The 1000-year reign of Christ

1. The Purpose of the 1000-year reignof Christ – 22rd
September 2016
“Whenthe thousandyears are over, Satan will be released from hisprison…”( Revelation20:7).
The thousand-yearreignof Jesus,alsoknownasthe millenniumorthe millennial kingdom, isaperiodof
time betweenthe Tribulationandthe destructionof the worldwhenJesuswill reignoverall the earth.
We can learnthroughthe differentbooksinthe Biblewhichhelpsustounderstandthe purpose of the
thousand-yearreign of Christ.Broadlyspeakingit istoallow forthe fulfillmentof severalpromisesGod
made withIsrael,Jesus,the Gentiles,andcreation aswe can learnfrom below.
We can learn of Promisesto Israel. ThroughoutIsrael'shistory,Godhasmade several unilateral (one-
sided) promises,orcovenants,promisingtoblessIsrael inspecificways.Some of these covenantshave
yetto be fulfilled.The PalestinianCovenantoutlinesthe exactbordersIsrael ispossessforeternity aswe
readfrom Genesis15:18-20, “Onthat day the LORD made a covenant withAbram and said,“Toyour
descendantsI give this land,fromthe Wadi[a]
ofEgypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19
the landof
the Kenites, Kenizzites,Kadmonites, 20
Hittites,Perizzites, Rephaites”. But the nationof Israel has yetto
encompassthese specificboundaries.The DavidicCovenant (2Samuel 7) isthe promise thatGod made
to Davidthat David'sheirwouldsitonthe throne of Israel forever.Jesusisthatheir,butHe has yetto
take His physical,political birthright.The New Covenant (Jeremiah31:31-34) outlinesthe promise that
Israel as a nationwill returntoGod and worshiptheirMessiah (Romans9-11). These covenantswillbe
fulfilledduringthe 1000-yearreign.
We can learnof Promisesto Jesus.In Psalm 110, Davidrecordsthe promisesthatGod("The LORD")
made to Jesus("myLord").God invitesJesustositat His righthanduntil God makesJesus'enemiesa
footstool.Jesuswill rule over,judge,andshatterHisenemieswhileHispeopleworshipHimfreely.This
combinationof judgingenemiesandbeingworshipedbythe faithful cannothappensimultaneouslyin
the eternal heaven,becausein heaventherewillbe nosinor rebelliontojudge.Similarly, we canread
that Jesusisgivendominionoverall the people,nations,andlanguagesbefore Hisenemiesare
permanentlydestroyed. We canlearnthisfrom Daniel 7:13-14, “Inmy visionat nightI looked,and
there before me was one like a sonof man,[a]
comingwith the cloudsof heaven. He approachedthe
Ancient ofDays and was led intohispresence. 14
He was givenauthority,glory andsovereign power;
all nationsand peoplesof every languageworshipedhim.His dominionisan everlastingdominion
that will not passaway, andhis kingdomisone that will never be destroyed”.
We can learnof Promisesto the Gentiles.The promise in Daniel 7:11-14 (asstatedabove) alsorefersto
Gentiles,aswell.ItsaysthatJesuswill be givendominionoverall the nations. We canalsolearnfrom
Isaiah11 that the whole worldwill know God aswe readin Isaiah11:9, “They will neither harm nor
destroy on all my holymountain,forthe earth will be filledwith the knowledgeof the LORD as the
waters cover the sea”. In additiontoJesus'rule overthe Gentiles,Hisfaithful followerswill be given
positionsof authority.We canalsolearnfrom 1 Corinthians6:2, “Or do younot know that the Lord’s
people will judgethe world? Andif you are to judge the world,are you notcompetent to judgetrivial
cases?
We can learnof PromisestoCreation.Jesus'sovereigntywillextendbeyondhumanpolitical systems
and intoall of creation.The curse of sinwill be lifted aswe can learnfrom Romans8:18-23, “I consider
that our presentsufferingsare notworthcomparingwiththe glorythatwill be revealedinus.19 For the
creationwaitsineagerexpectationforthe childrenof Godto be revealed.20 For the creationwas

2. subjectedtofrustration,notbyitsownchoice,butby the will of the one whosubjectedit,inhope
21 that[a] the creationitself willbe liberatedfromitsbondage todecayandbroughtintothe freedom
and gloryof the childrenof God”.Furthermore,
as a promise of Creation Animalswillliveinpeace again(Isaiah11:6-9,35:9, 65:25). Fieldswill be
productive andfreedfromthe curse of weeds(Isaiah32:13-15). Andthe mortalswho survivedthe
Tribulationandpopulate the 1000-yearreignwill be freedfromdisease aswe readin Isaiah33:24, “No
one livinginZionwill say,“Iam ill”;andthe sinsof those whodwell there will be forgiven”.
In the midstof thisparadise,there maybe one more reasonfor Jesus'1000-year reign.It maybe the
definitiveproof thatmankindcannotchoose God, andthat they cannot choose good as statedin
Romans3:11-12, “…there isno one who understands;there isno one who seeks God. 12
All have turned
away,they have together become worthless;there is no one whodoes good, not even one.”Even
thoughthere ispeace throughoutthe world,eventhoughthe worshipof Godisthe norm forall nations,
eventhoughJesusHimself will reignfromJerusalem, andeventhoughSatanisboundandcannot
influencepeople…there will still be those whodonotchoose JesusastheirLord andSavior.
For all those whowonderif Adamand Eve wouldhave rebelledagainstGodif the serpenthadn't
temptedthem,the endof the 1000-year reigntellsthe answer.Because whenSatanisreleased aswe
can read fromRevelation 20:7, “Whenthe thousandyears are over, Satan will be released fromhis
prison…” Then the nationsare completelyopenforSatan’sdeception andwill follow himintobattle
againstJesusone lasttime. These will be notjustafew individuals butthe “numberislike the sandof
the sea" as we readin Revelation20:8,“…andwill goout to deceive the nationsinthe fourcorners of
the earth—GogandMagog—andtogather them for battle. In numberthey are like the sand onthe
seashore”.The influence of Jesusovercivilizationandthe removal of Satanare not enoughto
encourage these people tofollow God.Onlythe HolySpiritdwellinginourhearts that will ensure that
those will choose good shouldprevail!.
God made certainpromisestoIsrael,Jesus,the Gentiles,andcreation. We canlearnfrom 2 Peter 3:8-9
that says, "But do notforget this one thing,dear friends:Withthe Lord a day islike a thousandyears,
and a thousandyearsare like a day. 9
The Lord is notslow inkeeping hispromise, assome understand
slowness.Insteadhe ispatient with you,not wantinganyoneto perish, but everyone to come to
repentance". The 1000-year reignoffersthe opportunityforGodto fulfill Hispromises;the waitoffers
the opportunityforusto reach the worldand teachothersaboutHim.