Discipleship 202: Lesson 26

April 23rd: Eschatology: Death and the Return of Jesus

April 30th: The Millennium and The Resurrection

May 7th: Final Judgment and The New Heavens and Earth

Eschatology: The Millennium and The Resurrection

A Word of Reminder: We agree on many essential doctrines of eschatology. Here is a list that all Christians should agree: the return of Christ, the resurrection, the last judgment, eternal life for the righteous and eternal death for the unrighteous, and the new heaven and new earth.

The Millennium

Current church age or a future period in relation to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The word “millennium” is from the Latin mille, “thousand,” and annum, “year,” so literally, a thousand years.

Revelation 20:1–6 ESV

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

The Great Tribulation is the global, intense period of suffering associated with his return. The topic of the millennial deals with the nature of the millennium and its relationship to Christ’s return and the great tribulation.

Four Primary Views

Post-Millennialism

Christ’s return will occur after the millennium.

The millennium will be a golden age, after which Christ will return.

An age of peace and prosperity on earth

Much of the world will be Christianized.

Christ will return, execute the last judgment and the resurrection, and establish the new heaven and new earth.

Nonliteral Approach

A golden age emerging out of the current period as the gospel.

Satan’s binding paves the way for the expansion of the gospel throughout the entire world.

The kingdom expands through the gradual growth of the gospel until it impacts the entire world.

Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31–32 “He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.””) (Matthew 13:33 “He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.””)

A-Millennialism

No future thousand year period of Christ’s reign on the earth.

The current church age

At the end of this present era, Christ will return and defeat Satan, thus ushering in the last judgment, the resurrection, and the new heaven and new earth.

Nonliteral approach

Satan’s binding is God’s current restraint of him, enabling the gospel to advance.

Two Resurrections

Spiritual

Romans 6:1–6 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”

Bodily

Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

Historical Pre-Millennialism

return of Christ before the millennium, which is one-thousand year reign of Christ on the earth; additionally, Christ’s return is after the great tribulation

Prior to Christ’s return, the great tribulation will occur on the earth, with the church experiencing at least in part this seven-year period of intense suffering.

Literal approach

Matthew 24:15 ““So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),”

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Daniel 9:27 “And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.””

Great Tribulation: Rev. 6-19

The church will endure through the great tribulation.

Therefore, there is no belief in the rapture.

Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,”

Acts 14:22 “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

1 Thessalonians 3:3–4 “that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.”

2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

Christ will return to rule over the earth for a thousand years. Satan will be loosed and then defeated in his futile ware against Christ (Rev. 20).

Pre-Tribulational Pre-Millennialism

Places the return of Christ before the millennium as a one-thousand year reign of Christ on the earth; additionally, the rapture of the church takes place before the great tribulation.

Prior to Christ’s return, the great tribulation will occur on the earth, but Christ will rapture, or remove, the church so that it does not experience this seven-year period of intense suffering.

Rapture before the tribulation

The church will be removed from the earth before the onset of the great tribulation.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

1 Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.”

Christ’s return before the millennium

Isaiah 65:17 ““For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” Isaiah 65:20 “No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.”

Future restoration of the people of Israel to the promised land will be fulfilled.

Matthew 26:29 “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.””

The Resurrection

Resurrection is rising again, with reembodiment, after death. The resurrection of believers is their glorification, the final mighty act of God in their salvation.

Romans 8:23 “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

Romans 8:30 “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

The Final Act of Salvation: Glorification

Climax of all the mighty acts of God.

Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

“The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.” (Paradise Lost)

At Christ’s Return

the reembodiment of believers who have died and exist without their bodies in heaven

bodies will be raised from the dead and transformed

Isaiah 26:19 “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.”

Daniel 12:2 “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

live eternally embodied like Christ

John 6:38–40 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.””

John 11:23–26 “Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?””

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

the instantaneous change in the bodies of believers on earth

current bodies will be immediately transformed.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

2 Corinthians 5:1–5 “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

Resurrection bodies will be different from earthly bodies.

1 Corinthians 15:35–49 ESV

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Different Fleshes

heavenly bodies and earthly bodies

Earthly bodies

Perishable

shameful

weak

natural

Spiritual bodies

imperishable

glorious

powerful

spiritual

Christ Jesus’s resurrected form is the prototype of the resurrection bodies of believers. Without Jesus’ resurrection, our faith falls.

Acts 26:22–23 “To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”” 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,”

Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”

Revelation 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood”

1 Corinthians 15:20–21 “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.”

Philippians 3:20–21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

Unbelievers

The Return of Christ, the final judgment and the inauguration of the new heaven and new earth

Amillennialist and Postmillennialist

Daniel 12:2 “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

John 5:28–29 “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

Acts 24:15 “having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.”

Premillennialist

Receive their resurrection bodies when Christ returns and join him for his thousand year earthly kingdom.

Only at the completion of the millennium will unbelievers experience their bodily resurrection.

Revelation 20:4–6 “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

Major Errors

1. As the resurrection of Christ has been dismissed, the resurrection of believers has been set aside as being mythical and physically impossible. This view is tied to the rejection of miracles. They are considered to be impossible, because they violate physical laws. It is also associated with a view of salvation that is purely spiritual in nature and does not at all pertain to the body. Thus, ultimate salvation is the escape of the soul from the body at death, with eternal life having no physical component at all.

2. Physical resurrection and reembodiment of believers have been rejected because human existence is only physical. This increasingly common view is fueled by neuroscience. Its identification of human life with human embodiment means that when one’s physical organism—the body—ceases to function, human existence terminates. There is no disembodied existence of believers in heaven after death, and there cannot be. This view contradicts the biblical and traditional doctrine of the intermediate state, as well as the doctrine of the resurrection.