By Jeffrey R. Camino
Many people think that eternity in heaven is going to start immediately after the Second Coming of Christ; however, that's not quite the case. Christ will reign for eternity; but first some other end-times events will happen.
The Millennium has some special purposes. First, one must understand that when the Millennium begins, only believers will be alive on earth, as unbelievers will be in hell (Revelation 19:17-21). In other words, the inhabitants of earth will be comprised of two groups of Christians: Those that survived the tribulation and became Christians, and those that came back to earth with the Lord at His Second Coming (Revelation 19:14).
During the Millennium, earth will experience peace like never before (Isaiah 2:4; Joel 3:10; Micah 4:3). Jesus will be ruling on the throne of David and imposing a benevolent theocracy on all of His creation. Everyone's needs will be fulfilled, and sin will not be tolerated (Psalm 2:7-12; Revelation 2:26-29; 12:5; 19:11-16).
While the believers that return from heaven with Christ will have their "heavenly" bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), the believers who lived through the Tribulation will remain mortal; thus that group of people will procreate and repopulate the earth during that 1,000 years on earth. Since there will not be food shortages, pestilence, natural disasters, and otherwise death like we know today because of sin, the human population will grow very quickly.
Consequently, a totally different third group of people will soon exist: those that are born during the Millennium. That will bring about an interesting situation: Although Satan and the evils of the world will not be an enemy to mankind, the third and final enemy, man's own sinful nature, will still exist within those that are born during the Millenium. At the end of the 1,000 years they will have to make a choice to either serve God or to serve their sinful nature because Satan will be loosed for a "short time" (Revelation 20:3) to give them that choice.
That is why we learn that Satan is tied up during that period and then released one final, brief time. It would seem all along, and up until the very end before Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire for Eternity, he has been serving God's purpose to give mankind a choice. God does not want people to turn to Him because they have to, but because they want to explicitly make that choice. Consequently, another choice has to be represented to make the choice valid.
Below is an illustration that helps visually represent some of the major terms used in end times Bible prophecy. In essence, we're now living in what is referred to as the "Church Age", with "The Rapture" something that can happen at any time now. The "7 Years" depicted in the illustration below is essentially the tribulation period which will be followed by "The Second Coming". After that there will be a 1000 Year Kingdom on earth (a.k.a. "the Millennium"), and then eternity:
The Millennium has some special purposes. First, one must understand that when the Millennium begins, only believers will be alive on earth, as unbelievers will be in hell (Revelation 19:17-21). In other words, the inhabitants of earth will be comprised of two groups of Christians: Those that survived the tribulation and became Christians, and those that came back to earth with the Lord at His Second Coming (Revelation 19:14).
During the Millennium, earth will experience peace like never before (Isaiah 2:4; Joel 3:10; Micah 4:3). Jesus will be ruling on the throne of David and imposing a benevolent theocracy on all of His creation. Everyone's needs will be fulfilled, and sin will not be tolerated (Psalm 2:7-12; Revelation 2:26-29; 12:5; 19:11-16).
While the believers that return from heaven with Christ will have their "heavenly" bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), the believers who lived through the Tribulation will remain mortal; thus that group of people will procreate and repopulate the earth during that 1,000 years on earth. Since there will not be food shortages, pestilence, natural disasters, and otherwise death like we know today because of sin, the human population will grow very quickly.
Consequently, a totally different third group of people will soon exist: those that are born during the Millennium. That will bring about an interesting situation: Although Satan and the evils of the world will not be an enemy to mankind, the third and final enemy, man's own sinful nature, will still exist within those that are born during the Millenium. At the end of the 1,000 years they will have to make a choice to either serve God or to serve their sinful nature because Satan will be loosed for a "short time" (Revelation 20:3) to give them that choice.
That is why we learn that Satan is tied up during that period and then released one final, brief time. It would seem all along, and up until the very end before Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire for Eternity, he has been serving God's purpose to give mankind a choice. God does not want people to turn to Him because they have to, but because they want to explicitly make that choice. Consequently, another choice has to be represented to make the choice valid.
At the very end, there will be a "Great White Throne Judgment", when unbelievers are judged for their sins. As for those that accepted Christ beforehand, they will not be part of the judgment!
In fact, praise God that one judgment has already happened: the judgment of believers! What that means is that if you are truly born again, then the judgement for your sins has already been made at the Cross. That is a phenomenal thing to understand: Jesus became our substitute and, therefore, took all the judgment intended for our sins upon Himself (Romans 8:3; Galatians 3:13). That is the deep meaning of grace through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!!
Now, that doesn't mean we are to rest easy. The Bible tells us in Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Much more about that important subject can be read in the article entitled "Eternal Salvation" which will be part of the "Related Links" cited at the end of this article.)
So, then, what will Christians be judged for? Understanding that we do not work to be saved; but, rather, we work because we are saved and want to please God, we can then comprehend that the Bible says we are saved to do good works (Ephesians 2:10 and Titus 2:14). The Holy Spirit will empower us to do so (1 Peter 4:11), all for God's glory (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Returning to that final judgment of nonbelievers, once that happens and the Millennium concludes, then true eternity will begin. For believers, it's something very much to look forward to!
As for the "here and now", there's still a lot ahead of us. Christians will experience the Rapture, and then earth will experience the tribulation — a time so bad that the Bible explains it has never been experienced before nor shall it ever be experienced again (Matthew 24:21). If you are a Christian, you should help share God's Word with others and if you are not, then you should evaluate where you want to spend eternity, and do so soon.
I'd like to leave you with the words of Jesus in Luke 21:36, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man”. Maranatha!
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