Covenant Presbyterian Church
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Sunday morning Foundations Classes
Angels/Demons & the End Times -- Lesson #18
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(Lessons are posted once a week on Friday afternoon
During the 1,000-year reign of Christ, it will be a perfect world with equitable conditions for everyone, where, literally, all lives matter, under the reign of Jesus Christ.
As noted on the slide, this is a premillennial view that begins at the Second Coming of Christ at the conclusion of the Tribulation. Amillennialists and Postmillennialists do not believe in the literal 1,000 Millennial; so we will be setting those views aside for this lesson. People coming out of the Tribulation will do so as born-again Christians, both Jew and gentile. They will have children and grandchildren during the millennium, all of whom will live otherwise normal lives but under perfect conditions, under the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who could ask for anything more?
As we approach the end of our study, I wanted to include what was generally not previously mentioned in any detail in prior lessons, such as, What will our resurrected bodies be like? Do people sin during the Millennium? This was intended to be our last lesson, but it grew to be much longer than anticipated, too long for a single lesson, which compelled me to divide it into yet another lesson….for the last time, I think.
Who exactly will be in the 1,000 millennium? The chart provides a list: Raptured Christians will return with Christ in their glorified bodies; tribulation martyrs—those who accepted Jesus Christ and were martyred for their faith; O.T. saints, who by faith looked forward to God’s promises of a Messiah, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, the prophets, etc.; Jewish Tribulation survivors, who are the remnant God promised to save (Isaiah 10:20-23; Rom. 9:23); gentiles who accepted Christ during the tribulation that were not martyred; perhaps even unsaved loved ones and friends who professed Christ during the Tribulation—so never lose hope for a loved one.
The lesson of the Millennium is that even without Satan—who is bound in the abyss for 1,000 years and can’t tempt anyone (Rev. 20:1-3)—some people will still sin and not accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They will focus on satisfying self leading to sin; just as Adam and Eve had no justification to sin, especially since they had everything they needed. So, when people sin during the Millennium, they can’t blame the devil. We don’t need the devil to sin, we can do very well on our own.
So, what will our resurrected body be like? Many Bible verses indicate that our resurrected bodies will be the same bodies that we have now but transformed (Philippians 3:21). God does not create new bodies from scratch, and discard our current bodies, if He did there would not be need for a resurrection—He would just hand out new bodies—but rather, He resurrects the same body that died (1 Cor. 15:42-53).
How does God resurrect bodies from the grave that are nothing but dust? A body laid to rest in the grave or a cremated body, has DNA that defines each person as a unique individual. How does He change mortal to immortal? One example that I can think of is a caterpillar’s transformation into a butterfly (next slide). There are 45 verses that refer to the resurrection of believers, 1 Cor. 6:14, 1 Cor. 15:20-23, 1 Thess. 4:16, Phil. 3:21, John 11:24, Isaiah 26:19, to name a few. The purpose of the resurrection is to unite body and soul. When God created Adam, He didn’t intend for mankind to spend eternity as spirits. Death is the result of Adam’s sin. When Adam sinned, he corrupted God’s creation, and we inherited Adam’s fallen nature leading to aging, sickness and death, all of which will be wiped away and we will be transformed into a perfect glorified state (1 John 3:2).
Adam and Eve were created with perfect, but mortal bodies. Death was not part of the original creation, which is the direct result of Adam’s sin that corrupted all of creation leading to death and decay. Yet, in God’s final plan, He raises everything to an even higher level with a New Heaven and New Earth being joined together (Rev. 21:1; 2 Peter 3:13) giving us direct access to God for all eternity. Satan meant sin to achieve evil, but God allowed it to accomplish something better.
God takes us from the grave to a new, glorified resurrected body. Transformation of a caterpillar into a cocoon is like humans going into the grave. Jesus was born with a mortal body that went into the tomb. His same body was transformed under the power of the Holy Spirit into a glorified, immortal body (Romans 8:11) as it will be for us.
This slide shows all the stages of a caterpillar’s transformation into a beautify butterfly. Our transformation won’t be exactly like that, but it’s a fair illustration of such a transformation. God transformed the caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. In the same way, our bodies will be transformed—the same body being glorified—from mortal to immortal; from corruptible to incorruptible.
Both the saved and unsaved will have resurrected bodies, but they will be quite different (Acts 24:15). We are assured in 1 Cor. 15:13, 21, that there will be a resurrection of our bodies. In Rev 20:5 we are told that the rest of the dead (unsaved) did not come to life until the thousand years were ended, and then they will be resurrected—body and soul—and stand before the Great White Throne Judgment.
Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t only in spirit, but with the same body He was born and crucified with—He is both 100% human and 100% divine, which demonstrates an enormous amount of love for His people to interact with us on a one-on-one basis. In Luke 24, Jesus ate with His disciples demonstrating that He rose with His human body. He also demonstrated His humanity, pointing out the crucifixion wounds to Thomas who doubted and would not accept the resurrection unless he saw evidence of it firsthand.
John 20:25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
Thomas must have thought: How could anyone who went through so much punishment, being scourged and then crucified, rise again? It just didn’t seem possible.
John 20:26-28 – 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas , "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Think about it: Lucifer and his angels were in heaven with direct access to God, yet they sinned. Adam and Eve were in a perfect garden with everything they could need, including fellowship with God, yet they sinned. During the millennium under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, life couldn’t be better, yet some will sin. What will it demonstrate? That sin is from within, no matter how perfect one’s environment. Man cannot sustain a perfectly sinless and holy life on his own accord, forever, unless they are born again.
