GO TO: Kingdom Now? Part I

As discussed in Part I, although the Kingdom of God clearly has a present and continuing spiritual aspect, scripture still consistently describes a future kingdom on Earth which will be inaugurated by the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

This Dispensational, Pre-millennial belief is that the Millennium will be inaugurated at the 2nd Coming of Christ, and that He will set up the Kingdom and reign for an actual duration of 1,000 years.  (Rev. 20:2-7)

In direct contrast, Post-Millennialists believe the Kingdom of God must be built by believers, and that Jesus cannot come until the Kingdom has been firmly established by the end of the Millennial period.  The Millennial period started with the first coming of Jesus.  It will possibly have an indefinite period of time near the end where there will be a kind of utopia here on Earth, which will culminate in the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ.

Foundational to Post-Millennial, Dominion Theology is the belief that the mandate given before the Fall by God in Genesis 1:28, which commanded Adam and Eve to subdue the Earth and have dominion, became operative again after the first coming of Jesus Christ, and that “the urgent mandate of God for the Church is to actively engage in transforming society.”¹

Brief History of the Post-Millennial/Dominionist view

There isn’t much support for the post-millennial view until the dawn of modern Reformed theology.  The early supporters of this view are A. A. Hodge (1823-1886); B.B. Warfield (1851-1921), A. H. Strong (Baptist, 1836-1921), and Loraine Boettner (1932-2000).²

The primary modern foundation for postmillennialism is the Reconstructionist Movement  begun by R. J. Rushdooney (1916-2001).   In the 1980’s, H. Wayne House and Thomas Ice wrote a book refuting much of the Reconstructionist teachings entitled “Dominion Theology:  Blessing or Curse?  An Analysis of Christian Reconstructionism.”  This book comprehensively discussed the Reconstructionist Movement.

In the Preface, Thomas Ice states:

“After fourteen years of study it is my belief that there is not one passage anywhere in Scripture that would lead to the postmillennial system…I believe they have an agenda, such as politics or social reform…Most are attracted to dominion theology through the back door, rather than through the front door of Biblical study.  They are arriving at these views not from the study of Scripture, but by the romantic attraction of changing the world.  We must let Scripture set the agenda.”³

This is true of a number of subsequent groups which have come up with their own version of Kingdom Now, or Dominion Theology–The Latter Rain in the 1940s, the Manifest Sons of God (basically a spin off from the Latter Rain), and Shepherding in the late 1960’s/early 1970s. But the most recent is significantly eclipsing all of them by the sheer numbers of adherents and concentrated social and political action—The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).

The New Apostolic Reformation

Dubbed the “largest religious movement you never heard of,”⁴ the New Apostolic Reformation is a name coined in the 1990’s by C. Peter Wagner who believes we are in the Second Apostolic Age that began in 2001.  This was preceded by the 1970s when the body of Christ began recognizing the gift and office of intercessor,  and in the 1980s began to affirm the office of the Prophet.  Then finally Mr. Wagner states:

“The decade of the 1990s saw a beginning recognition of the gift and office of apostle in today’s Church.  True, many Christian leaders do not as yet believe that we now have legitimate apostles on the level of Peter or Paul or John, but a critical mass of the Church agrees that apostles are actually here.  For example, at this writing, the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA), over which I currently preside, includes over five hundred members who mutually recognize and affirm each other as legitimate apostles.”⁵

(We will have to take C. Peter Wagner’s word for it that the ICA includes over five hundred members, because at this time, you have to become a member to see who the other members are.)⁶

In scripture, the foundational apostles had to fit specific criteria as described in Acts 1:21-22.  Nowhere in scripture does it allow for self-appointed foundational Apostles.  Affirmation by other people does not make it true.  In a sense, those who are “sent out” as missionaries could be called apostles, since that is the basic meaning of the Greek word ἀπόστολος (apostolos), however, these are claiming to be foundational apostles at the level and authority of Peter, Paul or John.

The Seven Mountains of Influence

The NAR focuses on the spheres of influence which some in their movement call the Seven Mountains, or as C. Peter Wagner calls them “seven supreme molders of culture—namely religion, family, government, arts and entertainment, media, business, and education.”⁷

It may seem like a pretty impossible task that the NAR could reach their goal of taking over the seven mountains.   However, they believe that if they succeed in first taking the Mountain of Business, which controls the money, the finances will become available to topple the other six.

