During some recent conversations at my church about abortion, Republicans, the mission of the church, and the fulfillment of the cultural mandate, several questions came up about how the mission of the church relates to the cultural mandate and and also what sources have helped some us hold to a preterist and postmillennial view of Scripture.
I was brought back to that discussion today in church as we sang Rejoice, the Lord Is King by Charles Wesley. The hymn, which is heavily dependent on Scripture, lays out the optimistic, postmillennial view of Scripture better than anything I could write. Christ is King. He is sitting on His Throne. And He is conquering His enemies. Now. In history. And we can rejoice in this. In history. We don’t have to wait to experience this until time has ended. Here are the lyrics:
Rejoice, the Lord is King!
Your Lord and King adore;
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing,
And triumph evermore:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice; again I say, Rejoice!
Our Savior Jesus reigns,
The God of truth and love;
When he had purged our stains,
He took his seat above:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice; again I say, Rejoice!
His Kingdom cannot fail;
He rules over earth and heaven;
The keys of death and hell
Are to our Jesus given:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice; again I say, Rejoice!
He sits at God’s right hand
Till all his foes submit
And bow to his command
And fall beneath his feet:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice; again I say, Rejoice!
I titled this post the Kingdom of God because I think that term brings together the threads of Scripture better than any other, although there are certainly plenty of other themes that can be useful in helping us understand Scripture. For instance, the very first words Christ spoke about his ministry (and John the Baptist too) were about the Kingdom, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Then the very last words He spoke on earth, before His ascension, were in response to a question from His disciples about when the kingdom would be restored to Israel. Then the last book of the Bible is dedicated “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5–6 ESV)
My take on the kingdom of God theme is that if one follows it all the way from Genesis to Revelation the only possible end is seeing Scripture from a postmillennial, preteristic perspective. Now, I know many will disagree with that, but I put it that way because I think the discussion goes far beyond the basic postmill, premill, amill debate.
Along these lines, there are five books that have significantly influenced me in this.
The first two are by Keith Mathison:
The next is a commentary on Matthew by R.T. France:
And there is this book by G.K. Beale:
A New Testament Biblical Theology
Finally, there is this R.C. Sproul book:
The Last Days According to Jesus
Also greatly influencing my thoughts on this are the teachings of Rich Lusk . Having attended a Baptist school for five years in the 1970s, before I came to my church all I was familiar with was the “everything is going to hell in a handbasket” theology of Hal Lindsay and more recently of Tim LaHaye. There is a long history of premillennialsim in reformed circles before dispensationalism came along. But not ever having been to a reformed church before, I had never heard of it. And certainly had not heard of postmillennialism.
Anyway, more than anyone else Rich opened my eyes to the fullness of Scripture in this area, so I’d be remiss not to include some links to his teaching in this area. Here are the links to Rich’s lessons on Matthew 24:
The Temple of Doom (A Study of Matthew 24:1–35, March–May 2013)
Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10
And here are links to a Sunday school class from Rich on eschatology generally:
An Eschatology of Victory
Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10
After all, don’t we all want to have an eschatology of victory?
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