How The Prophets Prove Postmillennialism
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INTRODUCTION
A couple of months ago, we began this series called "A Practical Postmillennialism." And the goal of this series was to do three things. First, I wanted to show how the historic premillennial, dispensational, and amillennial views were deficient and did not actually motivate the Church of God to take godly action in our world. Instead, it was my contention that those views have sowed rank defeatism in our ranks and a putrid kind of pessimism that causes us to disengage and avoid culture. Depending on the view, this defeatism manifests itself in varying degrees of antipathy towards the mission of God, from intentional abandonment of the world and culture to paralyzed immobility. This, along with other spiritual canker sores, has left the ChurchChurch plagued with hopelessness and abandoning her Christ-commissioned role to bring the nations into the obedience of Christ (Matthew 28:19). Instead of discipling the West, the Western Church has been discipled by the West. Instead of teaching the nations how to obey Jesus Christ, we have allowed them to teach us how to walk in the counsel of the wicked (Psalm 1:1). Instead of spreading His victory, we have become addicted to defeat.
This most certainly needs to be repented of, and I believe much of where the change needs to begin in modern Christianity is in dumping the eschatological defeatism that got us here. Because as we have been saying from the beginning, if you believe we lose down here, you will not build down here. If this world is nothing more than a sinking ship, you will not invest in it, you will not work in it, and you will not attempt to take dominion over it. Why build buildings that will last for centuries if we are about to be zapped out of here in a moment? Why work to bring the Gospel to every single people group and translate the Bible into their language if the ChurchChurch is on the precipice of rapture. Why would we work to bring a cure to cancer, solve world hunger, and bring peace to war-torn nations if the Kingdom is only spiritual and has no impact on the world we are living in. More prudent to arrange deck chairs on the Titanic than to get involved in this wold world, which is how we ended up here. It is plain and clear that if you have a wrong view of the end times, you will end up living wrongly in our times. These matters are gravely important, which is why we first needed to showcase what the wrong views are.
In the second section of this series, which is where we are now, we have been endeavoring to showcase the correct view of eschatology, which we have been arguing is Postmillennialism. Beginning in Genesis, we showed how God designed the world to be filled with worshippers, which means before God is finished with this old world, the entire planet will come under the banner of the Christian Church. That does not mean only some of the world will come under her auspices before Jesus returns; it does not even mean most of the world; it means that everyone on earth will be a part of the visible Church of Christ when He returns. Islam, Mormonism, Buddhism, secular Judaism, atheism, and every other religion man has concocted will fade from human history before the Lord is finished. Since God will only receive worship from those who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24), and since God designed the world to be filled with proper worship (Genesis 1:28), I believe that God intends to fill the world with the songs and hymns of the Christian Church. I believe God plans to make the entire earth Christian!
And we know that this is the Lord's eventual plan because this was the actual plan He set in motion. He did not lay out a roadmap to failure in the garden. He didn't design a world where Adam and Eve would bumble along until they collapsed into ruin. He designed the world to be filled with their offspring as they were fruitful, multiplying, and taking dominion. Even after they sinned, God did not give up on the plan. From God's perspective, nothing changed. He was going to fill the world with worshippers, which is why He reiterated those same promises to Noah. He swore those same promises against His own life and character to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And He told Judah that the nations would eventually come under a man who would be born from His tribe, the Shiloh, who would come and bring the entire world under conformity to God at some point in the future. As we have seen, the seed of Abraham and the Shiloh of Judah are none other than Jesus Christ.
After the book of Genesis (which sets out the unmistakable paradigm for God's victory on earth, His dominion over the nations, and the worldwide blessings He will bring upon His covenant people), we saw how the rest of the story of Israel affirms those same themes. For instance, we saw how Israel (a type of Adam) also failed to bring about these world-filling promises because, like Adam, she continually fell into rank, sin, and error. Like Adam, she was formed in the dust and placed in a garden land to live and dwell with God, but sadly, she failed to crush the heads of the serpent's people and experienced the curses of the covenant. Like Adam, she continually fell into slavery during the period of the judges. And she failed to multiply God's dominion and righteousness under the era of the Kings.
