The Promise Of God's Reign

The church today is in the midst of an intense struggle to understand its role in the future of the world. Such a challenge, of course, is as old as the people of God. But new historical circumstances shape the nature of the church's current attempts to fashion a theology of the future.

On the one hand, liberation theology and "theologies of hope" have thrust the issue of history's future movement before the church with a new urgency and passion. The God who delivers and liberates opens the future to new possibilities. In the midst of the struggle by the poor and oppressed for justice, the signs of this new future can be found. And it comes within history not at its end. Biblical passages about judgment announce God's condemnation of unjust and oppressive forces in the world, which are to be overthrown as history moves toward God's kingdom. Versions of these themes have emerged among many Christians committed to the biblical call for social justice.

At the other extreme, millions of Christians expect injustice, violence, ecological deterioration, and the probability of nuclear war to get worse, and believe this is what the Bible teaches. In fact, headlines proclaiming imminent disasters are welcomed as signs that the world is closer to its end, and to the second coming of Christ. The dawning of God's kingdom, according to this view, lies nowhere within this history, but will come only after Christ's return initiates a new beginning.

The popularity of these views, particularly among many evangelical Christians, is demonstrated by the sale of millions of copies of books such as Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and by the loyal audiences drawn to television evangelists such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and many others who proclaim a theology of "end times."

Traditionally, a majority of evangelicals in this century have held such a view concerning the return of Christ, which is called premillennialism. In general, Christianity teaches that human history as we know it will culminate and end with the return, or second coming, of Christ and the final judgment. Premillennialists, however, believe that upon Christ's return, he will inaugurate a rule of peace and righteousness on earth for a thousand years—the millennium. After that, the final judgment will be executed, with eternal life or death for all. Revelation 20:1-6 is the key biblical passage on which this belief rests.

Until this time, all the world will continue on an escalating downward spiral, gaining momentum as evil reaches a cosmic crescendo. Wars, earthquakes, natural disasters, and famine are all signs confirming, ironically, that history is moving according to God's plan, and bringing the world closer to Christ's return.

Many premillennialists also hold to what is called a dispensational interpretation of the Bible. This view, originated by John N. Darby in the 19th century, places a heavy emphasis on interpreting various scriptures as prophetic, or predictive, of events to transpire in the future. Thus, Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, Ezekiel, and Daniel hold the hidden keys to understanding events as they unfold in the 20th century.

In addition, dispensationalism regards different passages of Scripture as applying only to certain times in history. For instance, consider a passage like Isaiah 11, which reads, "Then the wolf shall live with the sheep, and the leopard lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall grow up together" (Isaiah 11:6). This is simply a description of the millennium, and has relevance only to that time. Furthermore, critical passages such as Christ's teachings about the kingdom of God, and the style of life and love it requires, are also understood by dispensationalists as applying to the time when Christ returns to establish his thousand-year reign on earth.

The millennium will consist of an actual rule of Christ on earth, over all the nations and peoples of the world. During that time, creation will be restored to fruitfulness and harmony, and peace shall reign. The biblical promises for creation's redemption find their fulfillment on earth, but only during the millennium, after Christ's return.

The church has lived through many ages when its own persecution, combined with the ungodliness of the times, have made a premillennial view seem persuasive and compelling. But other historical experiences of the church have given rise to alternative views.

When the Emperor Constantine came to power in the fourth century and converted to Christianity, the church's view of the future shifted decisively. Suddenly, future promises of a reigning kingdom brought by God seemed to be present. In this context, postmillennialism developed, and was the dominant view of the church into the Middle Ages.

Postmillennialism asserts that the thousand-year reign of Christ begins on earth before the end of history. God's purposes are progressively accomplished as this reign is extended, perfecting the world and bringing it closer to its final fulfillment. While premillennialism tends to postpone all the effects of God's redemption of the creation until after Christ's second coming, postmillennialism looks for nearly all the effects of this new kingdom within the present age.

Unlike the era in which Christendom reigned, in our time the naivete of postmillennialism seems obvious. History is not moving progressively toward a Utopia. What the world calls progress seems to move civilization further away from the kingdom of God, rather than closer to it. And the danger of the postmillennial view has been to identify forms of Christendom—ranging from Constantine's empire to the New World in North America—with the kingdom of God, baptizing its order, power, and even its armed might with divine blessing.

But are we then thrown into the arms of an apocalyptic premillennialism? Are we to agree that the Bible's vision for the world's future is marked solely by catastrophe and disaster? I think not.

The most extreme form of this perspective, dispensational premillennialism, gained a hold among fundamentalism primarily through the conversion of evangelist Dwight L. Moody to this view. Later, dispensational premillennialism was incorporated into the millions of Scofield Reference Bibles, whose interpretations were seen as infallible as the Scripture itself early in this century.

Today many leading evangelical scholars and leaders discredit this position. Equating contemporary events in the Middle East to obscure references in Ezekiel seems bizarre to growing numbers of conservative Christians. Predicting the course of contemporary foreign affairs from subtle and forced interpretations of Old Testament writings strikes many as requiring more imagination than writing the script for Star Wars. Certainly the intention and message of these Old Testament Scriptures for the church today cannot be reduced to predicting tomorrow's newspaper headlines.

