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CHRISTIANS WILL REIGN, RULE AND JUDGE
by Jacques More
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Christians will reign, where? They will rule, when? Who, or what, will be judged?
Many questions arise out of such a title.
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This is an article about bible prophecy. Where, when and who is involved are relevant, both in regards to the actual time prophesied and, to the present.
Why?
If there is a time when the saints - as the bible calls all Christians - will do such things, then there is a responsibility in the present which affects that time.
Jesus made that clear.
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Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?
Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
Matthew 24:45-47
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Our faithfulness now in what God has given us to do is directly related to the responsibilities given us when Jesus returns. If we know what we are meant to do now, and are active in doing that, then we will be rewarded with more to do later. This is because there will be jobs to do and the Lord needs people he can trust to do those tasks. He knows who he can trust later: those who are faithful and true now.
Those who know they have something to do now, but are doing the opposite will be seen as unfit to be given more to do. They will not be given new jobs to do, but instead treated as if they had not been known in the first place.
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But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24:48-51 | |
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So it is clear, our faithfulness or our deceit will be responded to appropriately. What we do now affects what we do later. |
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REIGN, RULE, and JUDGE
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Reign | |
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If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
2 Timothy 2:12 | |
Here Christians are written to and told that when Jesus reigns, if they have endured, they will also reign with him. Rule |
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And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations-
'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the potter's vessels shall be broken to pieces'-
As I also have received from My Father . . .
Revelation 2:26-27 | |
Here again, Christian believers are told that if they overcome, they will rule over the nations.
Judge
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Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 | |
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Paul again writing to Christians says that they will judge the world. And, not only the world, but also angels will be judged by us. Paul uses this to show that Christian believers, with God's mind discerned, are well able to judge individual people and situations here and now, since they will judge in a bigger arena later.
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So?
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All 3, 'to reign', 'to rule' and, 'to judge' relate to Christians in the time Jesus is here on earth following his return:
There is no sense in mentioning a rule over nations if these nations do not exist anymore.
There is no sense in saying there is an opportunity to judge the world if the world to be judged is not a factor after Jesus' 2nd coming.
There is no sense in saying we will reign with Jesus, if there is no one, and no place to reign over.
So, any view that suggests Jesus' return means no more involvement on this earth is obliterated by these truths. |
A belief that when Jesus returns, there will not be any more responsibility is false.
A belief that heaven is the only reality after Jesus' return is false.
Does this mean there will not be a place where all the good guys go - a paradise?
Does this mean there will not be a heavenly place to live in forever?
No, it does not mean all that. Yet!
The bible tells us that there is a time on earth with Jesus then, there will be a time eternal with the Father. This will be in a new heaven and a new earth.
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'For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,' says the LORD, 'So shall your descendants and your name remain.' Isaiah 66:22 | |
This new earth we are told will have no more sea and that God will dwell on this earthly eternal 'paradise' (Revelation 21:1, 3-4). So in the end yes, there will be a final 'heavenly place' with God present - In that sense.
But, before all that happens there will be a time on earth with Jesus as the Ruler after his return to this earth. So the question now is how long for? That is another question to add to when and where?
Already the passage about who to judge has been answered. We will judge the world and we will judge angels. When is answered by saying it is with Jesus present that we do this. So it is when he returns that we do this. So, the final questions remaining are where and for how long?
Well we have a clue to where in the Isaiah passage just quoted. Whose descendants and whose name remains? Since this is written to Israel as a people in contrast to the Gentile nations (non-Jews), then the nation of Israel shall remain. But Paul also wrote that 'not all Israel who are of Israel' (Romans 9:6) and 'and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them' (Romans 11:17). Two things are also true. The wicked Jews will not be named 'of Israel' and the righteous Gentiles (e.g. Believing Christians) will be grafted into the natural tree. So, where, is answered us by saying that the place is Israel and, Jerusalem as its new capital, under Jesus (Isaiah 66:20, Zechariah 14:16). Now, for how long a time will this be?
The only place I know of, that gives a length of time for this period on earth for Jesus and his saints is in Revelation: This book also gives a clear example of a time of 42 months to be meant literally (Revelation 13:5). This can be seen by the parallel prophetic passage that gives this same period in days and 3½ years (Daniel 12:7,11). The length of time of rule given by the book of Revelation is 1,000 years. If the book is literal in terms of 42 months, should we not take it literally for that too?
Christians will be called,
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. . . priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Revelation 20:6 | |
This length of time is called the millennium.
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Ref. S.062
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Unless otherwise stated Bible quotes are from the New King
James Version. |
© copyright Thomas Nelson Inc. 1979,1980,1982. |
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© copyright Jacques More 2007. All Rights Reserved. |
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