This failure came despite having a righteous law to guide them, a priesthood to shepherd them, a sacrificial system to atone for them, and the most incredible collection of hymns (the Psalms) the world has ever known. As we saw, those hymns not only magnified and extolled the Glory of God but put to song the promises God made to Adam, Abraham, and Judah (that He will reign over all the earth, crushing His enemies, blessing His covenant people, and filling the world with joyful worshippers). Despite all of these blessings, Israel failed; she collapsed into syncretism and idolatry, and she was eventually cast out of the garden land like Adam, being deported in Exile to the Eastern lands of Babylon.
During this final period of Old Testament Israel (From the lead-up to the Exile to the close of the Old Testament Canon), God graciously sent the prophets to bring three essential messages to the wayward people. The first was to indict them for their wicked hostilities against God and the covenant-breaking behavior they had perpetrated. Secondly, God would judge them severely because they were too far gone. In the case of the Northern 10 tribes, God issued them a certificate of divorce (Jeremiah 3:8) and totally disowned them. In the case of Judah, God allowed them to be devastated through the burning and sacking of Jerusalem, their Exile into Babylon, and the ongoing loss of national autonomy. According to the prophets, all of this could have been avoided with repentance, and since repentance did not come, all of the curses of the covenant would be poured out on that people.
Finally, along with the indictments and the judgments the prophets communicated, they also reserved some material in their preaching and writings that would look forward to the future when all this sin and misery would be healed. Far from God giving up on His plan, the prophets demonstrate that He will complete it. Sure, He will deal with the treachery and idolatry of His people. He will punish them severely for their misdeeds and will in no way let the guilty go unpunished (Exodus 34:6-7). But that does not mean God will ignore or refuse to bring about what He has promised. This is why the prophets look forward to a man, the anointed one (Habakkuk 3:13), who will bring about everything Yahweh said to Adam.
Since Israel was not going to be the true Son of Adam (who would reverse the curse), since Israel would not be the true seed of Abraham (who would bless the nations), and since the Judeans could not be the faithful Shiloh of Judah who would cause the nations to be obedient, the prophets looked beyond Israel and Judah to a true servant of the Lord (Isaiah 53), who would take all of the promises God and would fulfill them Himself. According to the prophets, He will make the world overflow with worshippers as Adam should have done, He will bless every family and nation on earth as Abraham was promised, and He will bring about the obedience of all people, transforming the world into lovers of God instead of haters of God, which was pledged first to Judah.
Today, having already covered Isaiah last week, we will look at the rest of the prophets this week and see how the Messiah will bring in 5 things. 1) He will restore peace and righteousness to the earth, overturning the sin of Adam. 2) He will rule over all the nations as commanded to Adam, bringing back man's dominion over the earth. 3) He will spread God's Kingdom to all the nations, making that dominion fruitful and multiplying. 4) He will spread the wisdom and the knowledge of God, lifting the curse that plagued the soul of man, allowing men and women to be resurrected out of the throes of Spiritual death and into eternal life. And 5) He will also begin healing the physical manifestations of the curse, healing the world, healing sicknesses and infirmities until He is ready to return and put away the final enemy, which is death (1 Corinthians 15:26). As we will see, He will succeed where Adam failed, where Israel failed, and where all others before Him failed. He will bring about the promises that God refused to give up on.
With that, let us dive in and see how this is possible.
PEACE & RIGHTEOUSNESS TO GOD'S PEOPLE
As we have said before, when the Messiah comes, He will make good on all of God's promises to His people. Even though Adam and Eve unleashed sin and misery upon the world, filling it to the brim with men and women who hate God and love war, violence, oppression, and iniquity, God's plan to deal with it from the beginning was to send His only Son. He would come to crush and defeat the serpent (Genesis 3:15). And He would come to set us free from our chains and curses so that we could finally and forever live for Him (Galatians 5:1). This was not plan b; this was plan a from the beginning!
According to the prophets, if this coming messianic figure is going to make all things new, if He is going to reinvigorate the promises of God, and if He is going to extend Yahweh's dominion from sea to shining sea, the first enemy He will need to crush is Satan on the cross (Hebrews 2:14) which also deals a death blow to our sin (1 Peter 2:24). Jeremiah, one of the major prophets, talks about how the Messiah is going to remove our transgressions in chapter 31:34. He says:
"No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." - Jeremiah 31:34
Here, we have a most fascinating passage! Do not miss what the wailing prophet is saying. Jeremiah foretells a time (not an imaginary period or era, but an actual epoch on earth) when everyone will know the Lord. He looks forward to a day when everyone, from the very least among the ranks of men all the way up to the highest elites in the upper crust of the most significant human societies, will all know the Lord God. They will ALL know the Lord because God will bring them into His covenant people! He will bring them in through the ordinary means of grace, preaching the Word (Romans 10:14-15), regeneration and justification (Titus 3:5), baptism, and making the nations learn how to obey Him (Matthew 28:19), which is a fulfillment of Genesis 49:10. Let me repeat it, the redemption purchased by Christ on the cross will spread so entirely through the earth, according to Jeremiah, that everyone on earth will know Him.
This, among many other reasons we have shared, clearly shows us that the Church's attitude must not be defeatism. We should not expect to lose down here. We should, instead, anticipate growing down here, planting down here, working down here, and succeeding down here since human history will trend toward a world filled with worshipers.
Moreover, our attitude must also not be one of passivity and indifference. The only way everyone on earth will know the Lord is if everyone on earth hears the Gospel, repents of their sin, and believes in Him. The only way that will happen is if the ChurchChurch repents of her silence and cowardice and marches the Gospel all throughout this world as the apostles did in the book of Acts. If we want to turn the world upside down, that is undoubtedly the way we must do it.
Along with the forgiveness of sins, God promises that the Messiah will one day heal all of the apostasies present among His people (Hosea 14:4). He will put their inequities underneath His holy feet, He will bring truth back to the people of Jacob, and He will shower all of the children of Abraham with His covenant blessings (Micah 7:16-29). Since all who believe in Jesus have been accounted as children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7) and were brought into this covenant by the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16), God promises to bring them into His covenant blessings. Micah tells us that this means atonement for their sins, the gift of the truth, and the knowledge of God, along with all the other blessings God promised His covenant people.
He can and will do this because He will take the curse we deserved upon Himself (Galatians 3:13-14). The one who knew no sin or covenant rebellion would become sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). The prophets who saw this long before the New Testament are saying that Jesus will save the world, by being coronated as it's King so that under His rule peace, righteousness, and blessings will come on earth until no more trace of hellish curse can be found (Isaiah 9:6-7).
Listen to how Ezekiel describes this:
My servant David will be King over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel when My sanctuary is in their midst forever. - Ezekiel 37:24-28
Do not get the wrong idea that the nations look in as outsiders on national Israel's blessings with no access to it. Under this Shepherd King, true Israel has become Jesus' timeless bride. He will unite the Old Testament remnant with the New Testament Church (Galatians 6:16) and reign over that people forever. Under their blessings, the onlooking world will come in and become members of Israel alongside them. To say it briefly, Jesus will use His Church to fill the world with the blessings of God, the peace of God, and the worship of God.
THE INGATHERING OF NATIONS
After the Lord underwent the cursed death of the cross (Galatians 3:13) - healing and purchasing His elect bride from out of the throes of sin (Ephesians 5:25-27) - this King began spreading that atonement to all whom the Father had given Him (John 6:37). He spread this atonement first to His apostles (John 20:21-22) and then by the Spirit of God He began spreading that atonement in Jerusalem (Acts 1:8). In Judea (Acts 8:1). In Samaria (Acts 8:4-8). And for the last two thousand years, He has been spreading that atonement to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20).
In each generation, the application of His atonement covers a little more of the earth than it did in the previous generations. This shows us that over time, the Church will grow and spread His salvation to the ends of the world. There may be periods of regress, shrinking influence of the Church, and momentary appearances of failure. But those moments are like the ordinary pullbacks in every secular bull run. The truth we are seeing is that the Lord will spread His salvation by gathering the nations around His Son, beginning in Jerusalem in the first century and throughout Church History, gathering every nation and people under heaven in union with Jesus.
The first evidence this ingathering was happening was when the Lord poured out His Spirit at Pentecost on both Jews and Greeks. This is precisely what Joel prophesied would occur in the first century and what Peter claims was fulfilled before His eyes (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16). Because of this miraculous outpouring and the new covenant relationship it signaled, all the peoples on earth would eventually come under the power of God's Holy Spirit. He would purify their lips so that they could call upon the name of the Lord (Zephaniah 3:9). He would make His name great among all the nations on the earth (Malachi 1:11). And He would cause all of the various tribes and peoples to stream to Him (Micah 4:1) so that the Shiloh of God will teach the nations peace and righteousness and rain upon them all His bountiful blessings (Micah 4:2-5).
As the premillennialists suggest, this cannot happen during a future millennial Kingdom because the text will not allow it. Why? Because Micah says:
3 And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. 4 Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 5 Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his God, As for us, we will walk In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. - Micah 2:3-5
In the premillennial worldview, Jesus returns to a bruised and beaten bride to rapture her out of her defeat. Then, according to that view, the world falls into terrible calamity under the actions of a man called the antichrist, who reigns for 7 brutal years. After this, Jesus will return a second time to put away all the rebels and to set up His one thousand-year Kingdom of peace and righteousness. During this millennial Kingdom, premillennialists argue that this prophecy from Micah will come true. The only problem with that is that in their worldview, the millennial Kingdom ends with Satan being unleashed, going out and deceiving the nations, and raising up an army to fight against Christ, who is physically seated in Jerusalem. If that happened, then all those promises about the nation's NO LONGER LEARNING WAR would be well-intentioned lies. Because if the so-called millennium of peace ends in war, then the nations must have learned the art of war again! But Micah tells us they will never learn the art of war again once it has been purged from our world. The only way this passage makes sense is if it comes about incrementally, over time, increasingly through the reign of Messiah, such that the world does not end in rebellion but peace.
When I see God saying things like: "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken," and that we will "Walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever" (Micah 2:4-5), then I see an opportunity for my humility. I am not called to muster incredulous doubting and to scoff at the promises of God. Of course, I struggle to see how a world as evil as this one will be overcome by the Messiah. I struggle to believe that everyone on earth will come into the Church. I struggle to understand how all of the families on earth will be blessed, how all nations will be discipled, how all of the world will be filled with the glory of God, and how Christ will present to the Father a completed Kingdom with no more enemies. But if anyone could do that, it would be God! And since God has promised to do that, shouldn't I suspend my skepticism and try my best to believe it? He said the Messiah will bring about a Kingdom where all war and violence will be forever eliminated. So because God has said this, we have to do something about it. We have an opportunity. We can go on in God-denying doubts or struggle for belief that glorifies and honors the Lord. If that means we must change our eschatology, so be it! If you need to drop an addiction to a defeatist Gospel, drop it! Whatever it is, be willing to follow the Lord wherever His Word takes you!
God promises that His Kingdom will advance so spectacularly on earth that human war and violence will be eliminated. Weapons will be turned into garden utensils because all the people on earth will care about on that day is making sure human flourishing is multiplied to the glory of God. Humans will be so consumed with being fruitful and multiplying life they will no longer crave the enterprises of suffering and death. This is what Jesus will eventually gather the nations into. And, while it has not happened yet, we must believe that the Lord will bring it about because He promised it! I would much rather believe the Lord is slow to fulfill His promises (as I account slowness) than think the Lord willfully ignores fulfilling the things He says. With the former, I am confused about the timing. On the latter, I am confused about God's nature and holiness.
Continuing along, Zechariah 2:10-11, 8:20-23, and 14:16-19 all promise that because of Christ, God will dwell amid His people again (like Eden), and all of the exiled nations will come back to live with Him in His garden. They will stream to Him in order to worship Him (Jeremiah 33:9). This will be a unique people who have never experienced the blessings of being under His covenant (Hosea 2:14-23). They will come from all over the world to see Him (Amos 9:11-15). They will come before the King to repent of their sins and rebellions (Jeremiah 16:19). Their idolatries and false gods will be suffocated by Him (Zephaniah 2:11). They will come to bring their national wealth, finances, and treasures so they can lay them at His feet (Haggai 2:7). They will come so that they may submit to His kingly rule in all things (Jeremiah 3:17).
And while I do not believe these promises are instantaneous, I do not question whether they will occur. Like the rest of redemptive history, these things will take a long time to work out from our perspective, such that we may still be in the early Church. We have no idea how long the Lord will tarry or how long it will take for these things to occur. We know that God said He was going to bring the nations of earth under the reign of His Son. That means I should expect presidents, governors, mayors, kings, parliaments, congresses, and everyone within the halls of power to one day turn to Yahweh for their hope. This is what the future of the world looks like. Not nuclear warfare. Not genocides. Not the systematic murder of infants in the womb. Not the sodomites and trannies being shoved down our throats twenty-four hours a day. The world's future is teeming with the bright hope that will be found in Jesus' Kingdom. He rules the world. He will crush all His enemies. He will gather the nations around Him. He will multiply His people (Hosea 1:11) and make His blessings flow as far as the curse is found!
