Rapture, Revelation, and the End Times - Conscious Evolution TV

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obin-bobin The End Times According to Christians 127pointing out that the imagery of Satan’s binding does not meantotal powerlessness, but refers to the divine restriction of thedevil’s activities so that he is not able to thwart the advance ofGod’s program. To illustrate this point, proponents appeal toJude’s declaration that the fallen angels are kept in chains awaitingthe judgment (Jude 6). Even though the demons have beendefeated by Christ and are therefore now under his control, theyare not completely powerless in the world. Just as the chainingof the demons has restricted but not eliminated their activity, soalso the binding of Satan has placed limits on what he is able todo. More specifically, the binding of Satan has rendered himunable to deceive the nations. In contrast to the Old Testamentera, when the nations were under the dominance of Satan andignorant of the truth (e.g., Eph. 2:11–12), the church age is thetime of the worldwide proclamation of the gospel, the timewhen the devil is unable to prevent people everywhere fromreceiving the good news. In this manner, amillennialists (likepostmillennialists) view Revelation 20:1–2 as a symbolic commentaryon the great commission (Matt. 28:19–20).At the heart of amillennialism is the belief that Revelation 20is a vision of the present age, the time between Christ’s twoadvents, not some future era. The opening verses of the chapterpicture the cosmic victory won by Christ at his first advent.Verses 4–6 speak of the resultant victory of his faithful witnesses,despite apparent defeat, whether that victory be in theheavenly realm of the intermediate state or the earthly realm ofChristian living. As a vision of the age between Christ’s twoadvents, the thousand years are a symbolic presentation of thegreat New Testament declaration that the risen Lord is reigningnow (e.g., Rev. 1:6, 9; 3:21; 5:10; 1 Cor. 15:24–28). His ruleconstitutes a present reality that believers enter at the time ofconversion (Col. 1:13; Mark 1:15; Luke 17:20–21). BecauseChrist reigns throughout the church age, the biblical declarationof his rule does not necessitate that a future millennial era beinserted between the present and the eternal state. Despite theroar of the devil who seeks to intimidate the believers throughdeceit and persecution, Christ is reigning over history, and herobin-bobin
128robin-bobin Rapture, Revelation, and the End Timeshas given his church the mandate to preach the gospel throughoutthe world. Their faithfulness is rewarded beyond death, and oneday it will be rewarded as the king returns in vindication andjudgment to inaugurate the eternal state. This is the message ofthe Bible as read by amillennialists.Concluding CommentsThe Left Behind series uses the literary form of the fictionalnarrative to paint a picture of a catastrophic end of the age thatits authors believe is in keeping with what the Bible itselfteaches. We might say that the novels offer an extendedresponse to the question that was posed by Jesus’ disciples twothousand years ago: “When will this happen?” By raising in theminds of many people this question, which in many mainlinecongregations has lain dormant for too long, LaHaye andJenkins have done the church a great service. Yet the end-timesscenario that is so vividly presented in the novels is not the onlyperspective on the events that will surround the return of Jesus.Nor is it, in my estimation, the best perspective. For this reason,despite the impression that they might leave with the reader, thevolumes of the series are appropriately located on the fictionshelves of bookstores. They ought to be similarly cataloged inthe personal libraries of their purchasers as well.NotesThe material in this chapter is adapted from Stanley J. Grenz, TheMillennial Maze: Sorting Out Evangelical Options © 1992 by StanleyJ. Grenz, and is used with permission from InterVarsity Press, DownersGrove, Illinois.1. “History of Opinions Respecting the Millennium,” AmericanTheological Review 1 (1859), 655, as cited in James H. Moorhead,“The Erosion of Postmillennialism in American Religious Thought,1865–1925,” Church History 53 (March 1984), 61.2. Ernest W. Shurtleff, “Lead On, O King Eternal” (1887), in TheHymnal for Worship and Celebration, ed. Tom Fettke and KenBarker (Waco, Tex.: Word Music, 1986), #483.robin-bobin
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obin-bobin3What Does the Bible SayA
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