our Lord is not speaking of two worlds but of two ages. The entire sweep of man's existence is set forth in terms of this age and the age which is to come. The Greek word used is not kosmos but aion, age. It is unfortunate that our older English Bibles obscure this important fact; but it is correctly rendered in the R.S.V. [We recognize that there is at times an overlapping of meaning between the two words, due in part to the fact that both are used to render the one Hebrew word olam. In Heb. I:2; II:3, aion is nearly synonymous with kosmos. However, in most instances aion retains the temporal idea.] Blasphemy against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; and the sweep of "never" is two periods of time: This Age, and that which is to come.
In Ephesians 1:21, Paul describes the exaltation of Christ "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 that which is to come." Here again the A.V.'s translation "world" is inaccurate. Paul does not have in mind two worlds but two ages. His word is not kosmos but aion. There is no thought of two orders of society but of two periods of time.
A slight variant of this expression is found in Mark 10: 29, 30, "Jesus said, 'Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brethren or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecution, and in the age to come eternal life.'" In the second half of the verse, we find again the word aion; and the translation "in the world to come" does not accurately represent the idea. In the first half of the verse, the word "time" (kairos) appears instead of aion or age. This makes it doubly clear that the reference of the verse is to two periods of time, not to two worlds. In this time, in This Age, we are to expect hostility to the Gospel. In The Age to Come, those who have followed Christ will be freed from all opposition and sufferings and will enjoy eternal life.
When we trace this concept further, we discover that these two ages are separated by the Second Coming of Christ and the resurrection from the dead. In Matthew 24: 3, the disciples came to Jesus with the question, " Tell us, when will this be, and what shall be the sign of your coming and of the dose of the age?" The rendering of both the A.V. and the R.V. suggests that the disciples were asking about the time of the destruction of this world—its end. On the contrary, their question had to do with the consummation of This Age which will be followed by another age. According to this verse, This Age is expected to come to its close with the Parousia or Second Coming of Christ, and it will be followed by The Age to Come. [The disciples' question was concerned both with the fall of Jerusalem and the eschatological consummation of the age, but this involves a difficult problem which cannot here be discussed.]
Another event dividing This Age from The Age to Come is the resurrection from the dead. In Luke 20: 34-36 we read, " Jesus said to them,' The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.'" Here again, our Lord refers to the two ages, not two worlds. In This Age, marriage is a necessary institution. "The sons of This Age"—all who live in this time—must marry and raise children to propagate the race. But a different state of affairs will prevail in The Age to Come, for those who enter that Age will do so by way of resurrection. Therefore, they will be like the angels in this one respect: they no longer will be subject to death but will, like the angels, be immortal, for they have become " sons of the resurrection." Therefore, not only the Second Coming of Christ but also the resurrection from the dead will terminate This Age and inaugurate The Age to Come.
We may illustrate this basic structure by a simple diagram which we shall designate "The Conflict of the Ages."
C stands for creation, P for the Parousia of Christ, and R for the resurrection of the dead. [Cullmann conceives of time as extending backwards before creation (Christ and Time, p. 82), but this raises a philosophical question about which the Scriptures are silent.] This Age had its beginning with creation, but The Age to Come will go on endlessly, for ever. We may therefore speak of The Age to Come as Eternity, by which we mean unending time. This simple time line is shared by the writers of the New Testament with contemporary Judaism, for both are rooted in the Old Testament worldview.
When we ask what Scripture teaches about the character of these two ages, we find a sharp contrast. This Age is dominated by evil, wickedness, and rebellion against the will of God, while The Age to Come is the age of the Kingdom of God.
In Galatians i: 4 we read that Christ " gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from the present evil age." This Age is an evil age; it is characterized by sin and unrighteousness. It is an age from which men need deliverance, a deliverance which can be accomplished only by the death of Christ.
The second chapter of Ephesians gives us an extended discussion of the character of This Age. Paul says, " And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the age of this world" (Eph. 2: 1-2). [We have here given a literal rendition of the Greek.] In this verse, both words "age" and "world" are employed, indicating that while This Age and the world are not synonymous, they are closely related. There is a certain order of human society which characterizes This Age. Paul describes it with the words, "In which you once walked . . . following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience." The character of the age of this world bears the stamp of the Prince of the power of the air, that is, Satan. He is permitted to exercise a terrible influence throughout This Age inducing men and women to walk in a way displeasing to God.
"Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of the body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." These passions of the flesh are not alone bodily, "fleshy" sins; they are not only sins of gluttony and of drunkenness and of immorality. Pride is a sin of the flesh. So are egotism, selfishness, stubbornness, determination to have one's own way (Gal. 5: 19-21). All of these belong to "the flesh." When we were walking according to This Age, we lived according to the lusts of our flesh and were by nature children of wrath. This is a terrible verse. "Children of wrath ..." God's wrath, the holy judgment of a righteous God rests upon This Age, upon its sinfulness and its rebellion. God's wrath must also fall inescapably upon those who are conformed to its evil, rebellious character.
In the parable of the soils, we read of seed which falls upon thorny ground. The seed sprouts but the thorns grow up and choke the growth (Matt. 13:7). Our Lord interprets this with the words, " As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the care of the age and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful" (Matt. 13: 22). The care of the age is not alone worry and the trouble and anxiety of making a living. It is the entire spirit which characterizes This Age: worry and anxiety about one's physical life to be sure, but also the pressure, the drive of ambition for wealth, success, prosperity, and power. All of this is involved in the care, the burden, of This Age.
The point is this: it is the character of This Age to choke the working of the Word of God. The spirit of the Age is hostile to the Gospel. When the Gospel is preached, it often seems to lodge in the hearts of men and women. They hear it, they seem to receive it, they make a response to it. And yet it is often only a superficial response. There is no fruit. As the care, the concern of the Age presses in upon them, they are not willing to pay the price of following Christ. The Word of God is choked and is unfruitful. This Age is hostile to the Gospel, and men often yield in conformity to This Age rather than surrender to the claims of the Gospel. There is a conflict between the Age and the Gospel of the Kingdom.
One of the most important verses describing This Age is II Cor. 4: 3-4 because it explains what lies behind these other sayings. " And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ."
Two things stand out in this verse. Satan is the " god of this age." In God's sovereign purpose, Satan has been permitted to exercise a great measure of authority and power throughout the duration of This Age. We have already read in Ephesians that in the age of this world, we once lived according to the prince of the power of the air. As an instrument of His judicial righteousness, God has permitted Satan to exercise such influence in This Age that Paul can speak of him as though he were the god of This Age. Whence comes the evil, the hatred, the deception, the strife, the conflict, the sin, the misery, and the pain, suffering and dying which characterize This Age? It comes from Satan. This does not mean that man can throw off responsibility for his own evil conduct. Man remains a free moral agent and is answerable both before the judgment of God and his fellow men. It does mean that evil is more than human. It has its source in an evil, superhuman personality. This fact is not to be interpreted as a fundamental dualism as though God and Satan, good and evil, were two eternal principles. Back of all things, including Satan and evil, stands the eternal God. But God has permitted Satan to wield such power that the result is a limited ethical dualism.
We can discover in II Cor. 4: 4 the manifestation of satanic influence. It is not found in the fact that the "god of this age "has dragged good men down into the gutter of sin, or that strong young men and beautiful young women have been thrown down into a sink of immorality and corruption. "In their case the god of this age hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ."
Here is the root of evil: blindness, darkness, unbelief. The Biblical philosophy of sin makes ethical and moral evil secondary to religious evil. Paul elsewhere refers to the "ungodliness and wickedness of men" (Rom. i: 18). All forms of wickedness ultimately grow out of the root of ungodliness. Sin is primarily religious and secondarily ethical. Man is God's creature and his primary responsibility is towards God. The root of sin is found in his refusal to acknowledge in grateful dependence the gifts and the goodness of God (Rom. i: 21), which are now imparted in Christ. Darkness is the assertion of independence rather than God-dependence.
The primary manifestation of satanic influence and of the evil of This Age is religious; it is blindness with reference to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How often we fail to understand satanic devices! A man may be a cultured, ethical and even religious person and yet be in demonic darkness. Satan's basic desire is to keep men from Christ. His primary concern is not to corrupt morals nor to make atheists nor to produce enemies of religion. Indeed religion which rests upon the assumption of human adequacy and sufficiency is an enemy of the light. This is the character of the Age of this world: darkness.
It is obvious from these verses that the Kingdom of God does not belong to This Age, for Satan is called the god of This Age. This is not to suggest that God has been dethroned or His hand removed from the control of the universe. It remains eternally true that "The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all" (Ps. 105: 19). Even when evil is strongest on the earth, when God's people are most violently attacked by Satan, God is still the "King of the ages" (Rev. 15: 3). [This is the best rendering, although variant texts read "saints" or "nations."] It is in the providence of God's sovereign rule that this state of affairs has come to pass. It is, however, basic to our understanding of the Kingdom of God to recognize the Biblical teaching that This Age is in rebellion against God's rule.
