I know that some of you are ready to hear the answer to this question! There is no question that many will leave this post happy, some will leave disappointed, and others will be calling me so that we can discuss this topic into the wee hours of the morning. I welcome any and all of the above. Before getting to the answer of this most controversial question, I want to say that there are good men and women on all sides of this issue. There are in my opinion several issues concerning the end of time that we can all accept and teach. There are also several subjects that are contained within this topic that are difficult to understand. On the latter issues we should expect some good debate. In all of these matters we should remain Christ-centered, God honoring, and charitable to others in the discussion. I do not and the church which I serve does not divide over the issues of eschatology (end times). We embrace personal views on this teaching, when we teach the subjects surrounding the end times we teach from our prospective, but we do not require a particular stance on these issues in order for a person to be a member of our fellowship. Now I will try to give an answer to the question.
I am a-millennial in regard to the millennial reign of Christ. Although this is the minority report among evangelicals in our day, this is the view of the majority of the church beginning in the first century and continuing until our time.
I believe that Christ is reigning now with the saints in heaven, and his reign is being extended to the ends of the earth through the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of his church in every ethnic group of the world.
I believe that he will return when the last of God's elect are saved!
I believe that when he comes he will judge the living and the dead.
I believe that after the judgment we will be ushered into the eternal reign of Christ in the new heaven and the new earth!
That is the simplest answer that I can give. I have not attempted to defend the answer, but as we continue our discussion on this blog, I will give defense. Remember, no matter your personal view of the millennial reign of Christ, He is coming and you must be ready to meet him. Talk to you soon...CW
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I must admit that I don't have enough knowledge on this topic to participate in a discussion. However, I was looking forward to the comments in this post and reading your "defense" to them. I'll keep checking in to see if any readers comment :)
ReplyDeleteGreat sermon today (and last week too, I might add)... thank you!!!! and Happy Easter to you and your fam :)
I hope there will be more discussion about the topic. It seems people are a little hesitant to get in the discussion for fear of hurting someone's feelings. Thanks for the encouragement. It is a pleasure to pastor at GF!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any comments other than this topic makes my head hurt! You explained your beliefs very well though!
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