During my early years as a Bible student, I was taught that Jesus comes back for His Church and then there are SEVEN years of tribulation culminating in Armageddon and the ultimate judgement of the world. This view is the basis of the popular Left Behind series. It called the Pre-Tribulation, Pre Millenium view.
However, as I studied the Bible more thoroughly, I became uncomfortable with the viewpoint that God's Kingdom is not NOW. Why would Jesus defeat satan on the cross, say "it is finished" and then retreat for 2000 years to wait for satan to do more damage? It made no sense and I could not reconcile this view with many of the verses I read.
Recently, I was challenged by a dear Christian Brother, David, to answer his questions about the Pre Trib viewpoint. Here is some of the back and forth we have shared.
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In Acts 3:19, we have the times of refreshing (anapsúxeœs), relating to the blessings of Christ's first coming and His kingdom of grace (cf. Matt 11:29) and the restitution (apokatástasis, Acts 3:21) referring to the state of righteousness which will be brought by His Second Coming beginning the kingdom of glory. (from The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament © 1992 by AMG International, Inc. Revised Edition, 1993).
Dave, I think we would all agree, Jesus is coming back. Right? The question is whether He comes back once or twice - once to get His church as is taught by pretrib, pre mil view and then coming to judge the world. Either way (and I admit I used to agree with the pretrib view until I could not longer reconcile it with all of scripture), Jesus does come back to judge the world and restore righteousness. The Greek definition above, indicates this verse is referring to the refreshment that will happen when Jesus comes to judge the world. I don't see how the Greek is evidence Christ solely established His Kingdom in a time yet to come. The refreshing refers to the past, as well as future.
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In the Ephesians 2 verse you use as a proof text of your view, satan is indeed the prince of the power of the air. But Jesus Christ is called the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (See 1 Tim 6, Rev 17:14 and Rev 19:16). Anyone who has played cards knows a King is higher than a Jack (prince), right? Your point is, seemingly, as the prince of the power of the air, satan, is ruling the earth now. Why is this mutually exclusive to the Kingdom being established? Don't we have multiple kingdoms here on earth today - the USA, England, Iran, etc?
Satan is, indeed, called the prince of darkness, the prince of the air, but that does not mean he has total control of the world. Influence, yes, but control? Hardly. We see in Daniel, the prince of Persia was eventually overcome by the angel sent to Daniel. It took some time. He was delayed many days. There is no doubt satan has power over the nonbelievers in the world, but does he have power over the children of righteousness? The believers? I think not. (see Luke 17:20-21 - Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." ) Once saved, believers are free from the bondage of sin, still sinners, but no longer slaves. Christ established His kingdom here on earth for the saints, but not for the non believers. The prince of the power of air was defeated at the cross, but it takes time to mop up after a war. It is why believers evangelize.
1 Tim 6:11-16
11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he WHO IS the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
Eph 2:1-10
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, FOLLOWING the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
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Dave, you said your real proof text was Rev 11:15.
Rev 11:15-16 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."
Understanding, as I do, the Kingdom of God is within - and established when the Holy Spirit came and to indwell ALL believers, it is easy then to understand, the kingdom of this world has no power over the Saints. The kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord. Jesus, who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His Kingdom was established at the cross for all eternity. And when Jesus returns to judge the world, which is when the 7th trumpet sounds, the kingdoms of this world will fade away, all things will fade away in their entirety and the physical Kingdom of God will be established.
If we think of the Kingdom of God as a literal kingdom, with God reigning on a throne here on earth, then I think we are missing the point of scripture. Repentance and believing is a heart issue. When Jesus said, "it is finished", He was referring to the war satan was waging against Him, to prevent Him from redeeming the saints and establishing His Kingdom. The Holy Spirit could not come until Christ paid for all our sins. Once this was done, the Kingdom of God was established in the hearts of all believers and there was nothing satan could do to stop it. The war was over. Satan had lost. It was finished.
Show me one verse which suggests satan defeats Christ after the cross (or before it for that matter). Satan is the power of the air for non believers. But once a non believer becomes a Christian, satan no longer has power over him. The Kingdom of God settles in the believer's heart and he is now a saint, marching towards the ultimate day when he will be seated at the right hand of the Father. It is a beautiful thing.
To think Christ gave up the world and retreated, to give over the authority and power to satan, after He defeated satan at the cross, is hardly the Biblical story, is it? The Pre Trib view is a interesting understanding of scripture, but it is not the only way to understand Revelation. There is the Amillenial viewpoint which is NOT the Preterist view. Amillenialism is the understanding Christ's kingdom is now, that we are in the millenium and awaiting His return to judge the world.
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The Cross is the central point in the history of mankind. It is when Jesus Christ defeated satan and provided the ONLY way to an eternal relationship with God. Man will be forever separated from God unless he repents and believes JESUS is the the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one gets to the Father except through believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is a simple truth, but one many reject because they want to write the rules, their own way.
Why is it so hard for man to set aside his pride and fall in love with the ONE who loves Him and gave up everything to reconcile Him with God the Father? This Blog The WAY, is my attempt to bring my understanding from more than 35 years of Bible study to you, the reader. I pray the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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