This is the second installment of a series of articles written by Wayne Jackson on this subject. This one appeared in the March 1973 edition of the "Christian Courier" published by the East Main Street Church of Christ in Stockton, California.
The necessary implications of the premillennial doctrine are grave indeed. As stated in installment one, the theory is advanced that the surprise rejection of Christ by the Jews resulted in the postponement of the kingdom and the establishment of the church as an afterthought. There are three serious errors involved in this assertion.
CHRIST'S REJECTION BY THE JEWS - The premillennial view implies that the Jewish rejection of Christ was an unexpected miscarriage in the plans of God. Whereas, the truth is, that rejection was plainly foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Isaiah had prophetically asked: "Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1) In the New Testament, when describing the rebellion of the Jews, John wrote: "But though He had done so many signs before them, yet they believed not on Him; that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, 'Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?'" (John 12:37-38) Again, it was prophesied: "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner." (Psalm 118:22; Cf. Matthew 21:33-46) Having been foretold centuries before, the Jewish rejection of Christ was therefore no surprise!
THE KINGDOM - Nothing in the Scriptures is any clearer than the fact that the kingdom of God was established shortly after the death of Christ. Note the following.
(1) The prophet Daniel declared: "And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed..." (Daniel 2:44). The "those kings" of the prophecy were Roman kings (the fourth part of the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel 2:31). Now the Roman empire came into dominance in 63 B.C. and it fell in 476 A.D. hence, it follows that the kingdom of God WAS established sometime between those two dates, or else Daniel was a false prophet! The premillennial assertion that the kingdom was not set up on the first century, but is yet to come, strikes at the very heart of the inspiration of the prophets, and is therefore, infidelic in substance!
(2) John the Baptizer, Jesus himself and the twelve disciples all preached that the kingdom was "at hand" literally meaning, "is come near" (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 10:7). (Compare Luke 21:20 for the meaning of "at hand".) Thus, they preached the nearness of the kingdom of God, and such can scarcely be harmonized with the notion that it hasn't come!
(3) Christ exclaimed, "Verily I say unto you, there are some here of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power" (Mark 9:1). Either the kingdom came within the lifetime of those to whom He referred, or they are getting very old! Observe please -
a. Jesus promised that the kingdom would come with power. (Mark 9:1)
b. But that power would accompany the reception of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8)
c. Thus, the kingdom would come with the arrival of the Spirit.
d. But the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost (some 50 days after Christ's death. (Acts 2:4)
e. Therefore, the kingdom was at that time established!
(4) On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter preached the inaugural discourse and thereby used one of the "keys to the kingdom" (Matthew 16:19) to admit the obedient into the church. If Peter used the kingdom's key to open the church, when they were not the same institution, he stands convicted of burglarizing the church of the Lord!
(5) Shortly before His death, the Savior promised His disciples, "...ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom..." (Luke 22:30). The Lord's table was placed within the kingdom. If one can find disciples partaking of that table, it will be a demonstration of the kingdom's existence. Now notice; when Paul wrote to, "the church...at Corinth" (I Corinthians 1:2) he rebuked them for their perversion in partaking of the "table of the Lord" (I Corinthians 10:21), and so it is quite evident that the Corinthian Christians were in the kingdom.
(6) When Paul wrote to the Colossians, he affirmed that God, "delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love..." (1:13). The term "translated" (Greek methistemi) means to, "remove from one place to another." (Arndt & Gingrich, Greek Lexicon, p. 500) Then tense of the verb reveals that their entrance into the kingdom had already occurred at some point in the past.
(7) When John wrote to, "the seven churches that are in Asia" (Revelation 1:4) he stated that Christ had loosed them from their sins by His blood and made them "to be a kingdom" (1:6). Further, He was a "partaker" with them in that kingdom (1:9). How could such have been, if the kingdom had been postponed?
(8) The existence of God's kingdom on earth is further demonstrated by the fact that the same process which moves one into the kingdom also puts him into the church. Jesus taught that the "new birth" consisting of being born of "water and the Spirit" enables one to "enter the kingdom" (John 3:5). This is simply receiving the Spirit's message (the gospel) and being baptized in water; the very thing which puts one into the "one body" (I Corinthians 12:13), which is "the church" (Colossians 1:18). Hence, to enter the church is equal to becoming a citizen of the kingdom. Thus, the doctrine that the kingdom was postponed because of the Jews' rejection of Christ is totally false.
THE CHURCH - The claim that the church was set up as an "interim measure" due to Christ's postponement of the kingdom, actually suggests that the idea that the church is but an accident which was no part of God's original plan. One could scarcely over-exaggerate the error here. The Bible clearly teaches that "the manifold wisdom of God" is made known "through the church" and this is "according to the eternal purpose (plan) which He purposed in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:10-11). Hence, the church was in God's plan from eternity. Further, the death of Christ was known before the foundation of the world (I Peter 1:19-20; Revelation 13:8) and the shed blood of that death "purchased the church" (Acts 20:28). If the death of Christ was thus known for ages, it is certain that the result of that death was likewise known, namely, the establishment of the church. Actually, the church is simply a body of baptized believers who have been saved from their past sins (Acts 2:38; I Corinthians 12:13). The church is the saved! (Ephesians 5:23). If the church is but an accident, that implies an accidential salvation! That the church was a part of God's original plan for human redemption is further seen in the types of the Mosaic age. The tabernacle (specifically the Holy Place) and subsequently the temple, were types of the church (I Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:21; Hebrews 9:9) and therefore pictured its future establishment and its integral part in the plan of Jehovah.
We must therefore, unhesitatingly reject the premillennial doctrine as an anti-Biblical heresy that undermines faith in the accuracy of the Word of God. Many have, undoubtedly, innocently fallen into this error. So we must inform ourselves and instruct them more accurately in the Truth of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment