The Kingdom That Comes With Jesus: Premillennialism And The Harmony Of Scripture -- By: Craig A. Blaising

Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 14:1 (Spring 2010)
Article: The Kingdom That Comes With Jesus: Premillennialism And The Harmony Of Scripture
Author: Craig A. Blaising


The Kingdom That Comes With Jesus: Premillennialism And The Harmony Of Scripture

Craig Blaising

Central to Christian faith and hope is the firm belief that Jesus is coming again. Jesus Himself predicted it before the cross (“I will come again,” Jn. 14:3). Angels proclaimed it after his ascension (“This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven;” Acts 1:11). The earliest prayers of the church expressed the longing of Maranatha—“Our Lord, come” (1 Cor 16:22)!

When Jesus comes, the kingdom comes. Certainly, even now, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matt 28:18). He is, presently, in His ascended position, seated at the right-hand of God (Acts 2:30-36; Eph 1:20-23) as the head of all rule and authority (Col 2:10), and we who have placed our faith in Christ have already been “transferred” into His kingdom (Col 1:13). Because of this, it is common to speak of Christ’s kingdom as having been inaugurated at His ascension. However, the Scripture is quite clear that the prophesied restoration of all things awaits the future coming of Jesus (Acts 3:20-21). This is why, for the most part, the New Testament speaks of the kingdom as coming in the future. Its coming is correlated with Christ’s future coming. When he comes, “He will sit on His glorious throne” and judge the nations (Matt 25:31). Our inheritance which is presently being kept in heaven (1 Pet 1:4) will be revealed at that time (1 Pet 1:7, 13), and in that future day, when he comes, he will welcome all who belong to Him into “the kingdom prepared ... from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:34). This is the focus of all our hope (1 Pet 1:13), the appearing of Jesus and His kingdom (1 Tim 4:1).

Premillennialism, the subject of this essay, is the belief that the future kingdom that comes with Jesus will undergo a two-stage fulfillment: first, a millennial phase, a one-thousand year reign of

Christ and his saints from the time of his coming to the time of the final judgment, and secondly, the final, eternal kingdom of God, extending from the time of ...

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()