Further, the ethical implications of this view, if followed consistently, conflict directly with the thrust of the biblical message. If, in fact, things must be worse before they will get better, why try to reverse signs of the world's deterioration? Why work for peace if war is a sign of Christ's coming? Why feed the hungry if we are to expect famine? Why save the creation if its destiny is to be destroyed by fire? As author Tom Sine suggests in The Mustard Seed Conspiracy, believing in this vision of the future would have us torpedo the grain boats in order to advance famine and bring us close to the millennium.

Even when the more extreme positions of dispensationalism are rejected, Christians committed to a premillennial view are still faced with the challenge of constructing an ethic motivating Christians to be involved in the task of bringing God's shalom, justice, and peace to the creation, and doing so now, rather than waiting for the end. The more prevalent tendency is for these Christians to withdraw into a countercultural enclave that views the "world" as evil and sees little hope of changing its conditions. Notable exceptions can be found, such as theologian Vernon C. Grounds, whose book Revolution and the Christian Faith is proof that premillennialists can be passionately concerned for social justice. But voices like his within the premillennial camp remain a minority.

Premillennialism responds exclusively to only one tributary within the stream of the Bible's message. Certainly, some scriptures picture growing calamity as history draws to a close (for instance, Matthew 24:6-8, Mark 13:7-8, Luke 21:10-11).

Other scriptures, however, underscore that God's kingdom and reign over creation is already established. In Luke 17:20-21, for example, we read that the Pharisees asked Christ when the kingdom of God will come. Christ replied, "You cannot tell by observation when the kingdom of God comes. There will be no saying, 'Look, here it is!' or 'there it is!'; for in fact the kingdom of God is among you." Christ's teaching and ministry are aimed at announcing the inauguration of the kingdom of God, which takes a foothold in history in the midst of the present age.

Likewise, the focus of passages such as Colossians 1:13-14 emphasizes that our experience of this kingdom begins not at the end of time, but in our present life. "He rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us away into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom our release is secured and our sins forgiven." The epistle then continues, extending this new rulership by Christ over all creation. "His is the primacy over all created things" (1:15).

In passages such as these, there is no indication that Christ's reconciliation of the whole universe awaits some future date. Rather, the proclamation is that this has already been accomplished. In the same fashion, Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun."

Is there a theological tradition concerning the future that struggles to preserve this biblical tension? Yes. Traditionally, it has been called amillennialism. On the one hand, this stance recognizes that the promise of God's reign is not merely consigned to the future, but establishes its roots in the present. At the same time, amillennialism recognizes that there is no simple, progressive unfolding of the kingdom. The new order has begun now, but the old order is still present.

Theologians, in describing the coming kingdom of God, have spoken of the tension between the "already" and the "not yet." This helps to capture the full biblical picture concerning God's redemption of creation.

In his book Christ and Time, Oscar Cullman has used the wartime analogy of D-Day and V-Day to describe this same truth. Christ's life, death, and resurrection is the triumphant invasion of God's grace, claiming the world as God's own. The final victory, V-Day, is assured, fulfilled at the end of history. The church finds itself in between these two times, in the midst of tension and battle, yet knowing that the triumph inaugurated on D-Day will be complete.

Augustine, along with Luther, Calvin, and most of the Reformers, held to an amillennial view. The thousand years referred to in Revelation 20 is not taken literally, but figuratively, like many of the symbols and references found there. Amillennialism holds that Christ's triumphant reign over creation, acknowledged by the church, has already begun and grows even while forces of rebellion attempt to pull the creation toward destruction and death.

The disarming of those rebellious powers is assured by Christ's victory. "On that cross he discarded the cosmic powers and authorities like a garment; he made a public spectacle of them and led them as captives in his triumphal procession" (Colossians 2:15). Yet they do not finally give up their grasp over creation without an ongoing struggle. "For our fight is not against human foes, but against cosmic powers, against authorities and potentates of this dark world" (Ephesians 6:12).

The amillennial perspective recognizes both the creation's blessing as God's gift and the "curse" that falls upon humanity for taking possession of creation as part of the biblical message.

We do well to keep in mind the various ways in which the New Testament refers to the "world" when we fashion a biblical view of the future. In one sense, this world meaning the organization of life apart from God—is rushing toward judgment and is destined to pass away. Yet God's salvation reaches to this world, and to the whole creation, in order to win it back to God. The destiny of creation is determined not by its rebellion, but finally by its redemption through Jesus Christ.

Even that most apocalyptic passage of the gospel found in Matthew 24 and 25 does not end with an admonition to withdraw from a world headed for destruction. On the contrary, the basis of the final judgment is the extent of one's engagement in the world, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, providing shelter to the homeless, clothing the naked, and giving comfort to the imprisoned—in short, re-establishing God's shalom within the creation (Matthew 25:31-46). Christ, who is the prince of this shalom, and present in all creation, is the One who is served by these acts.

In response to signs of potential destruction and calamity within the creation, Jesus calls his followers to concrete actions that claim the creation as God's own, extending God's compassion to heal the wounds of the world. Those who fail to respond hear the words, "The curse is upon you" (Matthew 25:41). But those who faithfully act to restore creation hear the Son of Man say, "You have my Father's blessing; come, enter, and possess the kingdom that has been ready for you since the world was made" (25:34).

Wes Granberg-Michaelson was executive director of New Creation Institute, part of the Community Covenant Church in Missoula, Montana, when this article appeared. He is a Sojourners contributing editor. Excerpted from A Worldly Spirituality, by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson. Copyright 1984 by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson. Used with permission from Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc.