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The Kingdom is at Hand!
“Thy
kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven”
(Matthew 6:10).
We are at the threshold of
the most glorious time period Earth has ever
known–the establishment of Christ's
thousand-year Kingdom! It is the long awaited
‘Golden Age’ where peace on Earth are not just
words that drop from our lips, but are the
results or answer to our Lord’s prayer, thy
Kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is
in Heaven. Yes, mankind has cherished, hoped
for, and prayed for peace on Earth and good will
toward all. (Luke 2:14) We, who are people of
faith, anticipate its arrival and long for its
deliverance.
We believe that the
scriptures teach that we are living in the
dawning of that day, and will soon see it
fully ushered in. The dark clouds are
rolling in, however, we know that the silver
lining, in these clouds, are the rich promises
gleaned from God’s word. We’ve dreamed a dream
and see its fruition in the prophetic testimony
of God’s prophets. The scriptures declare the
magnificence of God in the benefits that are
about to be poured upon His children. (Joel
2:28)
We are living in the climax
of God's Plan of the Ages. The order of that day
will be peace and harmony. The results will be
more wonderful, more glorious, more
all-encompassing, than even the dreams of
philosophers, poets and sages. The best, which
noble men and women have dared imagine, will be
surpassed by the wonders God has planned.
- There will be world peace (Psalms 46:9).
- All of humanity’s defects will be healed
(Isaiah 35:5, 6).
- Moral integrity will be planted in every
heart (Jeremiah 31:33).
- Sorrow, pain and death will come to an
end (Isa. 11:9,
Revelation 21:4).
- The dead of past ages will be raised to
life (Acts 24:15).
Jesus
spoke in Parables
Have you ever wondered why
Jesus spoke in parables? He said, “so seeing
they see not, and hearing they hear not, lest at
anytime they should be converted.” (Matt 13:15;
Mark 4:12; Isa. 29:10; Acts 28:27) Why didn’t
Jesus desire the conversion of the world? Why
did he restrict his and the disciples preaching
to only the nation of Israel? (Matt. 10:5,6;
Matt. 15:24-26) Why does he limit His
fellowship, during this age, to His followers
alone? (1 Thess. 4:3-5;1 Cor 6:11) We believe he
spoke in parables and limited his scope of
preaching because God is seeking a small,
“little flock” (Luke 12:32) a group of followers
to become part of his spiritual family. (Matt.
18:20)
As we study the scriptures,
we can see God’s plans and purposes unfold in a
most stately manner. He first worked with the
prophets of old, then only the nation of Israel,
now he restricts his work to Christians or
followers of Christ. This is the hidden beauty
of His plan. It is just and yet not exclusive to
‘just us.’ Who is worthy! What a blessing to be
at the Lord’s banquet table. We have been
privileged to see the luster, the beauty, under
the tarnish of the Dark Age Doctrines.
This banquet table that the
Lord provided at the end of this age has given
us greater understanding, we see the purpose of
the Gospel Age. We more fully understand why
Christians turn the other cheek, endure
hardship, and experience trials of faith. They,
like their master, Jesus, realize that our
hardships and trials are ‘tailor-made’ or
designed for the very purpose of developing a
Christ-like character. (John 15:20; 1 Cor. 11:1)
The Gospel age, for the Christian, is an age of
opportunity, to become like him (1 John 3:2), to
help fellow Christians that are seeking to walk
in His footsteps, and to preach the good tidings
from God’s word.
The key to understanding God’s
Plan of the Ages
What will be the work of the
church during the Day of Judgment? The
scriptures tell us that we will judge men?
(1Cor. 6:2) However, this is not the 24-Hour Day
of dread, but a thousand-year day of
righteousness. (Acts 17:31) Just how is the
judgment of the world connected with the 1,000
year reign of Christ and His church? (Rev.
20:1-4; 22:17) We are told in Acts 17:31 that
there will be a day, a thousand-year day, in
which the world will learn righteousness. This
day is the fulfillment or answer to our Lord’s
Prayer, Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on
Earth as it is in Heaven. At that time, under
the assistance of Christ and His Bride, the
world will learn righteousness. (Acts 17:31;
Rev. 22:17) Thus the final part of God’s plan
will be fulfilled in the restoration of all
things. (Acts 3:21; Isa. 1:26; Hos. 6:2; Matt.
17:11; Acts 1:6; Acts 15:16; Amos 9:11)
Two Ages
of Redemption
We can see that the
scriptures clearly teach that there are two ages
of redemption and two different callings. The
present Gospel Age is for calling an elect
"Bride" class to reign with Christ in heaven
during the Millennial Kingdom. This surpassing
privilege of the "High calling of God in Christ
Jesus" (Philippians 3:14), still remains open to
all.
The second age of Redemption,
the Millennial Age, will be for calling all the
remainder of the world to everlasting life on
earth. This is the key to understand God's Plan
of the Ages—redemption across two ages. The
scriptures become clear once we comprehend that
the object of Christ’s thousand-year Kingdom is
to afford ALL an opportunity for
salvation.
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“For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
(1 Corinthians 15:22)
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“He will have all men to
be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the
truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
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“…all the earth (evil
social society) shall be devoured with the
fire of my jealousy, and then will I turn to
the people a pure language, that they may
all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve
him with one consent.” (Zephaniah 3:8,9)
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“I will put my law in
their minds and write it on their hearts.
For I will forgive their wickedness and will
remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah
31:33,34 NIV)
Acts 15:16 “After these
things I will return, and I will rebuild the
tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will
rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, so
that the rest of mankind may seek the lord.
God’s
Ultimate Plan for Mankind
God’s ultimate purpose in the
creation of man was to have a human family that
would love Him and one another in perfect
happiness for all eternity. God knew that
experience is the best teacher. Thus the path
God chose to accomplish his end desire was to
allow mankind to first experience the painful
effects of disobedience caused by father Adam’s
sin. (Romans 6:23) Then in God’s Kingdom all
mankind will be awakened from the sleep of
death. (John 11:11-13)
They will be fully instructed of the need to
transform their characters into those of loving,
obedient sons of God. Those who comply will go
on to experience countless blessings. The
contrast of experiencing the effects of both
evil and then good, will enable most of mankind
to gradually transform their lives, pass their
final test, and go on to live forever in perfect
happiness.
The Secret of Finding God’s
Truth
It is not by studying only
verse by verse, but in topical Bible study. That
is, an exhaustive study of each scripture that
pertains to a given subject and then harmonizing
them by determining what is literal and what is
symbolic.
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