The Present Reign of Christ

One of the primary focuses of eschatological debates centers upon Christ’s office as King. For Dispensationalists, those who distinguish sharply between Israel and the Church, the realization of this office will occur during a future millennial age where the nation of Israel will be restored to its former glory. It is often argued from this perspective that Christ offered the Kingdom to Israel, but since they rejected their Messiah the Kingdom would have to be postponed. However, the Biblical depiction of Christ’s Kingdom is quite different from the expectations that Dispensationalists have.

To start, Christ did not offer a Kingdom, but proclaimed it. Through his earthly ministry the presence of the Kingdom was clearly manifested. After casting out a demon Christ taught, “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons then the Kingdom of God has come upon you” (Mt 12:28). Jesus often told parables about the nature of his Kingdom that shifted the Warrior-King paradigm that the Jews had. He even explicitly spoke against such militant expectations and professed to Pilate that his Kingdom “was not of this world” (Jn 18:36).

The Gospels do not depict an offer of a Kingdom. In fact, we see the opposite. After Jesus fed five thousand men (not to mention women and children), the people recognized that he was the one who was to come, as Moses promised (Jn 6:14 cf. Deut 18:18). In line with the Jewish expectations of their day, John tells us that they attempted to take him by force and make him King (Jn 6:15). However, Jesus responded by retreating to the mountain by himself. If Jesus came offering a Kingdom then he would have had a large enough gathering to instantiate a strong movement. This however was not a characteristic of the true nature of the Kingdom. For as we will see, a Kingdom without the cross would be no Kingdom at all. (Of course, Jesus' temptation in the wilderness by Satan to give him all the kingdoms of the world was a true temptation because it would avoid the sufferings of the cross).

In his very first sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter spoke emphatically on the nature of the Kingdom in relation to Christ’s death on the cross. Peter declared that this event occurred “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). We are not meant to think that the Kingdom failed in light of Christ’s death. On the contrary, Peter argues that the Kingdom continues because of the Resurrection. Quoting from Psalm 16, Peter makes special note of David’s words, which read, “You will not let your Holy One see corruption.” The fact of David’s death was certain and it was common knowledge as to where he was buried. Because of this, Peter reasoned that the “Holy One” who did not see corruption was Christ, not David. This was because of the Resurrection. Peter continues that David spoke in this way because he knew God promised him that one of his descendents would sit on his throne. The connection between the Davidic promise of a Kingdom and the Resurrection is tied to Christ’s heavenly session at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:31-33 cf. Eph 1:18-23, Heb 1:8-13). Christ is seated upon the true throne and reigns supreme as the Sovereign Lord of the Universe. Peter’s apologetic for the Kingdom is rooted in the Resurrection precisely because Christ was seated upon a throne much more supreme than the earthly throne of David.

The Apostle Paul also draws a connection between the Resurrection of Christ and his Kingdom. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives a great defense of Christ’s Resurrection and by extension our Resurrection. We have hope of our Resurrection because Christ was raised as the “first fruits” (1 Cor 15:23). When he returns those who belong to Christ will be raised and as he says, “then comes the end” (1 Cor 15:24). Interestingly, he did not say, “then starts the millennium.” Paul’s chronological timeline of eschatology clearly goes from Second Advent to Eternal State. It is a simple “this age,” “age to come” model. The former characterized by the temporal, and the later characterized by the eternal. When the end comes, as Paul says, Christ will give the Kingdom to the Father. Therefore, at the present time he must be in control of this Kingdom in order to submit it to the Father. In fact, Paul goes on to say that before he gives the Kingdom to the Father he must reign until he has “destroyed every rule, authority and power” (1 Cor 15:24 cf. 1 Pet 3:22). Simply put, Paul is teaching that this process of putting things under the submission of Christ is a current process. The last of these enemies to be submitted will be death (1 Cor 15:25). Indeed, when the perishable puts on the imperishable in the “twinkling of an eye,” Paul says that “Death will be swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor 15:54-55). The end of death is the end of the temporal age. Paul is not depicting a future millennial reign, but the current process of consigning all enemies to be Christ’s footstool (Ps 110:1 cf. Heb 10:12-13). After all enemies are destroyed, Christ will submit the Kingdom to the Father so that God may be all in all (1 Cor 15:28).

The imagery of the Kingdom is all over the New Testament. To deny Christ his rightful throne is to gut the Gospel of its current authority in the world. As dead hearts are transformed by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, they are transferred from the realm of darkness into the Kingdom of Christ (Col 1:13). The Kingdom’s power secures the believer because it is an unshakable Kingdom (Heb 12:28). The true believer will never falter from faith as long as the Sovereign King cries out on his behalf, “Mine!”

Undoubtedly this area of Eschatology is a heated issue. Certainly, most Dispensationalists would disagree with this entry because of a commitment to “literal” fulfillment of Biblical prophecies. However, the best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture. Therefore, let us turn and embrace this King who reigns supreme as the preeminent head of the Church. Let us wait with eager longing for the Blessed Hope of the Church; the eschatological joy that awaits those who place their trust in this King!

Sex & Eschatology

This summer I want to look at several aspects related to Eschatology. I hope to look at categories normally discussed in Eschatological debates like the Millennium, the Parousia, the Resurrection, and other issues. However, I'd like to start this summer off with a common question that undoubtedly most of us have asked, "Will there be sex in heaven?"

I remember when I was younger being told that Jesus could come back at any moment. Instead of erupting in joy at such a statement I would often think that Jesus should wait, perhaps until I have at least been married. I also remember having the thought that I hope I don't die until I have had sex first. But I think there is something completely backwards about this type of thinking. Do we seriously desire to postpone the grand reunion of our souls with our Maker for a mere earthly pleasure? Hopefully the absurdities of my previous thoughts are evident.

If we really believe the Scriptures when they tell us that in the presence of God there is fullness of joy (Ps 16:11), then why do we often hear young Christians say similar things as I once did? Even more, some suggest (wrongly, as I hope to show) that perhaps there will be marriage in Heaven. But will the joy of Heaven be too bleak for us that we must have a need for sex? I want to probe this issue because I believe there is something worshipful that can take place through this reflection.

In Mark 12:18-27 a group of Sadducees come to Jesus. In a common riposte fashion they publically challenge Jesus' view of the Resurrection. Attempting to stump Jesus they depict a scenario in which a woman marries a man with seven brothers. Eventually the husband dies with no offspring so one of the brothers marries the woman, and this cycle continues until all the brothers had married her and died. The Sadducees then ask Jesus which of the brothers will be married to the woman in the Resurrection. The question was meant, from the perspective of the Sadducees, to point out a logical absurdity with the concept of the Resurrection. However, they were wrong in assuming that marriage carried over into eternity. Note what Jesus says, "When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given into marriage." It is clear that Jesus' response removed all doubt as to whether there is marriage in Heaven. Not only does marriage not continue into Heaven, but there is no subsequent act of marriage that takes place in Heaven.

For some people this is troublesome. They assume that if Heaven is a place of eternal pleasure, and sex is pleasurable, then why can't the two coexist? I believe there is a fundamental problem with this question. For one, the assumption seems to make earthly pleasure the supreme form of pleasure. It also fails to realize that Heaven is itself superior for not containing it. For if sex is the greatest of earthly pleasures (as veterans might say) and it is not even present in Heaven, then how much more pleasurable is that place? What must Heaven be like if even the greatest of earthly pleasures is missing? The absence of sex ought to be a cause for joy rather than sadness or bitterness because Heaven is not less joyous in light of this fact, but more so. I believe C.S. Lewis had this concept in mind in his book, "Miracles." There he says that if you tell a very young boy that sex is the highest pleasure, he will ask if it is something that involves eating chocolate (p.260). In this same way, sex is merely "chocolate candy" in relation to our understanding of the pleasure that awaits us in being in the presence of God.

We see this reminder even in the book of Ecclesiastes. All is vanity "under the sun," the author writes nearly thirty times. The "under the sun" perspective, that is, what is merely concerned with earthly and temporal pleasures, will ultimately lead to unsatisfaction. The true object of our joy is indeed "Beyond the sun!" The author writes, "Who can eat or find pleasure without Him?" (Ecc. 2:25). This is precisely because "He has set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecc. 3:11). That longing we have has an object absent from the temporal realm. This longing leads us directly into the throne room of God, where our Bridegroom is seated at the Father's right hand waiting for us.

This is precisely why we will have no impulses for sex in Heaven. Those affections that we possess, in that sense, here on earth will be focused on our Bridegroom, which is Christ. No earthly relationship can compare to relating to our Savior as a Bride relates to her Bridegroom. This idea provokes so much worship within me that the thought of maintaining an earthly marriage would literally be archaic. Note the words of God to his people through the prophet Hosea, "And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness" (Ho. 2:19). Can earthly marriage compete with those supernal images? In Paul we see a similar marriage motif, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-26). As the Bride of Christ we have the glorious opportunity to relate to our Maker in a relationship that marriage imagery can only faintly describe. The substance will be far more grand, and the romantic longing that all of us have will be satisfied throughout all eternity.

Therefore, sex is a type. It is a type of the eschatological joy that we will experience in relationship with God. Human relationships can never do what the archetypal relationship can do. All longing that we have within us to be in relationship with another relational being, and all longing that we have to flee loneliness cannot be subsided in even the closest of our human relationships. Thus, Sex and all other forms of longing, point us to that "country whose builder is God." All unfulfilled desires and unsatisfaction in this world has been pointing us to that heavenly country. In agreement with this I conclude with the first question from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, "Q. What is the chief end of man? A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever."

New Blogs Coming!

My plan for this summer is to do a series of Blogs on different issues related to Eschatology like the Resurrection, the Binding of Satan, the concept of a Future Temple, the Millennial age, the New Earth, and others. I currently have 9 separate issues I'd like to unpack throughout the summer. So hopefully there can be a nice developing dialog over the next few months about Eschatology!