THE KINGDOM OF THE MESSIAH
The strength of these promises won't come from the intensity of our beliefs or the ingenuity of our efforts. The surety of these promises will not be thwarted by how frequently the heathens rage and how foolish people plot in vain. Psalm 2 tells us that the kings of men regularly set themselves up against the Lord and His anointed at their own peril. Because of this tendency toward rebellion and their refusal to "kiss the Son," David tells us they will perish along the way. By this, we are reminded that it is by His strength, will, and sovereignty that God's promises come true. God will raise up His anointed Son to rule the nations, crushing His enemies, ruling with a rod of Iron, and regenerating the elect by His Spirit to the ends of the earth. This is what Jesus will do as King of the world.
Take an example from the prophets. Jeremiah, a prophet who was living during a time when the kings of Judah were abhorrent, vile, and detestable, looked forward to a day when a righteous branch of David would be raised up by God Himself (Jeremiah 33:15). This King will not be like the former kings from the line of David, but will live with justice and honor all of the days of His life. He will rule in such a way that He will bring holiness and righteousness to all the nations (Jeremiah 23:5).
Daniel tells us something similar. While looking in the night visions and seeing when this God-sent King would come to reign upon His throne, Daniel tells us:
"I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away, And His Kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed." Daniel 7:13-14
Unlike our premillennial brothers, who attribute this passage to the second coming of Jesus, when He apparently comes DOWN from heaven, this passage talks about when Jesus goes UP from the earth to sit on the throne beside the Ancient of Days in heaven. This tells us that at His ascension, not future at His future coming, Jesus was given universal dominion over the earth. He was given inestimable glory, and a kingdom over which to rule that would never end. That Kingdom began when He ascended publicly from Jerusalem. Daniel describes this rule as all of the peoples, nations, and men from every tribe, tongue, and language being given over to the Son so that they might learn how to serve Him.
This means that as soon as Jesus rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, He became King of the world. He is not waiting to be King. He is not up in heaven waiting for His coronation. He is King now! His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension wrestled control of the earth out of the hands of the serpent and into the hands of Christ. All throughout Church history, He has been reigning over His realm, beautifying it, healing it of the sin and misery that fell upon it, and spreading its loyalty and allegiance among His citizens until the whole world has submitted to His vision.
Take, for example, an investor. A man does not pool his hard-earned resources to buy a dilapidated building to keep it in shambles. He purchases it in its shotty state. But, over the course of time, he works on it, he improves it, he enlists workers to come and fix things, until that property aligns with His vision. This is what Jesus has been doing for the last two thousand years. He bought and paid for a world that was left in shambles by sin. For the last two thousand years, He has been fixing it and enlisting the help of His people to continue the job, which will continue until it matches His vision.
As 1 Corinthians 15 tells us, He must reign over this world until all rebellion and sin in His territory has been squashed (1 Corinthians 15:25). He must reign until His domain is filled with loyal and joyful citizenry (1 Corinthians 15:28). And that is the Kingdom that God almighty promised WILL NEVER pass away, WILL NEVER be destroyed, and WILL NEVER end (Daniel 7:27).
Zechariah tells us to rejoice over these truths. He says:
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations, and His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth." - Zechariah 9:9-10
These realities are not on hold until after the man of lawlessness appears. They began when Jesus came. He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey as its King, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 (Matthew 21:5). And because He was coronated as King on the cross and crowned as King in heaven, now He is about the task of fulfilling Zechariah 9:10. He will end all war and violence. He will bring peace to the nations. He will spread His dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Antarctic Ocean to the icebergs in Greenland. He is the little pebble that will grow into a global mountain (Daniel 2:35). He is the leaven that will leaven the entire earthly lump (Matthew 13:33). His Kingdom is the mustard seed that will fill the garden with its branches (Matthew 13:31-32). He will destroy all His enemies and eventually fill the world with peaceful, fruitful, multiplying, and joyful worshippers. This is the story the entire Bible has been telling us! Over the last 5 weeks, I have been highlighting it for you.
