I'm bringing this over from a friend's discussion forum because I think I may benefit from some responses here. The forum is: Home | Areopagus
I did a study back in the 80s that is premised on my belief in Premillennialism. I asked, What is the difference between the activity of God's Kingdom now, as opposed to God's eternal Kingdom in the future?
At the time, a brother had been promoting some kind of triumphalism, an aggressive imposition of the Kingdom by force, which was based on a false translation of the passage, "the Kingdom suffers violence." He was reading this, "the Kingdom forcefully advances," which is something George E. Ladd promoted. I liked Ladd a lot, but I didn't agree with this translation.
I don't see the Kingdom as "forcefully advancing," even though it is, in some sense, advancing and progressing. The Kingdom is expanding when the Gospel reaches out to the world, and grows in every nation. But it is not triumphant over the power of Satan, which is able to defeat it in some respects.
So I realized that even in the life of the King, Jesus, the Kingdom suffered violence. He was opposed, and eventually killed. That wasn't a triumph--it was a defeat.
However, that defeat turned into victory when Christ rose from the dead. And it is the same for us. In the present age we are able to accomplish our missions, we're able to live in righteousness, and we're able to perform the signs of a valid ministry.
At the same time, we can't avoid suffering opposition and persecution, just like Jesus did. And so, the life of the Kingdom of God in the present age is different than it will be in the future age.
Whether you're Premill or Amill, these differences should be noted. Some believe Satan is presently bound, and some believe he is still free to roam. Regardless, we all face the same experience in this life, and it pays not to be too idealistic. Faith Preachers are going to have it the toughest when all of a sudden their "faith" doesn't work in the face of opposition and persecution, and sometimes even martyrdom.
We may be able to cast demons out when performing our ministry. But we can't cast Satan out of the world. Neither can we convert the world to Christianity apart from the coming of Christ.
Anything the Church has done up to now is simply bring the message to the world, with recognition from the world that they have received that message. But they are rejecting it now, and there's little we can do to stem the tide of Antichristianity.
I would add that there's other things we can't yet do in this present age. We can't extract the Sin Nature from ourselves, which is a *spiritual* inheritance from our parents and forebears. And we can't, therefore, relieve ourselves of the need to die. We may perhaps perform a resurrection by the power of God, but those raised up and we ourselves will still have to die in our mortal bodies.
At least, that's what I think. Any comments?
I did a study back in the 80s that is premised on my belief in Premillennialism. I asked, What is the difference between the activity of God's Kingdom now, as opposed to God's eternal Kingdom in the future?
At the time, a brother had been promoting some kind of triumphalism, an aggressive imposition of the Kingdom by force, which was based on a false translation of the passage, "the Kingdom suffers violence." He was reading this, "the Kingdom forcefully advances," which is something George E. Ladd promoted. I liked Ladd a lot, but I didn't agree with this translation.
I don't see the Kingdom as "forcefully advancing," even though it is, in some sense, advancing and progressing. The Kingdom is expanding when the Gospel reaches out to the world, and grows in every nation. But it is not triumphant over the power of Satan, which is able to defeat it in some respects.
So I realized that even in the life of the King, Jesus, the Kingdom suffered violence. He was opposed, and eventually killed. That wasn't a triumph--it was a defeat.
However, that defeat turned into victory when Christ rose from the dead. And it is the same for us. In the present age we are able to accomplish our missions, we're able to live in righteousness, and we're able to perform the signs of a valid ministry.
At the same time, we can't avoid suffering opposition and persecution, just like Jesus did. And so, the life of the Kingdom of God in the present age is different than it will be in the future age.
Whether you're Premill or Amill, these differences should be noted. Some believe Satan is presently bound, and some believe he is still free to roam. Regardless, we all face the same experience in this life, and it pays not to be too idealistic. Faith Preachers are going to have it the toughest when all of a sudden their "faith" doesn't work in the face of opposition and persecution, and sometimes even martyrdom.
We may be able to cast demons out when performing our ministry. But we can't cast Satan out of the world. Neither can we convert the world to Christianity apart from the coming of Christ.
Anything the Church has done up to now is simply bring the message to the world, with recognition from the world that they have received that message. But they are rejecting it now, and there's little we can do to stem the tide of Antichristianity.
I would add that there's other things we can't yet do in this present age. We can't extract the Sin Nature from ourselves, which is a *spiritual* inheritance from our parents and forebears. And we can't, therefore, relieve ourselves of the need to die. We may perhaps perform a resurrection by the power of God, but those raised up and we ourselves will still have to die in our mortal bodies.
At least, that's what I think. Any comments?
