The time of the Judgment
Let us now look at a seeming contradiction that some imagine implies that the judgment of the world is not in the millennial age, but is taking place now. John 12:31
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.”
Most authorities however have it, that this scripture should read, “Now is (a) judgment of this world” (See ‘The Emphasized Bible’ and/or the ‘Diaglott’); this will be shown to be correct view once we have the proper understanding of this scripture.
Our Lord starts out by saying that “Now” is (a) judgment of this world”, that is the Lord uses the word “now” in the sense of applying it to the whole time from his first advent to his second; as though he had said, the time was “now” to begin the work of salvation, or like what he said in John 12:23 when he said “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”
Thus we understand that the Lord was saying that ‘Now”, these things would have their beginnings, 1), “the judgment of the world” and, 2), “the prince of this world would be cast out”.
As in a crisis of a disease, the patient may be entirely unaware of the change which takes place at the critical moment, the turning point, yet it may be clearly discerned by the skilled physician, so with the world's crisis. The world has passed through two crises in its two representatives, Adam and Jesus, though unaware of both.
The first trial took place in Eden, father Adam being the one who was on trial; now Jesus was on trial and the fate of the whole world was in the balance and depended upon his victory. As the crisis with Adam was followed by the krima, or sentence of death, so this crisis is followed by the krima, or sentence, which came by the one man Christ Jesus, unto "justification to life." (Rom 5:17-19)
From the moment of Jesus' death it was a settled thing that Satan, the prince of this world, should be cast out. Satan's sentence, he is to be remove from his position of power over mankind and to be “bound for a thousand years” This judgment was sealed at Calvary, from the moment that Jesus said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), and died, the crisis was past. That was the GREAT turning point.
From this correct view of this scripture we can see that there has been (a) judgment of this world and it was centered in the “krisis”, through which our Lord endured, “…though he was a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.” Heb 5:8 “…and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient [even] unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” Phil 2:8
The whole world was once more being judged though the actions of one man, as it had been with Adam, but this time the results were different,
“For as by one man’s disobedience ALL were made sinners, so also by one man’s obedience many shall be made righteous.” Rom 5:19
As for Satan being cast out, the victory by Christ insures that this will be accomplished in accordance with the Fathers plans, the time for the binding of Satan is fixed at the close of the Gospel age, prior to the thousand year reign of Christ, (See Rev 20:1-3) however the binding influence of the Lord is already having its effect, for “the true light” has come into the world, and it is the nature of light to dispel darkness, ignorance and superstition wherever it may be found. (John 1:5, 9)
We must break this section into two parts due to character limits, the limit is 10000 characters, Microsoft Word says the post I intended has 7924 (with spaces) and 6414 (without) yet this program says I had more than 10000. I believe the Administrator should probably have a look at this, but its not all that important we will simply split our post in two.
Next post.
Let us now look at a seeming contradiction that some imagine implies that the judgment of the world is not in the millennial age, but is taking place now. John 12:31
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.”
Most authorities however have it, that this scripture should read, “Now is (a) judgment of this world” (See ‘The Emphasized Bible’ and/or the ‘Diaglott’); this will be shown to be correct view once we have the proper understanding of this scripture.
Our Lord starts out by saying that “Now” is (a) judgment of this world”, that is the Lord uses the word “now” in the sense of applying it to the whole time from his first advent to his second; as though he had said, the time was “now” to begin the work of salvation, or like what he said in John 12:23 when he said “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”
Thus we understand that the Lord was saying that ‘Now”, these things would have their beginnings, 1), “the judgment of the world” and, 2), “the prince of this world would be cast out”.
As in a crisis of a disease, the patient may be entirely unaware of the change which takes place at the critical moment, the turning point, yet it may be clearly discerned by the skilled physician, so with the world's crisis. The world has passed through two crises in its two representatives, Adam and Jesus, though unaware of both.
The first trial took place in Eden, father Adam being the one who was on trial; now Jesus was on trial and the fate of the whole world was in the balance and depended upon his victory. As the crisis with Adam was followed by the krima, or sentence of death, so this crisis is followed by the krima, or sentence, which came by the one man Christ Jesus, unto "justification to life." (Rom 5:17-19)
From the moment of Jesus' death it was a settled thing that Satan, the prince of this world, should be cast out. Satan's sentence, he is to be remove from his position of power over mankind and to be “bound for a thousand years” This judgment was sealed at Calvary, from the moment that Jesus said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), and died, the crisis was past. That was the GREAT turning point.
From this correct view of this scripture we can see that there has been (a) judgment of this world and it was centered in the “krisis”, through which our Lord endured, “…though he was a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.” Heb 5:8 “…and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient [even] unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” Phil 2:8
The whole world was once more being judged though the actions of one man, as it had been with Adam, but this time the results were different,
“For as by one man’s disobedience ALL were made sinners, so also by one man’s obedience many shall be made righteous.” Rom 5:19
As for Satan being cast out, the victory by Christ insures that this will be accomplished in accordance with the Fathers plans, the time for the binding of Satan is fixed at the close of the Gospel age, prior to the thousand year reign of Christ, (See Rev 20:1-3) however the binding influence of the Lord is already having its effect, for “the true light” has come into the world, and it is the nature of light to dispel darkness, ignorance and superstition wherever it may be found. (John 1:5, 9)
We must break this section into two parts due to character limits, the limit is 10000 characters, Microsoft Word says the post I intended has 7924 (with spaces) and 6414 (without) yet this program says I had more than 10000. I believe the Administrator should probably have a look at this, but its not all that important we will simply split our post in two.
Next post.
