The Millennial Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ
Bob Yandian
A Perfect Environment
During the Millennium, the atmosphere of the earth will be perfect. Satan and the demons will be removed and it will begin with believers only. Everything on earth will be perfect because there will be no opposition. The weather will be perfect, business will be perfect, longevity will be restored, children will never be harmed, and the earth will be in peace. Some wonder why the Millennium is even necessary. They wonder, “Why not just go to heaven and live forever there?”
Personally, I believe Jesus Christ will use the thousand years of the Millennium to disprove one of man’s greatest and most long-lived theories about mankind. The theory is if man had a perfect environment in which to live, all of man’s problems would be solved. A perfect environment is not the answer; regeneration is the solution. For years man has said, “If we can just remove man out of the ghetto, give him an education, find him a job, everything will work out fine.” Man’s problem is not what is outside him, it is what is in his heart. And only regeneration can change his heart.
God is going to give man a thousand years of a perfect environment. During that thousand years, people will be born who will refuse to accept Jesus Christ. At the end of the Millennium, the Bible says Satan will be released for “a season” and an army of unbelievers will join him in one last rebellion against God.
Just imagine the world being perfect in every way with Jesus ruling and reigning. No Satan. No demons. Perfect in every respect and yet, some born during the Millennium will not receive Jesus as their Savior. The Millennium will disprove man’s theory that a perfect environment will cause man to live perfectly before God.
One Thousand Years of Peace
When Jesus returns and separates believers from unbelievers, the Millennium will begin. The Millennium will be one thousand years of peace. Ephesians 1:10 calls it “…the dispensation of the fullness of times.” Notice, “the dispensation” (singular) “of the fullness of times” (plural). All times and dispensations ever in existence will be wrapped up in that one millennial dispensation. Some dispensations were Jewish, some were Gentile; but this final dispensation will be both Jewish and Gentile together. Both Jewish and Gentile believers will live in harmony together under the ruler-ship of Jesus Christ. This will last for a thousand years.
All who come through the Tribulation will still have natural bodies. There will be great abundance in every way. Many babies will be born and there will be very little death. Death will occur during this time because capital punishment will exist. The Bible says Jesus will rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15) during that time because of the unbelievers who rise up against His kingdom. Many unbelievers will at least obey the law, proliferate, and will not revolt against Jesus until the very end of the Millennium when Satan gathers them all together to rebel against Jesus Christ. When Satan is released for the last time, it will prove to the world that Satan has not and will not change. Some believe that Satan will one day be saved, but this is wrong thinking. He will never change. Satan will be cast into everlasting punishment. At the end of the Millennium, all unbelievers will stand before Jesus in heaven at the Great White Throne Judgment and those names not found written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire for eternity.
At the end of the Millennium, all believers and unbelievers will receive resurrection bodies. These bodies will exist forever and forever. Believers will live with Jesus in these bodies for eternity, while unbelievers will be eternally in the lake of fire with Satan, the fallen angels, and demons.
A New Heaven and New Earth
After all of these things occur, Jesus will completely destroy the earth and the atmosphere around the earth. He will create a brand new heaven (the atmosphere around the earth) and earth. Why will he create a new heaven and earth? Because the current heaven and earth have been polluted by Satan. Satan is called the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). The air is referring to the atmosphere around us. Jesus will destroy all of this and replace it with a brand new heaven and earth.
The new earth is described in the last two chapters of Revelation, and will be completely different than the earth we now know. The new earth will have no oceans. It will operate by completely different scientific principles. Oceans are currently necessary for rains to water the earth. The water evaporates off the oceans, forms clouds, the winds blow them over the earth, and the rains fall causing vegetation to grow. The excess waters flow back to the oceans and the process repeats itself again. Without oceans, the earth would not survive.
With the new earth, a brand new principle will be set in motion. There will be no oceans. Neither will the earth be lit up by the sun or moon. Heaven, where God lives, will come and rest over the new earth and remain there forever. The earth will be lit by the glory of God. Heaven will light up the earth! Because the glory of God will be the light of the new earth, it will be different than the light we know. The glory of God comes from every direction. Anyone who works with lighting understands that to get rid of shadows, light must come from every direction. Heaven will light up the earth equally and there will be no shadows. There will not be a dark side to the earth. The Bible says in God there is no shadow of turning (James 1:17).
During that time, we will have access to both heaven and earth. We will also be able to go anywhere in the universe! Many people wonder why God made such a vast universe; He made it for us! When we have our resurrection bodies, we will be able to go anywhere in the universe.
God is light; that is one of His attributes. I believe God travels at a speed greater than the speed of light. I personally believe if man could exceed the speed of light, he would enter into God’s dimension. Going beyond the speed of light is the separation of the natural world and spiritual world. I am thankful that angels travel more quickly than the speed of light because if I had troubled and called for help, if angels only traveled the speed of light, it would take them millions years to get to me! I do not believe angels travel at the speed of light; I believe they travel at the speed of thought.
Distance determines time. If a car travels sixty miles an hour, it will go one mile in a minute and sixty miles in an hour. The distance determines the time. But if you travel the speed of thought, you could travel one mile or sixty miles in the same amount of time! You would just think it and be there. In our resurrection bodies we will travel the speed of thought.
Positionally, man is above the angels but by creation we are below them. Angels are a superior creation, but that superior creation is just under us positionally. The moment we accept Jesus, angels become servants to those who are heirs of salvation. One day by creation we will be superior to angels. We will have resurrection bodies and travel wherever we want. The reason we will be superior to angels is because we will be redeemed, spirit, soul, and body, and the angels are not redeemed.
People often ask, “Won’t we get bored in eternity?” I believe the universe alone is so infinite, every visible planet, sun, star, and moon we will have opportunity to explore in eternity. What has been discovered in the universe is incredible, but I believe we are only seeing a very small section of the universe. We are only seeing what is in our own backyard. We have yet to see all the vastness of it. One day we will be able to travel any place we desire. Our resurrection bodies will be able to exist in outer space or on any planet of the universe! Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, all that God has prepared for those who love Him (I Corinthians 2:9)!
