The Millennium

There is so much to write about the Millennium that we could take pages and pages to do so, but at this time we are going to only look at a small piece of what has become known as "The Millennium." If you are interested, we would encourage you to do some reading on the Millennium for yourself.

Before we begin let us say this. There are many born-again Christians who don't believe in a literal thousand year reign of Christ, but see it in a more allegorical, symbolic way. We of course respect their differing viewpoint, but will focus here on what we believe to be true, and on what we believe the Bible to say.

One argument against believing in a literal thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth after the Tribulaton, is that the word "Millennium" never appears in the Bible. But then again neither does the word "Trinity," yet the concept is throughout the Bible. In fact, the idea of one God, yet three (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is so important that according to the Bible you cannot be a born-again Christian without belief in the Trinity. The idea of the Millennium is throughout the Bible as well.

"Millennium" comes from the Latin; mille meaning "thousand," and annus, meaning "annual." The Millennium is the time that comes after the Tribulation and the 75 day interval that we just looked at, and it is a thousand year reign of Christ on the earth. It is actually a revamped earth, as the one we are living on now is going to get pretty battered during the Tribulation. All believers throughout history who have either died or been raptured will be there, in their perfect "glorifed," or "resurrrected" bodies, and they will be helping Christ to rule and reign and administer His government. Since all these believers have a "glorified body," they no longer have a "sin nature," and therefore cannot sin. Also it's important to point out that Satan and his henchmen are bound for this thousand year period of time and will not be around to bug people.

So, the question is, if everyone is "perfect," who needs ruling over? Will there be anyone in the Millennium in their normal, earthly bodies? Yes. Let's say Joe has been too busy during his lifetime to give the claims of Jesus much thought, and he never crosses the line to accept Him as his Savior. Then the rapture comes, and through events that happen during the Tribulation, Joe decides to accept Christ during the Tribulation period. Even though the Tribulation period is horrible, what with persecution, wars and cosmic destruction, Joe does not take the mark and he makes it through the whole seven years. He then becomes one of the people who goes into the Millennial period, albeit in his earthly body. That means that he goes into the Millennium with a sin nature. Even though the earth will be in a near perfect environmental state, and Jesus will be ruling and reigning on the earth, the sin nature will still be strong, and people will sin.

Now, let's say Joe marries Jane, (yes there will be marriage in the Millennium) who is also in her earthly body, and they have a child (yes there will be procreating during the Millennium). Because that child will be born with a sin nature, that child will need to accept Jesus as his or her Savior from that sin to be able to spend eternity with God. The Bible says that the penalty for sin is always spiritual death, whether it's now or in the Millennium. Like the old country preacher said one time, "God don't have no grandchildren." Each person has to accept Christ for themselves. The good news is, that children born in the Millennium will have believers from down through the centuries, in their perfect, glorified bodies and minds, as their teachers and role models, not to mention Jesus Himself.

What determines what role believers in their glorified, resurrected bodies will play in Christ's government during the Millennium? Well, we don't know for sure, but the Bible seems to indicate that how we use what we've been given now, on earth, will determine what role we play in Christ's government in the Millennium. How we use our talents, our resources and our time now will determine how Christ uses us then. If you are a believer and you don't know what your spiritual gift is, we would encourage you to find out, and then use it. We weren't put on earth just to take up space, but to use our talents and abilities for God!

There are many passages that talk about the Millennium in the Bible, and if you've been a believer for awhile, you may have read some of these passages without even realizing that they are talking about the Millennium. Suffice to say for now that it will be the greatest time period in the history of man. Satan is bound. Near Garden of Eden like conditions. Animals (yes there will be animals in the Millennium) all getting along with each other. Woody Allen once said that the lamb will lie down with the lion but the lamb's not going to get much sleep! Well, that's why he's a better comedian than he is a theologian, because we believe that that is precisely what the Bible is saying about the Millennial period. The conditions will be so good that apparently believers will live out their days there, just like they did in the book of Genesis, where people lived for 900 and more years.

Now, here's the crazy part. The Bible says that at the end of the thousand year Millennium period, there will be many people who have rejected Christ, and have not received Him and made Him Lord of their lives. Once the thousand years is up, Satan is released from his bondage, and gathers together all of these who have rejected Christ, apparently numbering in the millions, for one last stand against God. But according to the Bible, God sends fire down from heaven and utterly destroys them. Satan is once and for all banished into the Lake of Fire.

The question gets asked a lot, "why does God release Satan"? We believe that it is because God wants us to follow Him because we want to, and it is often during times of testing that we truly see what we are made of. Unfortunately, many people towards the end of the Millennium will put on a "show" of following Jesus, but will turn their back on Him given the opportunity.

The lesson to be learned here is this: none of us should ever underestimate the sin nature that we have. These guys will be in a near perfect environment, with Satan bound and Christ reigning, and many will still follow their own desires. Sin simply means to "miss the target," which we all do with regularity. That's why we need a Savior, and that's why Jesus came to earth to die for our sins, and if we believe in Him, we will spend eternity with God. God is a God of love, which is why He sent His only Son to die for us.

However, God is also a God of righteousness, and holiness, and therefore, according to the Bible, the sin of rejecting that love must be judged as well.