The Present reign of Jesus Christ

[Amanah]

The Revelation is powerfully encouraging when read symbolically, not literally, nor necessarily chronologically.
Satan is already bound, and the Church is reigning with Christ now.

The Present Reign of Jesus Christ

The Psalmist David wrote: “The Lord said unto my Lord, ‘Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of Thy strength [Wonder what that is?] out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies [emphasis mine]. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power’…” (Psalm 110:1-3a.)

Unbelievably, in the face of clear scripture, there still is a debate over whether Christ is presently reigning on this earth, and if not, when? And if presently, how? Furthermore, did Jesus “bind” Satan or not? What do the Scriptures say – present or future?

In chapter 20: 1-2 of the symbolic Book of Revelation, we read: “I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”

Immediately, most will be entertaining the concept of a futuristic millennium with these verses. That is not my subject matter at present. This is not an article about the millennium and its various schools of thought. However, if you believe it to be a literal thousand years in the future, you are still in eschatological infancy.

“And bound him”: Jesus came first to bind Satan then to destroy him. This binding was for the purpose of restricting his power to totally throw entire nations into complete idolatry. (I am not saying that this stops individual temptation.) History records nation after nation, civilization after civilization which existed under one form or another under Satan’s complete deception, i.e., Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and the Romans. The boasting of Satan is clear during the temptation of Jesus. “And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it” (Luke 4:5-6). However, the Scriptures and history reveal that Christ turned the tables.

The great historian, Will Durant, observed:

Jesus came and demonstrated his commission by signs and wonders, especially by displaying His authority over demons. He said, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matthew 12:28). Jesus proved His kingdom authority by casting out devils. However, the people reacted and accused him of doing these wonders by the authority of the Devil. Immediately Jesus responded, “…how can one enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house” (Matthew 12:29). The message is clear, first “bind” then spoil the other’s dominion. This, Jesus did. Please note: The word “bind” here is the same word which appears in Revelation 20:2. Christ, in this present reign, has bound the devil. It’s just that simple. (Other verses which vindicate this understanding are: Lk. 10:17-19; Jn. 12:31; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; Eph. 4:8 and 1 Jn. 3:8.)

God’s true Israel needs to awaken to her identity and to the realization that she has the power to do a better job. Our power has been drastically limited by Dispensationalism’s “other gospel.” This “other gospel” bemoans a concept that evil is becoming stronger. It lies and tries to convince us that the world is coming more and more under the control of the Devil. Wake up! Satan is bound, and we know it not! Christ has given us this great chain of circumstance. We can tighten the chain but do it not!

Now that we are brought into remembrance concerning the binding of Satan and the plundering of his strong house by Jesus, we turn to the concept of reigning. The “my Lord” of David’s Psalm is proclaimed by Scripture to have Zion ruling (reigning) in the midst of her enemies. Remember, “Thy people” are the rulers. Was this authority for only some blissful millennial age in the future, or is it present? I assert that we are reigning with Christ now in the midst of our enemies!

Paul reminded Timothy that “the word of God is not bound” (II Timothy 2:9). He went further and proclaimed a “faithful saying” which has major implications concerning our present reign with Christ. “For if we died with him, we shall also live with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself” (II Timothy 2: 11-13). Have we died; are we living; do we suffer, and are we reigning – presently? What sayeth the scriptures? Did Paul address these situations?

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death…” (Romans 6:3-4a). Yes, we have died. Furthermore, Paul states that we are now living with Christ: “…Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4b). During this living with Christ, we “shall suffer persecution” (II Timothy 3:12b). Therefore, the reward of this death, suffering and life: “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).

http://www.historicist.com/key-interpretations/blog

[coksiw]

So when the apostles preached they said that Satan was out and doing his thing and that we had to be careful of his evil works and such.

Is our Gospel different than theirs?

Be careful with the allegorical interpretation of the Scripture, it has messed up so many lives already to the point that some believe that there is no resurrection, or the resurrection is really of spirits (our graves won’t be empty) or coming of the Lord, or judgment.

The Apostolic interpretation of the scripture is the historical-grammatical method.

See it this way: if somebody preaches a Gospel that is different than what the apostles preached, then their interpretation of the Scripture must be wrong. The Apostles preached a future (not past) resurrection of the dead (different than the analogy of being raised up in Christ after baptism), a future (not past) coming of the Lord in the clouds, a present (not past) work of Satan against the Saints to make them sin, etc...
You know what Paul says about different Gospels

[consapente89]

I guess I'll just remain in "eschatological infancy"..

[consapente89]

Originally Posted by Amanah

The Revelation is powerfully encouraging when read symbolically, not literally, nor necessarily chronologically.
Satan is already bound, and the Church is reigning with Christ now.

Encouraging perhaps, but false, nonetheless.

[Amanah]

warnings noted and appreciated.

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by consapente89

I guess I'll just remain in "eschatological infancy"..

Oh, sarcasm, right?

Then are you a eschatological scholar?

[Esaias]

Looks like a lot of folks did not understand what sister Amanah posted.

The tl;dr version: Jesus is CHRIST, which means reigning son of God. The adversaries of God have been defeated by Him and it is our duty to manifest that WORD in the here and now. As we believe and pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN" we are to expect that our prayer is heard and that we receive the things we ask for. Thus, we are to expect and work for Christ's kingdom and dominion to increase throughout every sphere of every person's life, in every nation, until the kingdom has completely filled the whole earth - as prophecied in Daniel 2.

[Esaias]

Does anyone know the history of Pisistratus? Just wondering...

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by Esaias

Does anyone know the history of Pisistratus? Just wondering...

Why?

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

Why?

Two days ago I was reading the kids a bed time story (Herodotus' Histories, Book I) and we read his account of Pisistratus and "the most ridiculous event in all history".

Pisistratus was scheming a return to power in Athens, which was of course devoted to Athena. So he grabbed some tall farm girl and dressed her up in armour, put her on a wagon, and spread rumours among the countryside that the goddess herself was escorting Pisistratus back to power. The people fell for it.

History doesnt repeat, but it sure rhymes.