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24-04-2014, 08:00 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
One can only imagine what peace and prosperity will result from such a world government. With Christ and his perfected people in control, acknowledged by the entire population, the kingdoms of the world will have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Rev 11:15). Righteousness will flow through society like a river. That persistent hope of the human race, the ‘Golden Age’, will have arrived. Truly, paradise will have been regained. Such an idyllic existence would surely be heaven on earth and could go on for ever. But appearances can be deceptive. An ideal government and environment may satisfy the human desire for peace and prosperity, but they do not change human nature. People may be happy with a benevolent dictatorship when it brings such obvious benefits – until they are offered the chance of freedom from that authority. Incredibly, when at the end of the millennium the devil is again free to influence human affairs, he is still able to plant hatred for the people and places associated with God. He gathers forces from the four corners of the earth to make a final bid for independence from the Creator of the universe. This time God himself, not Christ, destroys the vast human army (and with fire rather than word). The indestructible devil is finally given his deserts and thrown into the ‘lake of fire’, joining his two henchmen already there (for what then happens to him, see below). Such is the extraordinary series of events before the Day of Judgement, if this passage is taken at face value. It is not easy to imagine such things happening and even more difficult to understand why they should. We are not told, and any attempt to explain it runs the risk of speculation. Yet two results of the ‘millennium’ may also indicate the reasons. On the one hand, the reign of Christ and its benefits will be tangibly and visibly demonstrated in the very sphere where they were rejected. This would be entirely consistent with the God who vindicates the righteous. This world has seen only too clearly the results of Satan’s reign; surely it ought to see what it can be like in the hands of the Son of God. After all, our world was always intended to be a gift of the Father to his Son and it is God’s purpose to ‘bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ’ (Eph 1:10). It is entirely congruous that the Father should want to manifest this on the old earth, before it passes away and gives place to the new. On the other hand, the ‘millennium’ will also clearly demonstrate that a change of government is not the final solution to the world’s problems. A perfect sovereign needs perfect subjects if there is to be a perfect kingdom. Outward acquiescence is not the same as inward acceptance. The final tragedy in the ‘millennium’ reveals that human nature, even under ideal conditions, is still vulnerable to offers of autonomy, as it was in the garden of Eden. This dual demonstration, of Christ’s power for good and Satan’s power for evil, is a fitting prelude to the Day of Judgement. The issue is clarified, the alternatives fully exposed. As there are only two rulers in this world, there will be only two destinies in the next. Ultimately, we spend eternity with Christ or with Satan. It is black and white; there are no shades of grey.
Pawson, David (2011-04-10). The Road to Hell (Kindle Locations 2741-2750). Terra Nova Publications.
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?180189-A-change-of-government-is-not-the-final-solution-to-the-world’s-problems&goto=newpost).
One can only imagine what peace and prosperity will result from such a world government. With Christ and his perfected people in control, acknowledged by the entire population, the kingdoms of the world will have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Rev 11:15). Righteousness will flow through society like a river. That persistent hope of the human race, the ‘Golden Age’, will have arrived. Truly, paradise will have been regained. Such an idyllic existence would surely be heaven on earth and could go on for ever. But appearances can be deceptive. An ideal government and environment may satisfy the human desire for peace and prosperity, but they do not change human nature. People may be happy with a benevolent dictatorship when it brings such obvious benefits – until they are offered the chance of freedom from that authority. Incredibly, when at the end of the millennium the devil is again free to influence human affairs, he is still able to plant hatred for the people and places associated with God. He gathers forces from the four corners of the earth to make a final bid for independence from the Creator of the universe. This time God himself, not Christ, destroys the vast human army (and with fire rather than word). The indestructible devil is finally given his deserts and thrown into the ‘lake of fire’, joining his two henchmen already there (for what then happens to him, see below). Such is the extraordinary series of events before the Day of Judgement, if this passage is taken at face value. It is not easy to imagine such things happening and even more difficult to understand why they should. We are not told, and any attempt to explain it runs the risk of speculation. Yet two results of the ‘millennium’ may also indicate the reasons. On the one hand, the reign of Christ and its benefits will be tangibly and visibly demonstrated in the very sphere where they were rejected. This would be entirely consistent with the God who vindicates the righteous. This world has seen only too clearly the results of Satan’s reign; surely it ought to see what it can be like in the hands of the Son of God. After all, our world was always intended to be a gift of the Father to his Son and it is God’s purpose to ‘bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ’ (Eph 1:10). It is entirely congruous that the Father should want to manifest this on the old earth, before it passes away and gives place to the new. On the other hand, the ‘millennium’ will also clearly demonstrate that a change of government is not the final solution to the world’s problems. A perfect sovereign needs perfect subjects if there is to be a perfect kingdom. Outward acquiescence is not the same as inward acceptance. The final tragedy in the ‘millennium’ reveals that human nature, even under ideal conditions, is still vulnerable to offers of autonomy, as it was in the garden of Eden. This dual demonstration, of Christ’s power for good and Satan’s power for evil, is a fitting prelude to the Day of Judgement. The issue is clarified, the alternatives fully exposed. As there are only two rulers in this world, there will be only two destinies in the next. Ultimately, we spend eternity with Christ or with Satan. It is black and white; there are no shades of grey.
Pawson, David (2011-04-10). The Road to Hell (Kindle Locations 2741-2750). Terra Nova Publications.
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?180189-A-change-of-government-is-not-the-final-solution-to-the-world’s-problems&goto=newpost).