The Groaning Creation and the Kingdom of Christ
I would like to share a couple of thoughts on current faulty thinking regarding the Kingdom of God, and that is that Christ will reign on this physical earth for 1000 years before the final restoration of all things. My first thought grows out of the groaning of creation in Romans 8:18-23. The Apostle, in his treatment of present suffering and the providential, temporary futility of creation, gives us an intriguing insight. He clearly states that all creation will groan and labor with birth pangs, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. I then rhetorically ask, when will creation cease to groan? The Apostle clearly implies, at the redemption of our bodies Vs 23. And when is that? When our Lord returns with the shout of the archangel, and the dead “containers” of our groaning will rise first. (I Thess 4:13-18) And at that time, the next thing on Peter's agenda will occur, (II Pet 3:10-12) the groaning earth will be melted with a fervent heat, the long anticipated new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells will appear, and our bodies will be like that of our Glorious Resurrected Creator Lord! This is in keeping with Hebrews 1:10-12 where the Eternal Creator Son, folds up the earth and heavens and changes them into this new righteous glory (the world to come of Hebrews 2:5). And to this truth, we add the Groaning Down Payment on that new heavens and earth that dwells in is, perfecting our prayers of anticipation. (Rom 8:26-27) With the sum of this in mind, I then ask, how can our Creator Redeemer King be a part of any supposed kingdom on this fallen groaning earth that ever testifies how short of the Glory of God it and all who are in it come? Is creation to continue its' groaning while our King reigns in Jerusalem? No, creation groans in anticipation of only one thing, the redemption of our bodies and with it creations glorious restoration at the return of its Creator King Who will make all things new! (Rev. 21:5) The same argument flies in the face of our Post-Mil brethren as well. This groaning never gets any better! I think the fact that during this present period of the earth, in its groaning from Adams' fall until the restoration, the only place fit for our King's dwelling is in the hearts of His redeemed people, and that only by the Glories of His Mercy and Grace. In this age, "the Kingdom of God is not in food and drink (physical things and places), but in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (a deeply spiritual description). (Rom. 14:17) Any talk of a physical kingdom on this fallen earth is a failure to realize our Lord's commitment to His original design for all creation. He will not stand for anything less than his design and purpose, even for a temporary 1000 year "kingdom", until the renovation. His Eternal Glory is at stake!!
The second thought is the testimony to this eternal hope and goal in Abraham's faith in Hebrews 11:9-10. Verse 9 says that by faith, Abraham sojourned in the land of promise! That is the physical land that God promised to him and his physical descendants. But what was his attitude about that land? He lived in the land of promise as an alien in a foreign country. Why? Because he waited for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Is that the earthly Jerusalem? Verses 13-16 make it plain that Abraham and Sarah purposely lived as strangers and pilgrims on the earth, in order to declare plainly that no earthly land, even though promised to them by God, was their hope and goal. They sought a homeland (Lenski-Fatherland) "But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." And of course that is the city in Revelation 21 whose gates are named for the 12 tribes of Israel, the names of the physical descendants of Abraham, the fulfillment of His covenant that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And of course, the foundations of the city have on them the names of the 12 "apostles of the Lamb", the ones through whom only we can understand this grand mystery of redemption and restoration in the Glorious Human/God, Jesus Christ, and that Abraham’s seed extended to every nation, as their Apostolic commission clearly stated. Herein, we have the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant through Him Who is Abraham’s Seed (Gal. 3:16), Christ Jesus, and all who are “found in Him, not having their own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” (Phil. 3:9)
I would like to share a couple of thoughts on current faulty thinking regarding the Kingdom of God, and that is that Christ will reign on this physical earth for 1000 years before the final restoration of all things. My first thought grows out of the groaning of creation in Romans 8:18-23. The Apostle, in his treatment of present suffering and the providential, temporary futility of creation, gives us an intriguing insight. He clearly states that all creation will groan and labor with birth pangs, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. I then rhetorically ask, when will creation cease to groan? The Apostle clearly implies, at the redemption of our bodies Vs 23. And when is that? When our Lord returns with the shout of the archangel, and the dead “containers” of our groaning will rise first. (I Thess 4:13-18) And at that time, the next thing on Peter's agenda will occur, (II Pet 3:10-12) the groaning earth will be melted with a fervent heat, the long anticipated new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells will appear, and our bodies will be like that of our Glorious Resurrected Creator Lord! This is in keeping with Hebrews 1:10-12 where the Eternal Creator Son, folds up the earth and heavens and changes them into this new righteous glory (the world to come of Hebrews 2:5). And to this truth, we add the Groaning Down Payment on that new heavens and earth that dwells in is, perfecting our prayers of anticipation. (Rom 8:26-27) With the sum of this in mind, I then ask, how can our Creator Redeemer King be a part of any supposed kingdom on this fallen groaning earth that ever testifies how short of the Glory of God it and all who are in it come? Is creation to continue its' groaning while our King reigns in Jerusalem? No, creation groans in anticipation of only one thing, the redemption of our bodies and with it creations glorious restoration at the return of its Creator King Who will make all things new! (Rev. 21:5) The same argument flies in the face of our Post-Mil brethren as well. This groaning never gets any better! I think the fact that during this present period of the earth, in its groaning from Adams' fall until the restoration, the only place fit for our King's dwelling is in the hearts of His redeemed people, and that only by the Glories of His Mercy and Grace. In this age, "the Kingdom of God is not in food and drink (physical things and places), but in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (a deeply spiritual description). (Rom. 14:17) Any talk of a physical kingdom on this fallen earth is a failure to realize our Lord's commitment to His original design for all creation. He will not stand for anything less than his design and purpose, even for a temporary 1000 year "kingdom", until the renovation. His Eternal Glory is at stake!!
The second thought is the testimony to this eternal hope and goal in Abraham's faith in Hebrews 11:9-10. Verse 9 says that by faith, Abraham sojourned in the land of promise! That is the physical land that God promised to him and his physical descendants. But what was his attitude about that land? He lived in the land of promise as an alien in a foreign country. Why? Because he waited for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Is that the earthly Jerusalem? Verses 13-16 make it plain that Abraham and Sarah purposely lived as strangers and pilgrims on the earth, in order to declare plainly that no earthly land, even though promised to them by God, was their hope and goal. They sought a homeland (Lenski-Fatherland) "But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." And of course that is the city in Revelation 21 whose gates are named for the 12 tribes of Israel, the names of the physical descendants of Abraham, the fulfillment of His covenant that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And of course, the foundations of the city have on them the names of the 12 "apostles of the Lamb", the ones through whom only we can understand this grand mystery of redemption and restoration in the Glorious Human/God, Jesus Christ, and that Abraham’s seed extended to every nation, as their Apostolic commission clearly stated. Herein, we have the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant through Him Who is Abraham’s Seed (Gal. 3:16), Christ Jesus, and all who are “found in Him, not having their own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” (Phil. 3:9)
RSS Feed