“As long as the business mountain is held by enemies of the gospel, funding for the other mountains will always be constrained, and any efforts to advance the Kingdom of God will be hindered.  Imagine God’s people reclaiming their cities and government, in the arts and entertainment, in the media and education, in the family, in religious influence, but only limited by their imagination, and not by a lack of finances.  It’s possible, but first we must take back the mountain of business.  God’s move to take this mountain back has already begun.”⁸

As another leader in the NAR, Lance Wallnau, indicates, it wouldn’t take a majority to control these seven mountains and states: “It only takes 3-5% of a population to form a tipping point that creates a culture, because the minority occupying the high places are stronger than a majority that are irrelevant.”⁹

C. Peter Wagner points out that the NAR is by no means a minority in the five megablocks of Religion:

“David Barrett, one of our most respected researchers and author of the massive World Christian Encyclopedia, has divided world Christianity into five ‘megablocks.’  The largest is Roman Catholicism, with over one billion members.  However, of the four non-Catholic megablocks, the New Apostolic Reformation (which Barrett calls Neo-Apostolic, Independent or Postdenominational) is the largest, with over 432 million adherents, compared to smaller numbers for the Protestant/Evangelical, Orthodox and Anglican megablocks.  These Neo-Apostolics comprised only 3 percent of non-Catholic Christianity in 1900, but they are projected to include almost 50 percent by 2025…

…Not only is the New Apostolic Reformation the largest of the four non-Catholic megablocks, but significantly, it is the only one of all five megablocks that is growing faster than Islam.”¹⁰

If this is true, the New Apostolic Reformation appears to be a force to be reckoned with and should not be ignored.

Could it be, that while our eyes have been focused on Islam, worrying about their influence, we could be ignoring a much greater threat–a relatively large minority in control of the United States and other countries, enforcing their man-made version of the Kingdom of God?  We’ll explore that issue in Part III.

GO TO PART III: Kingdom Now? Part III
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¹Wagner, C. Peter. Dominion!  How Kingdom Action Can Change the Word.  pg 11.   Michigan:  Chosen Books, 2008.  Print.

²Geisler, Norman.  Systematic Theology:  Volume Four – Church, Last Things. pg 551.  Minneapolis:  Bethany House. 2005.  Print.

³House, H. Wayne and Thomas Ice.  Dominion Theology:  Blessing or Curse?  An Analysis of Christian Reconstructionism. pg 9. Oregon: Multnomah Press, 1985.  Print.

⁴Berkowitz, Bill. 01 March 2010 Web. 8 October 2010  http://www.alternet.org/

⁵Wagner, C. Peter. Dominion!  How Kingdom Action Can Change the Word.  pg 26.  Michigan:  Chosen Books, 2008.  Print.

⁶ International Coalition of Apostles. Web. 10 October 2010  http://www.coalitionofapostles.com/

⁷Wagner, C. Peter. Dominion!  How Kingdom Action Can Change the Word.  pg 12.  Michigan:  Chosen Books, 2008.  Print.

⁸ “7 Mountains of Culture.” youtube.com Web.  10 October 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xges7mFi6iY&feature=related

⁹ Wallnau, Lance. “Seven Mountains” Youtube.com. Web. 9 October 2010   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwjBei4-HU4&feature=related

¹⁰Wagner, C. Peter. Dominion!  How Kingdom Action Can Change the Word.  pg 23.  Michigan:  Chosen Books, 2008.  Print.

Although the Kingdom of God clearly has a present and continuing spiritual aspect, scripture is still abundantly clear that there will be a future literal kingdom on Earth.  The Dispensational, pre-millennial view is that the Millennium (sometimes referred to as the Messianic Kingdom) will be inaugurated by the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ will rule this Kingdom with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15); It will last for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4); and it will fulfill the Davidic Covenant, an unconditional covenant which is  dependent only on God’s word and faithfulness, nothing else.

The Davidic Covenant

The Davidic Covenant was promised by God through Samuel in 2 Samuel  7:8-16 “…And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.”  The same event is also recounted in 1 Chronicles 17:2-15.

The land covenant is also fulfilled in the Millennium  where Israel will be given the entire land of Canaan, not just the small portion they have now. “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession: and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:7

God’s promise to David is confirmed in Psalm 132:11 where He states: “The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.”

This is of course speaking of the Messiah, who was to descend from David. Jesus is now sitting at the right-hand of the Father, but God has promised that he will sit on the throne of David.

God confirmed his covenant with David a second time in Psalm 89:3,4 “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations.”