The New Testament sets The Age to Come in direct opposition to This Age. The present age is evil, but the Kingdom of God belongs to The Age to Come. The Kingdom of God, both as the perfect manifestation of God's reign and the realm of completed redemptive blessing, belongs to The Age to Come.
This is clearly illustrated in our Lord's conversation with the rich young ruler who came with the request, " Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" (Matt.19:16). This young man was not acquainted with the teaching that a man can have eternal life here and now. He was interested in life in The Age to Come. Our Lord told him he should free himself of every restraint that hindered him from becoming a disciple. " When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions" (v. 22).
Then "Jesus said unto His disciples, 'Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.'" The young man's question was, "How may I have eternal life?" Our Lord's answer was, "It will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (v. 23). "And again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich, man to enter the kingdom of God" (v. 24).
In passing, let us notice that these two phrases, " the Kingdom of God" and "the Kingdom of Heaven" are obviously interchangeable. Furthermore, "the Kingdom of God" and "the Kingdom of Heaven" are both interchangeable with eternal life. Mark, Luke, and John always speak of the Kingdom of God, Matthew alone has the Kingdom of Heaven; and in 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43, Matthew has the Kingdom of God. The difference between the two phrases is to be explained on linguistic grounds. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Semitic form and the Kingdom of God is the Greek form of the same phrase. Our Lord taught in Aramaic, a language very similar to Hebrew, whereas our New Testament is written in Greek. Jesus, teaching Jews, probably spoke of "the Kingdom of the Heavens" which would be the natural Jewish form of expression. We have extensive evidence from Jewish rabbinic literature that this phrase was in common usage. To the Greek ear, these words would be meaningless; and when the phrase was translated in our Greek Gospels for Greek readers, it was uniformly rendered "the Kingdom of God." In the Gospel of Matthew, which was probably written to Jewish believers, the original phrase "the Kingdom of the Heavens " was usually retained. The terminology in Matthew 19:23-24 makes it quite dear that the two phrases are interchangeable and that no difference of meaning is to be sought between them.
What did the Lord mean in saying that it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God? What is the Kingdom of God? In verse 23, it is the Kingdom of Heaven. In verse 16, it is eternal life. Then the disciples asked, "Who then can be saved?" (v. 25). Clearly, all of these expressions refer to the same blessing to be obtained in the future when Christ comes again. The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal life, salvation: they are interchangeable terms. Jesus says that with men, it is impossible to be saved. Entrance into eternal life in the Kingdom of God is no more possible for men to attain by all human resources than it is possible for a camel to go through a needle's eye. This would be a miracle indeed. And so is it a miracle for a rich man—or a poor man either for that matter—to have his affections turned from his possessions that he may become a disciple of Jesus and thus be prepared to enter the future Kingdom of Heaven.
But for those who have experienced this miracle in their lives, Jesus gave the promise, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne you who have followed me will also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelves tribes of Israel" (v. 28). And in verse 29, Jesus adds, " Every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life."
When we turn to the same passage in the Gospel of Mark, we find the Lord's terminology more precisely recorded. Those who have followed Jesus will in this time experience great blessings which will, however, be accompanied by persecutions; but in The Age to Come they will receive eternal life (Mark 10: 30). By comparing these passages, we discover that eternal life, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, Salvation, The Age to Come all belong together. They are the promise of the future for those who in This Age have become disciples of Christ.
Eternal life belongs to The Age to Come. The Kingdom of God belongs to The Age to Come. If this verse were the only Biblical teaching about eternal life, I would have to conclude that the Kingdom of God will come only when the Lord Jesus returns, and that I shall not inherit eternal life until the day when Christ comes again. Then, I shall enter the Kingdom of God. Then, I shall receive eternal life.
When we pursue this study further we find that the Kingdom of God, like The Age to Come, will follow the resurrection. In I Corinthians 15: 50, Paul says that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Paul is here speaking about the resurrection. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Our bodies must undergo a transformation so that they no longer consist of flesh and blood but are incorruptible, glorious, powerful, "spiritual" bodies (w. 42-44). Only in these transformed resurrection bodies will we enter the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God will come after the resurrection.
In the parable of the tares, we find that the Kingdom of God will be introduced by the day of judgment. Throughout This Age, good and evil people—the sons of the Kingdom and the sons of the evil one—are to live side by side even as wheat and tares grow together. At the harvest, at "the end of the age" (Matt. 13: 39) there will be a separation of judgment. " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (v. 43). Judgment will terminate This Age and bring the sons of the Kingdom into their full enjoyment of the Kingdom blessings. In the parable of the net, we find the same structure with the added fact that judgment will take place at the end of This Age. " So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire" (Matt. 13: 49, 50).
