THE
KINGDOM OF GOD
Three
Definitions
Amillennialist Position:
Amillennialism believes that the kingdom is essentially a spiritual
kingdom, comprising God’s or Christ’s reign in the heart. This position has
as its proof text, "The kingdom of God is within you." Critics
of this view note that Christ is speaking to the Pharisees and that they
certainly did not have the Kingdom of God in their hearts. They say the verse
could be translated "The kingdom of God is among you." They
note that the presence of Jesus Christ, the Messianic King, and of the signs of
the kingdom, the healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, the proclamation
of the word of God with power, all indicate that in that sense the kingdom was
present with them.
Some amillennialists take the kingdom as being a spiritual
kingdom in heaven where in the intermediate state the disembodied spirits of the
just are reigned over by Jesus Christ. This is based on an interpretation of Rev
20:1-4 that souls refers not to persons, but to disembodied spirits.
1
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid
hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years, 3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut
him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a
little season. 4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and
judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that
were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had
not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:1-4)
However in the light of Rev. 6:9-11 (see below) where their
status does not seem to be compatible with millennial expectations, and the fact
that it is a reign that only includes the disembodied spirits in heaven and not
the saints on the earth this has not been a very popular, or widely advocated
form of amillennialism. Also the fact that they lived again implies a
resurrection and the fact that they were martyrs of the Anti-Christ seems to
place them at the end of the age rather than in the intermediate state in heaven
during the New Testament church age.
9
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the
testimony which they held: 10And they cried with a loud voice,
saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11And white robes were given
unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for
a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should
be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:9-11)
Postmillennialist Position:
The standard postmillennial position on the kingdom seems to be the
Church-Kingdom theory, that is that the Church is the Kingdom of God.
Postmillennialists do speak of the Kingdom of Glory which they associate with
the eternal, state to be established after the second advent of Jesus Christ.
However, their millennial kingdom is basically the kingdom of the church, as
through the preaching of the gospel the church converts the nations and brings
the world under God’s law. This kingdom is not established by the visible
glorious return of Jesus Christ as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, slaying the
wicked and delivering his saints, but by the leaven of the gospel eventually
leavening the whole world. This view is generally understood as having
originated with Augustine of Hippo, who lived in the late fourth and early fifth
centuries, before which time the early church was admittedly strongly
premillennial.
Premillennialist Position:
Like Postmillennialists, Premillennialists believe that there will be
a literal, physical Kingdom here on this earth. Therefore, unlike
Amillennialists they deny that this Kingdom is merely a spiritual state of being
and not physically manifest. However, they believe that this Kingdom will be
established by the visible, glorious return of Jesus Christ at the end of the
age. They believe that it will not slowly evolve through the leavening work of
the gospel on the nations, but through the cataclysmic events at the return of
Christ, when he shall slay the wicked, deliver his saints, raise the righteous
dead, lift the curse, and rule the world in righteousness. They believe at this
time all the unfulfilled messianic promises of the Old Testament, including
those made to the patriarchs, and contained in the covenants will all be
fulfilled. This fulfillment will not be in some mystical, allegorical, or
spiritualized way, but in a way consistent with the manner these promises were
understood when they first announced by the prophets and received by the people
of God. In brief, premillennialists believe in a literal messianic age on this
earth when all the covenants and promises will be fulfilled, and that this is to
happen at the return of Christ, hence they believe in a Premillennial return of
Jesus Christ at the end of the age.
