INTRODUCTION
Men have always dreamed of a golden age. Plato in his Republic envisioned a time when the crooked things in life would be made straight. Bacon dreamed Atlantis would be a place of universal peace and prosperity. Presidents have dreamed of utopia in programs like the new deal, the new frontier, the great society, the new world order, and I have a dream. However, the golden age is not going to be ushered in by man’s programs, plans and policies. It will not happen because of man’s deals and dogmas, laws and legislation, or his treaties and talks. This time will be brought about only when Jesus comes to rule and reign upon the earth. Only during the Millennial reign of Jesus will Paradise Lost become Paradise Loosed. In this message I want to share several aspects concerning Paradise being loosed upon this earth when Jesus comes to establish His earthly Kingdom.
FIRST, THE PROMISE OF THE MILLENNIUM
The promise of the Millennium is based upon a covenant. There are different kinds of covenants in the Bible. There are certain promises that were made to particular men of God. God will always fulfill his promises and covenants, whether made to a man, men, or a nation. There are basically two kinds of covenants.
A) The Conditional Promise -- Here God lays down specific conditions before the promise is fulfilled. For example, 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name (talking about the Israelites), shall humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven. I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Notice, there are certain prerequisites to be met before the privileges are experienced. “If My people…then God.”
B) The Unconditional Covenants -- There are also unconditional covenants. One was the promise God made to David that He was going to establish a kingdom through David’s offspring that would never be overthrown. It is found in 2 Samuel 7:12, “And when the days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers (talking about David dying), I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels and I will establish his kingdom.” This will be fulfilled when Jesus sits on the throne during the Millennium, because Jesus is of the lineage of David. Now you can find that to be true in Matthew 1:1 and following, and Luke 1:31-32.
Another unconditional promise is found in the prophecy of Daniel 2:31-34, “Thou, O king, sawest and beheld a great image…” Nebuchadnezzar has had a dream and Daniel is interpreting it. “This great image whose brightness was excellent stood before thee and the form thereof was terrible. The image head was of fine gold. His breast and arms were of silver. His belly and thighs of brass. His legs of iron. His feet of iron and of clay. Thou sawest until a stone was cut out without hands which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay and break them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken into pieces together, that became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great image. This image was a picture of the world powers that would rule the earth until Jesus comes back to set up His Millennial Kingdom. In that vision are seen the Babylonians, represented by the gold. Daniel 3 records that Nebuchadnezzar made that golden image. The silver represents the reign of the Medes and Persians. The brass symbolized the Greeks and Roman rulers.
Then Daniel said there was coming a ruler whose feet were part iron and part clay. Obviously, this is an inherent weakness—the mixture of iron and clay. This represents the antichrist. He will be a world ruler. The ten toes symbolize the ten nations that will play a part in his federation. The mark of the beast will be employed. In verse thirty-four, Daniel says a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the feet that were made of iron and clay. Then, the Bible says that everything was broken into pieces. This mysterious stone is the Lord Jesus Christ. All through Scripture Jesus is symbolized as the “Stone” or the “Rock”. You can find this in Genesis 49:24, Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, and 1 Corinthians 10:4.
The Lord Jesus Christ is going to destroy the works of darkness at the Battle of Armageddon. He will demolish all enemies and take His rightful place as Ruler of the world. Now, keep in mind that Jesus’ second come in the air was to catch away the saints. He will come to Mount Olivet and there fight against the devil and demonic forces of the world. The Bible says the blood will flow as high as the horse’s reigns. It will be a terrible time of slaughter and bloodshed for the whole world. Jesus will crush the feet of the iron and clay powers. This is the promise of the Millennium.
SECOND, THE PERIOD OF THE MILLENNIUM
Next, I want to discuss the period of the Millennium. How long is it? The word “Millennium” is not found in the Bible, but its lesson is taught. Some may argue that if the word cannot be found then its lesson cannot be taught. However, the words “Trinity” and “Rapture” are not recorded either, but their truths are taught. Two Latin words are employed here, “mili” and “anum.” The word “mili” means one thousand and “anum” means year. Combine them and you have one thousand years. Basically, there are three different views as to when the rapture of the saints will occur and the Millennium will begin.
A) The Post-Millennial View -- Some theologians believe that Jesus will come after the Millennium is ended. They believe the world will keep getting better before Jesus returns to establish His earthly Kingdom. It is obvious that the world is not getting better, but worse. That is the post-Millennial view.
B) The A-Millennial View -- “A” means no one thousand years, or no Millennium. Some theologians advocate that the one thousand year period is figurative and not literal. It is a picture of the spiritual warfare, but not of the literal. So, they advocate there will never be a specific one-thousand-year period. However, Luke 1:31-32 defeats this view because these verses are literal and not figurative. “And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.” Now that verse is literal—it happened. There is no doubt about it. Jesus was conceived and was brought into this world.
Now verse 32 says, “He shall be great.” There is no doubt about that. He is great. “And shall be called the Son of the Highest.” No doubt He is the Son of the Highest. “And the Lord shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” If you are going to take the first part of these verses to be literal, you must take the rest of these verses to be literal also. It is incongruent for an interpreter of Scripture to change horses in the middle of the stream.
Luke says that Jesus is going to come. He is going to be the Son of the Highest. He is going to be great and reign upon David’s throne. If you believe that Jesus came, was the Son of the Highest, was born by the Holy Spirit, and is the Son of God—you have to believe that the rest of it is going to be fulfilled as well. One day He will return and He will establish His Kingdom. That is the a-Millennial view.