Thus we find that the Kingdom of God belongs to The Age to Come and is set in sharp contrast to This Age. In This Age there is death; in the Kingdom of God, eternal life. In This Age, the righteous and the wicked are mixed together; in the Kingdom of God, all wickedness and sin will be destroyed. For the present, Satan is viewed as the " god of this age;" but in The Age to Come, God's Kingdom, God's rule will have destroyed Satan, and righteousness will displace all evil.
We must therefore modify our diagram of the Ages. This Age and The Age to Come are not on the same level. This Age is evil; The Age to Come will witness the fulness of God's Kingdom, the perfection of His reign. Therefore we must place The Age to Come on a higher level than This Age. [Professor Cullmann's diagram of the New Testament time line does not recognize these two levels of the two ages. This difference was worked out by Geerhardus Vos in The Pauline Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Ecrdmans, 1912; originally published in 1930), p. 38.]
When we turn to other passages of Scripture, the transition from This Age to The Age to Come is not as simple as this diagram suggests. Our study thus far suggests that God's redemptive purpose will come to its consummation at the return of Christ at which time the final state of The Age to Come will be ushered in. However, the book of Revelation modifies this structure. After the Parousia of Christ (Rev. 19: 11-16) and before The Age to Come (Rev. 21: 1ff..) is an interval when the saints are raised to reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20: 1-6). This interval is usually called the Millennium.
The interpretation of this passage raises difficult questions which cannot be here discussed. It is unfortunate that the discussion has often been attended by more heat than light. Some expositors insist that any teaching of a reign of Christ on earth before The Age to Come is Jewish rather than Christian doctrine, while others insist that any non-millenarian eschatology is a departure from loyalty to the Word of God. Such reactions are unfortunate. This question, like others which are, from a practical standpoint, far more important, such as that of the subjects for baptism, should be discussed within the household of faith in a spirit of Christian liberty and charity.
Here, we can only say that it is our conviction that the Scripture teaches that before the final consummation of God's redemptive purpose, the earth is to experience an extended period of our Lord's glorious rule. The church age is the period of Christ's concealed glory; the Age to Come will be the age of the Father's sovereignty when Christ delivers His rule to the Father and becomes Himself subject to the Father (I Cor. 15: 24-28) that God may be all in all. The Millennium will be the period of the manifestation of Christ's glory. [See G. E. Ladd, "The Revelation of Christ's Glory," Christianity Today, Sept. 1, 1958, pp. 13f. A somewhat similar line of thought will be found in Oscar Cullmann's essay, "The Kingship of Christ and the Church in the New Testament" in The Early Church, edited by A. J. B. Higgins (London: S.C.M. Press, 1956; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1956). Professor Cullmann suggests that we should distinguish between the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of God, the former extending through the church age and the Millennium and leading to the latter in The Age to Come (p. 113). This is theologically helpful, but such a terminological distinction cannot be sustained by an exegetical study of the language of the New Testament.] If The Age to Come is thought of as existing "beyond history," the Millennium will witness the triumph of God's Kingdom within history.
The problem at the moment is how the New Testament doctrine of the two ages has any room for such an interval. The diagram suggests that The Age to Come begins at the return of Christ and that a millennial reign of Christ can have no place in this prophetic structure.
The solution of this problem is found in what we may call the Biblical prophetic perspective, a phenomenon which occurs throughout the prophetic Scriptures. Usually the prophets, as they looked into the future, spoke of coming events without attempting to give the temporal sequence of the several stages of the accomplishment of God's purpose. Not only is the distant future viewed as a single although complex event, but the immediate future and the distant future are described as though they constituted a single act of God. This is why the Day of the Lord in the prophets is both an historical visitation of God and an eschatological act. It is a Day of judgment when God will disperse Israel in an exile beyond Damascus (Amos 5: 18-27), and it is a Day when God will restore the fortunes of His people (Amos 9:11 ff.). It is a divine visitation in the form of a plague of locusts and drought (Joel 1:1-20; see v.15), and it is the eschatological Day of judgment and salvation (Joel 2: 30-32). The thirteenth chapter of Isaiah reads as though the historical overthrow of Babylon by the Medes would be the end of the world. The historical event is described against the background of the final eschatological drama; both are visitations of the one God in the accomplishment of His redemptive purpose.