Again, I ask you, will you believe it? Or will you cling to a theology of defeatism? Will you believe in a Gospel and a savior that can and will win over the world? Or will you believe that even Jesus could not accomplish that? Remember, our theology says much about who we think God is. If the end of your story climaxes in defeat, the implication is that you have a savior who was unsuccessful in His mission. But if your eschatology ends in victory, Jesus accomplished everything God promises, making Him the only faithful one. What does your theology say about you?
THE GLORY AND WORSHIP OF GOD
If our case is unclear, the Messiah will crush His enemies and produce a world filled with His peace and righteousness, where His people are covered with His covenantal blessings. He began all of this at His ascension, which signified that His Kingdom had come into power at Pentecost and that He would continue reigning until the entire world was filled with the knowledge and Glory of God.
For instance, Jeremiah tells us that the knowledge of God will cover the earth and that men and women from all over will delight in the fact that they get the opportunity to know Him (Jeremiah 9:24). Habakkuk says:
"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." - Habakkuk 2:14
What will this look like? Habakkuk goes on to tell us that when this occurs, when the knowledge of the Lord and the Glory of the Lord fill the earth, then the entire world will at first be silent before Him in awful reverence but later will be filled with His praises (Habakkuk 3:3). In the end, what you have is a world filled with worshippers.
THE REVERSAL OF THE CURSE
As we near the climax of our journey through the prophets and their vision for the postmillennial triumph, we must remember that Jesus will reverse all the aspects of the curse before He is finished. His last enemy is death, but before then, He will use His people to bring all sorts of triumph and healing to this cursed world beyond the spiritual blessings we are all accustomed to.
In what follows, I will briefly sketch out some of the physical blessings coming to the world. Yes, Jesus is going to save all the people on earth. Yes, He will fill the world with Christians indwelled by His Spirit. But we would be foolish to think that the only redemption coming, the only curse reversal, has to do with spiritual things. As we will see, Jesus will not only overturn the spiritual curse (as shown above), but He will also overthrow the physical aspects of the curse, as we will see below.
As described in Genesis, the curse cast long shadows over every facet of creation: our relationship with God (affecting the Spiritual) as well as our manhood, womanhood, marriages, families, societies, human lifespans, diseases, the land, its produce, etc. (affecting the Physical). The repercussions of this fall were indeed prolific, touching every corner of existence with toil, pain, decay, division, and misery. However, the prophets do not envision a physical planet that God will discard in favor of a gnostic spiritual utopia. Under the rule of Christ, physical redemption will also come. Over time, the effects of the physical curse of sin will be drastically reduced en route to their total elimination in the eternal state.
Here are a few examples:
Because of Adam's sin, the earth, once cursed to yield thorns and thistles, will see its deserts rejoicing and blossoming as the rose (Isaiah 35:1). Families, once marked by pain in childbirth, will flourish under the banner of blessings in His Kingdom (Isaiah 65:23). Societies, once fractured and war-torn, will learn the ways of the King of peace, as swords will be beaten into plowshares (Micah 4:3). Have you thought about the fact that these things are already happening? Of course, it is not happening in total just yet. The fullness and perfection of these things will not come about until eternity. But, under the auspices of Jesus' reign, more food is being produced on earth now than at any other time in human history; with the advent of technology, much of the pain associated with delivering a baby has been reduced, and levels of violent conflict between nations have declined.
From Barrenness to Blessing: The curse of infertility and the anguish of bearing children doomed to misfortune is met with the promise of blessing and prosperity. Isaiah 65:23 assures us that in Christ's Kingdom, "They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them." This prophecy speaks to the restoration of family, fertility, and the joy of parenthood, unhindered by the fears and sorrows that once plagued humanity.
Healing from Pain and Disease: The pervasive presence of disease and the pain of childbirth, symbols of the curse's profound impact, are directly confronted with the promise of healing and joy. Isaiah 33:24 declares, "And no resident will say, 'I am sick'; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity," while Isaiah 35:10 envisions a time when "sorrow and sighing shall flee away," replaced by joy and gladness. These prophecies anticipate an era where the scars of the fall are healed, reflecting the restoration of physical well-being and spiritual wholeness.
Life Renewed: The curse of shortened lifespans, a poignant reminder of humanity's fall from Edenic grace, is reversed in the messianic Kingdom. Isaiah 65:20 brings hope with its promise that "No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed." This extension of life signifies the restoration of creation's order and the fulfillment of God's original intention for human life.