C) The Pre-Millennial View -- The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus will rapture the Church before the start of the Millennial period. Immediately following the rapture of the saints, the Judgment Seat of Christ occurs in heaven where the believers give account how they lived their lives as Christians. At the same time upon the earth, a seven-year period of Tribulation takes place, primarily to prepare the Jews to accept Jesus as their true Messiah when He returns to this earth with His saints. At the end of the Tribulation, the Lord will return to earth with the saints to destroy the antichrist and to set up His reign upon the earth for one thousand years. That is the pre-Millennial view.
THIRD, THE PROSPERITY OF THE MILLENNIUM
We have now seen the promise of the Millennium and the period of the Millennium. Allow me to describe another aspect of this paradise loosed, which is the prosperity of the Millennium. Satan is going to be bound. We read this in Revelation 20:1-2, “And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”
A) Satan will be Bound -- Do you know how marvelous that will be? There will be no more deception and rebellion brought on by the devil himself. For a thousand years, Satan will be bound, which tells me two things: first, there is a devil; secondly, he is loose. He is loosed upon this planet to bring rebellion, deception, all kinds of occult practices, all kinds of idolatry, and all kinds of sin. Then, in one day, he will be bound for a thousand years. But, while Satan is bound, peace on earth will abound.
B) Peace will Abound -- In Isaiah 2:3-4, the prophet talks about a time when peace will abound, “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, ‘Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways. And we will walk in His paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.’ And he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore.” What a day that is going to be! They will learn war no more. They’ll not learn how to fight; but how to fellowship.
Micah 4:4 says, “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid. For the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it. For all the people will walk every one in the name of His God. And we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and forever.” See? Satan is going to be bound and peace will abound on earth.
C) Nature will be Unbound -- Paul said in Romans 8:19-21 these words, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
Nature is waiting for Jesus to come back. The animal kingdom is going to be transformed. You find this in Isaiah 11:6-9, “And the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together and the little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the whole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den (or the snake’s den).” In other words, nature will be unbound. Then he says in verse nine, “They shall not hurt, nor destroy in all My holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
The animal kingdom now lives according to the fang and claw. It is operated by the survival of the fittest. But one day, when Jesus comes to establish His Kingdom, Satan is going to be bound, peace will abound, and nature will be unbound. What a day that is going to be! When the Millennium becomes reality, things will be different. So we have seen the promise, the period, and the prosperity of the Millennium. But there is one more aspect that I want to deal with as it relates to paradise loosed, and that is about the people of the Millennium. There are going to be two classes of people
FOURTH, THE PEOPLE OF THE MILLENNIUM
A) The First Class of People are the Reigners -- You find this in Revelation 20, where John says that God’s people are going to reign over certain cities and places of the world. The reigners will include the Old Testament saints, all Christians who were raptured before the Tribulation, and all believers who were martyred in the Tribulation period who did not bow and bend to the pressures of the antichrist. These are going to be the reigners.
B) All Others will be the Remainers -- All of those who survived the plagues, pains, trials, torments, and diseases of the Tribulation will be ushered into the Millennial Kingdom. They will not pass away until some further point in the Millennial Kingdom. They will have gone through the Tribulation and into the Millennium. They may even be lost. They may not know Christ as Savior, but their rebellion and their rejection will be suppressed by the authority of Christ’s rule and reign in His earthly Kingdom. The extent of the Kingdom is summed up when Isaiah says, “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” The expansion of this Millennial empire will materialize when Jesus sits on His Throne. Everything will be different when Jesus comes back to rule and reign upon the earth.
It is going to be different when Jesus comes back again. The first time He came, Jesus rode a donkey. The next time, He’s going to ride a white horse. The first time He stood before Pilate; this time Pilate will stand before Him. At first Jesus was rejected; at the last every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. At Christ’s first advent He wore a crown of thorns; at His second He will wear the diadems of glory. The world is going to changes when Jesus organizes His Millennial Kingdom. Hollywood and glitz will be replaced with holiness and godliness.
This preacher wants to say to the ACLU that they had better hurry and get their punches in now. The Planned Parenthood doctors had better murder all the babies they can in their abortion clinics now. The atheists should shake their devilish fingers at the Church while they can. The homosexual community had better hustle to glory in their shame now. The movie industry should scurry to produce all the immoral films they can. Liberal preachers, ungodly newsmen and lukewarm Christians should twist or disregard God’s Word while they have time.
When Jesus returns, He will be in full control as Master of the mighty, Captain of the conquerors, Leader of the legislators, Presider over all presidents, the Prince of princes, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. He is coming back with all power, with priestly policies, and will establish His Millennial Kingdom upon the earth. He will rule and reign as Supreme Lord of all.
CONCLUSION
As I close, I want to ask if you are serving Jesus as you should? Are you ready for the coming of Christ, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and the Millennial reign of Christ upon this planet? Your leadership and place of service during the Millennial Kingdom will be based upon how you live and serve Jesus today.
What about you who do not know Jesus? Are you ready to repent of your sins, to surrender your will and ways to Christ, and to invite Jesus to become the Lord and Savior of your life? Are you ready for the Coming of Jesus?
Suddenly, Jesus will return and call His Bride home. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb could begin tomorrow. Soon, Christ’s Millennial Kingdom could be established. Life will be altogether different. His coming could be tonight!