John 3:5-7 – 5 Jesus answered [Nicodemus], "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
During the Millennium, as perfect an environment as one could hope for in this world, those who sin won’t be able to accuse Satan of tempting them because Satan is bound in chains during those 1,000 years (Rev. 20:1-3). Everyone has the option of accepting Jesus as Savior, but many deliberately and willfully chose not to. What about being chosen? Is God being unfair? Not at all, He allows them to follow their own will and preferences. The reality of Jesus as King will be perfectly clear to everyone at that time. But future generations after the Second Coming, may drift from that truth or flat-out ignore it.
God won’t allow everyone to follow that same destructive path to eternal damnation. Based on His infinite wisdom and eternal love, He will decide who the elect will be and why. He will not let everyone perish. It is impossible for us to wrap our finite minds around it as to who and why. We just need to be satisfied to know that God is always just, merciful and fair, and be grateful for His promises and the resurrected glorified body destined for us, and that we will reign with Him during the Millennium in our glorified bodies. Some do not believe in a literal millennium. Again, it’s all a matter of perspective. I am doing my best to be objective in this study. Nevertheless, this is the premillennial view, which I share. But, hey! This one makes the most sense to me especially after listening to all the sermons and reading all the commentaries. Is it the right view? I think so.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection . The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Rom 8:27-30 – 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
During the Millennium man will live in a near perfect world, something like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And like Adam and Eve, some will sin. At the end of the 1,000-year Millennium, Jesus will separate the wheat from the chaff (Matt. 3:11-12) and the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25)—those who profess Him as Savior by faith, and those who put self first and reject Him as their sovereign Lord and Savior (continued on next slide)
Just as stated in Matt. 25:41, 46, at the end of the 1,000 millennium God will separate the sheep (His people) from the goats (those that chose sin and self).
Everyone who ever lived—saved and unsaved—will be reunited with a regenerated body for all eternity. It is not only those who believe in Jesus Christ who will experience the resurrection of their body. All people will be raised physically from the dead on the last day. The difference is that Christians will be raised to everlasting glory; those who did not have faith in Christ will be raised to judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment.
All sins are accountable; none are ignored; all are judged. God’s justice is based on His holy nature. Just like cancer cells in a body, sin is a cancer and affront to the holiness of God. Sin cannot reside with holiness. Born again Christians are not perfect, BUT, and it’s a big BUT, they have had their sin-debt paid in full and washed clean by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and consequently stand before God unblemished by sin and truly repentant, especially when they understand that very truth and the full significance of God’s grace.
A little more insight into the Great White Throne Judgment (cont’d on next slide).
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No judgment will be arbitrary, every sin is recorded, including all of the consequences it caused. The Great White Throne Judgment will demonstrate God’s absolute holiness and perfect justice. Even Adolf Hitler will stand before Him and be held accountable for everyone he had tortured and killed under his regime, and all the ravages of the war, and its consequences in damaged lives afterwards. Satan intended it for evil, including the Holocaust, but God used it for the rebirth of Israel, not otherwise possible. Jews would not have left their successful, comfortable lives and fortunes in Europe to go to a barren desert and start over, of their own free will. Would you? Probably not.
Just like a single cancer cell, even the smallest of sin has consequences—those sins have violated God’s holiness, and disrupted nature’s natural order as originally created (Rom. 2:6; Rev. 20:11-12)
What does Adam’s DNA have to do with it? Aren’t people born good and turn bad because of their environment or some form of injustice or racism? The reality is that people are born with a desire to satisfy self. The “terrible twos” are a perfect example of human nature. Saying “No!” can make all the difference in a child’s well being when they grow up. Children born during the Millennium will have the same fallen nature inherited from Adam, and yes, be prone to sin just like today. Living in Jesus’ kingdom won’t change them automatically, but it will not only point them in the right direction but provide ample evidence regarding what is the right direction. They won’t be able to blame racism or social-justice inequities because there won’t be any. And after the 1,000 years, everyone will be held accountable for how they lived.
Desires for self gratification, such as sexual immorality, cheating, lying, etc., will arise then just as it does now. Nobody who sins during the Millennium will be able to claim that the Devil tempted them, because the Devil will be locked away in the abyss for the 1,000-year Millennium (Rev. 20:1-3). The verdict when standing before the Great White Throne Judgment after a review of one’s record, will rightly be “guilty as charged!” Unless one repents and turns to Jesus as Lord and Savior. Even those sins will be forgiven for all who repent.
St. Augustine stated it much simpler that I ever could.
We will see God’s justice revealed by the price Jesus paid in suffering for each one of our sins, even the smallest ones. No sin can go unpunished, without violating God’s perfect justice—God’s nature is perfect and demands absolute perfection! Jesus took that punishment upon Himself and paid the penalty for each and every one of our sins, individually and collectively. Our eyes will be opened at what it cost Him. Take a moment and think about that…
Even if the Rapture doesn’t happen in our lifetime, we will rise to meet the Lord, because heaven does await us. We may have to wait for our glorified body, but it is destined to be. In the same way, death of a loved one isn’t a permanent loss, it’s a temporary separation.
Dr. John MacArthur’ 53-minute sermon focuses on the next event on God’s prophetic timetable.
As we close our lesson, pray for these United States of America, for our President, our Vice President, our Pastor and our Church. Our future as a Nation and as a people rest in Jesus’ hands as our sovereign Lord and Savior, especially in this critical election year, like never before, and protection from an enemy deeply embedded within. We can be certain Satan is active in this election year and the possible transition of the United States to the Dark Side is at stake.
Let me hear from you. Thanks.
END OF LESSON #18