In Luke 1:32,33, which is frequently quoted on Christmas cards, the promises of the Davidic Covenant are again confirmed: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Jesus did not fulfill this promise at His first coming, but he will at His second Coming.  This is not speaking of “reigning in our hearts” as some would argue. This is speaking of the Messiah reigning on a literal throne, in a literal kingdom on earth.

A Future Kingdom indicated

A number of passages in the New Testament allude to a future earthly kingdom either directly or indirectly:

In Luke 19:11-27, Jesus tells the disciples the parable of the Nobleman who went on a journey because “they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.”

In Matthew 20:20-23, the mother of the sons of Zebedee asked Jesus to  have her two sons sit on his right and on his left in the kingdom.   Jesus didn’t deny that there would be a future kingdom where this could literally occur, but he did tell her that it wasn’t up to the Son, but the Father, as to who would occupy those positions.

In Matthew 8:11 Jesus tells the Pharisees  “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”

In Luke 22:30, Jesus told the twelve disciples “And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

At the Lord’s Supper,  Jesus said,”Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Mark 14:25

In Acts 1:7, the disciples asked Jesus “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”  Jesus didn’t tell them that there wouldn’t be a future kingdom, but that “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

The PostMillennial View

A diametrically opposing view to Dispensational Premillenialism is Covenant Theology Postmillenialism which teaches that the millennium isn’t a literal 1,000 years, but a long period of time that began with Christ’s first coming, and ends with Christ’s second coming.  A variation of this, is that late in the end of this aforementioned period of time is a golden age which would be more specifically referred to as the millennial period.

The term Postmillenial means that the 2nd coming of Christ doesn’t inaugurate or begin the millennial period as in Premilleniallism, but that the second coming occurs AFTER the millennial period.

This millennial golden age is believe to be, instead, inaugurated by the Church as the Church gradually takes over more and more of all areas of influential areas of society which includes religion, family, arts and entertainment, education, government, media, and business.

One of the most influential modern postmillenialistsis is R. J. Rushdooney (1916-2001) who started the Reconstructionist Movement .  Rushdoony’s basic view is that “the Church will conquer the world with the gospel ‘from pole to pole’; that will result in ‘a long and glorious reign of peace’ during which time the government of the world will be ruled by the law of God and, after all this, Christ will return.”¹

Rushdoony gives a course of action for the church to accomplish this in a seven point program:²

1.  The family must be strengthened in its religious and economic life.

2.  The Church is the “Family of God” this means that “the Church should minister to the spiritual and material hunger and thirst” of all of Christ’s people.³

3.  Christian schools, colleges, institutes, and training centers need to be established in place of the “godless education” which Rushdoony sees as the “mark of apostasy.”

4.  Political activism towards making the state again a Christian state, whose actions conform to the law of God.

5.  Create professional organizations  for Christian doctors, lawyers, and other professionals to “further a theologically sound view of their profession.  This will also mean Christian hospitals, rest homes, old folks’ homes for those without families, and much, much more.”⁴

6.  Study every kind of calling from the perspective of Biblical faith and law.

7.  “The sciences are to be seen, as everything else, as an areas of calling in which knowledge and dominion under God must be furthered.”⁵

Postmillennialism  believes it is a moral imperative to make an aggressive move to takeover any and all areas of private and public life for the Kingdom of God’s sake.  It’s view that moral and spiritual progress is inevitable between Christ’s first and second comings where the world will become more and more “Christianzed” flies in the face of the many scriptures regarding apostasy before Christ returns such as   Matthew 24:3-14; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 2 Timothy 3:1-7 and Luke 18:8 where Jesus exclaims “Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”⁶

As we look at the world around us, it appears that world is plummeting down the road of apostasy, not toward a Christian utopia run primarily by the Church, and based on the Law of God.  Perhaps that is why there has been a relatively recent surge of aggressive Postmillennialism to attempt to turn it around, not being discouraged by the apparent downward trend, but actually energized by it.

GO TO PART II:  Kingdom Now? Part II
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¹ Fruchtenbaum, Arnold.  Israelology:  The Missing Link in Systematic Theology.  pg 22.  California:  Ariel Ministries. 1989. Print.

² Ibid.  pg 23-24

³ Ibid.  pg 23

⁴ Ibid. pg 24

⁵ Ibid. pg 24

⁶ Geisler, Norman.  Systematic Theology:  Volume Four – Church, Last Things. pg 551.  Minneapolis:  Bethany House. 2005.  Print.