Creation Restored: Once cursed to bring forth thorns and thistles, the ground will bloom with new life. Isaiah 55:13 prophesies, "Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle," marking the end of creation's groaning and the beginning of its redemption. Similarly, Amos 9:13-14 and Ezekiel 34:26-27 speak of the land yielding its produce abundantly and showers of blessing watering the earth, signifying the end of famine and the restoration of the land's fertility.
From Division to Unity: The division among nations and the strife that followed the Tower of Babel are met with a vision of unity and peace. Micah 4:2-3 tells of a time when nations will no longer learn war, but instead, "shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." This prophecy foresees the end of conflict and envisions a world united in the pursuit of knowledge and righteousness, guided by the law that goes forth from Zion.
Prophetic Vision for the Present Kingdom: These visions, crucially, were not deferred to a distant future following a cataclysmic end but were inaugurated at Christ's first advent. His life, ministry, death, and resurrection initiated this Kingdom of healing and restoration. Jesus, in embodying Isaiah's Suffering Servant, bore our infirmities, carried our sorrows, and by His stripes, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5), signaling the beginning of curse reversal. His resurrection and ascension marked the dawn of this promised restoration, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2) empowering the Church to be agents of this transformation.
As we reflect on this, we are reminded that these restorative acts of Christ are not just future hopes but present realities. The Kingdom of God is among us, working through us and expanding before us. Jesus' reign is active, reversing the curse, renewing creation, and restoring humanity to its intended harmony with God, each other, and the world around us.
This realization brings us to the threshold of our conclusion. The prophets not only provided a corrective lens through which to view our past and present but also laid a foundation of hope for our future. In Jesus, the promised Messiah, we see the fulfillment of these prophetic visions—visions of peace, righteousness, healing, and restoration. As we stand in the grace of this unfolding Kingdom, let us be moved to action, inspired by the certainty of Christ's victory and motivated by the promise of a world made new.
Let us then move forward, carrying this hope into the conclusion of our series, anchoring our faith in the unshakeable promise of God's final victory through Christ—a victory that encompasses all nations, heals all creation, and restores all things under His Lordship.
CONCLUSION
Brothers, we have heard God's unshakable promises through His prophets. The visions they received were not mere fanciful wishes but divine guarantees of what was to come under the reign of Christ the King. So, let us respond as men of courage and conviction.
Will you cower in unbelief, doubting that the Sovereign Lord can accomplish all He has declared? Or will you rise up in fierce faith, believing that not one of His words will fall to the ground unfulfilled? The choice is yours - to dismiss His promises as too good to be true or to embrace them as the unchanging purposes of the Almighty.
If you believe, gird up your mind's loins for action. We are not called to sit idly by but to labor as obedient servants, working tirelessly to advance the Kingdom until it fills the earth as the waters cover the sea. Let us go forth boldly, sowing seeds of righteousness, confronting evil, and making disciples of all nations.
Yet our efforts must be coupled with patient endurance, for the Lord's timeline is not ours. As Habakkuk declared, "For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay." (Habakkuk 2:3)
In seasons of triumph and seasons of trial, in abundance and in want, our steadfast hope remains in the One who has promised to make all things new. So let us press on, unwavering in our devotion, unshakable in our faith, and unstoppable in our pursuit of Christ's global conquest.
The victory is assured, brothers. The question is: Will you join the ranks of these valiant warriors of the Kingdom, or will you shrink back in cowardly unbelief? Choose this day whom you will serve, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken, and His Word shall not return void.
VERSES CITED
Genesis 1:28; 3:15; Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 1:1; Isaiah 9:6-7; 35:1; 53; 65:23; Jeremiah 3:8; 9:24; 16:19; 23:5; 31:34; 33:9,15; Ezekiel 34:26-27; 37:24-28; Daniel 2:35; 7:13-14,27; Hosea 1:11; 2:14-23; 14:4; Joel 2:28-32; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:1; 4:2-5; Zephaniah 2:11; 3:9; Habakkuk 2:14; 3:3; Haggai 2:7; Zechariah 2:10-11; 8:20-23; 9:9-10; 14:16-19; Matthew 13:31-32,33; 21:5; 28:18-20; John 4:24; 6:37; 20:21-22; Acts 1:8; 2:16; 8:1,4-8; Romans 10:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:25,28; Galatians 3:7,13-14,16,29; 5:1; 6:16; Ephesians 5:25-27; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21