This same phenomenon is found in the New Testament. The three accounts of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 make it clear that our Lord described the historical destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in a.d. 66-70 against the background of the eschatological Antichrist and the Messianic Woes (the Great Tribulation). The Beast of Revelation 13 is both actual historical Rome and the future eschatological Antichrist. In these prophecies, the near and the distant are blended. In such prophecies as II Peter 3: 12-13, the eschatological events are seen as a single act of God when the new heavens and the new earth will emerge out of the judgment of the present order.
From the Old Testament perspective, the church age is not seen. God is acting in the present for the accomplishment of His redemptive purpose for Israel, and He will act in the future to bring His purposes to their consummation when His Kingdom will fill all the earth. There are indeed prophecies which describe the coming of a Messianic personage in suffering and humility such as Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 9: 9-10, other prophecies which describe a victorious King of the Davidic line (Isaiah 9, 11), as well as a prophecy of the coming of a heavenly Son of Man in Daniel 7. But the Old Testament does not relate these several prophecies to one another, either theologically or chronologically. God will finally act to redeem His people, and different prophets describe this eschatological redemption in different terms. The Old Testament makes no effort to synthesize the prophecies; and the effort to decide which prophecies apply to the church age, which apply to the millennial era, and which belong to The Age to Come ignores this basic fact of the prophetic perspective.
From the New Testament perspective, the eschatological act of God is usually viewed as a single day which will introduce The Age to Come. However, the Revelation of John, as well as I Corinthians 15: 20-28, indicates that there are yet to be two eschatological stages in the accomplishment of the divine purpose and the establishment of God's Kingdom. The transition from This Age to The Age to Come will not occur in a single great event at the Coming of Christ. We have found that The Age to Come will be introduced by the resurrection of the dead and the destruction of the god of This Age. But when we look at the book of Revelation, chapter 20, we find that there will be two stages in the resurrection of the dead and two stages in the defeat of Satan. There is one resurrection at the beginning of the Millennium (Rev. 20: 4-5) and a second resurrection at its end (vv. 12-13). Furthermore, we find that there are stages in the conquest over Satan. At the beginning of the Millennium, Satan is thrown into the abyss and chained for a thousand years (vv. 2-3); but at the end of the Millennium he is released to engage in his nefarious activities again. And even though Christ has ruled over men, Satan finds their unregenerate hearts still responsive to his enticements and ready to rebel against God. Then will occur the last conflict, the final struggle, as a result of which the last judgment will take place when Satan is thrown into the lake of fire. In brief, there are two stages in the defeat of Satan, not just one.
One would never discover this fact from most of the New Testament because it sees the future like a two-dimension canvas in terms of length and breadth without depth. The transition between the ages is viewed as though it were one simple event, even as the Old Testament prophets look forward to a single Day of the Lord. Only when we come to the Revelation do we find Scripture dearly outlining the two stages in the conquest of Satan which are separated by the Millennium. We must therefore modify our diagram again.
We should note one important fact in passing. The Millennium is not the perfect and final manifestation of God's Kingdom. Satan is bound during this period; but when he is released, he finds the hearts of men still responsive to sin. Death and the grave are not destroyed until the final judgment at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20: 14). We might say, therefore, that the Millennium ends in failure so far as the full achievement of God's reign is concerned. Only in The Age to Come beyond the Millennium is the prayer finally answered, "Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The earth will then be a renewed earth, to be sure, but it will still be the earth.
Several important conclusions emerge from this study. It is the Biblical teaching that we shall never experience the full blessings of God's Kingdom in This Age. There are those who have identified the Christian hope with a warless world or with a world completely subdued to God's will through the preaching of the Gospel. People who fix their hopes upon a Kingdom which is to be consummated in This Age are certain to be disillusioned. The perfected Kingdom of God belongs to The Age to Come. We shall never know the fulness of its blessings so long as This Evil Age lasts. There will be no world-wide conversion this side of the Coming of Christ. Therefore we ought not to be disillusioned by wars and rumours of wars, by evils and by hostility to the Gospel. And when God's people are called upon to pass through severe sufferings and tribulation, they should remember that God has not abandoned them, but that their sufferings are due to the fact that they no longer belong to This Age and therefore are the object of its hostility.
Furthermore, the Kingdom of God will never be fully realized apart from the personal, glorious, victorious Coming of Christ. Men cannot build the Kingdom of God; Christ will bring it. The powers of Satan and of evil can be finally overcome only by the mighty act of the return of Christ. But that day is coming! The Word of God urges us to watch, to be awake, to be ready and waiting for that Day. What assurance, what comfort, what stability it gives to our hearts and minds to know that our prayer will certainly be answered: "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." Yea, come quickly, Lord Jesus!