Part 2
We introduced the doctrines of millennial beliefs in the previous article. Our focus is on dispensational premillennialism. While popular, this doctrine holds some errors and this article will present the first in our series. What does the Bible teach concerning the coming of the Kingdom of the Messiah?
One of the problems with dispensational premillennialism is the view of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Gospel literally means good news. For Scripture to speak of the Kingdom of God as the Gospel, is to speak of the good news concerning its arrival. After John, who immersed for the forgiveness of sins, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good-news of the kingdom of God, saying, The time has been fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the good-news.” (Mark 1:14b-15) Either it is the case that Jesus failed at his own preaching or did not. The dispensational view holds that the kingdom was thwarted and so Jesus will come again to establish it on earth. Unwittingly, theologians who teach this have the Adversary defeating the very Son of God, the Divine Nature incarnate. Remember the temptations given in Matthew 4? The last one: “Again, the Devil takes him to an exceedingly high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and he says to him, I will give you all these things, if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus says to him, Go behind me, Adversary! For it has been written, ‘You will worship the Lord your God and you will give-divine service to him only.’” (Matthew 4:8-10) As we will demonstrate from the Bible, the Devil did not succeed in his trickery to defy Deity.
Daniel chapter two prophesied of four successive kingdoms, “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will the sovereignty of it be left to another people, but it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it will stand forever” (Daniel 2:44). History tells these four kingdoms to successively be Babylonian, Persian, Macedonian and Roman. The kingdom of the Messiah would be established the fourth kingdom. For us, Revelation looks backward to what Daniel looked forward to. Revelation 1:5-6 states clearly that God has made his believers kings of the earth; he has “made us a kingdom.” Revelation 5:9-10; 11:15; 12:10; 17:14; 19:16 all speak of the kingdom as having come in the present tense. 1 Peter 2:9 confirms this New Testament fact; we are royalty – a royal priesthood.
Consider some of the statements in the Gospel accounts:
1. Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God.
And it happened afterwards also that he was traveling through every city and village, preaching and proclaiming the good-news of the kingdom of God and together with him the twelve (Luke 8:1)
2. The messenger of God, Gabriel, promised Joseph his son would reign as king.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and will call his name JESUS.” He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom. (Luke 1:31-33)
3. Jesus told Nicodemus how important kingdom entry is.
Jesus answered and said to him, Assuredly, assuredly, I say to you, If one has not been born anew, he is not able to see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
4. Either it is the case that the kingdom has already come or else there are some mighty old first century believers with us today.
But I tell you truly, there are some of those who are standing here, who may never taste of death, until they should see the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:27)
According to apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Christians are transplanted into the kingdom, implying it has already been established. Hebrews 12:28 states plainly believers have received an unshakable kingdom. The Devil, try as he may, cannot shake God’s kingdom. He could not do it in the first century and he cannot do it today. Jesus expressly explained the kingdom to be spiritual not an earthly one. He said, “My kingdom is not from this world; if my kingdom were from this world, then my attendants would fight that* I might not be given up to the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36) “The kingdom,” said Paul, “is not about food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17) Righteousness is a spiritual trait.
The Good News is the kingdom has come and believers have it in their heart. We are royalty. We are spiritually kings in a spiritual kingdom. It has stood nearly 2,000 years and it isn’t going anywhere until Judgment Day. Dispensational Premillennialism theology has a gaping mistake concerning this Gospel.
To be continued…