The Best Days in Human History Are Still Ahead! Here's What the Bible Says...

A Fourth of July Reflection on True Freedom, Liberty in Christ, and the Glory That Awaits

Today is the Fourth of July, and here in the United States, we’re celebrating the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

It’s a day to celebrate freedom and liberty won at such great cost during the American Revolution and in the many years since. It’s a day to reflect on the blessings of liberty – blessings that ultimately flow from God Himself, who endowed every human being with unalienable rights.

But as wonderful as earthly freedom is, the Bible reveals a far greater freedom. It’s a freedom no government can give and no government can take away. It’s the freedom we have in Jesus Christ:

“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” John 8:36 (NLT)

The freedom Christ offers is of far greater value than the freedom of this world.

Through Jesus, you receive freedom from the slavery of sin, freedom from death, and freedom to spend eternity with the King of kings.

To be free in Christ means you have an eternal future filled with more joy, more peace, and more glory than anything you can experience in your present state. This is because, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

This is the Good News. Make sure you understand it, because you’ll never hear anything more important.

So as we celebrate freedom today, let’s look ahead to what awaits… to the coming of the greatest Kingdom in the history of the world.

It’s not the United States of America.

It’s not any earthly empire.

It’s the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The best days in human history are straight ahead of us – not because of a political revolution, but because Jesus is coming back!

And when He returns, Jesus will establish a Kingdom here on earth known as the Millennial Kingdom.

Here’s what the Bible says about it, and why it should fill every Christian with overwhelming joy.

What Is the Millennial Kingdom?

According to the Bible, Jesus will establish a 1,000-year reign on earth following His Glorious Appearing, which occurs at the end of the seven-year Tribulation period.

After Jesus defeats the Antichrist and the armies of the world aligned against Him, He’ll separate all the humans left on earth into two groups – those who placed their faith and trust in Him and those who rejected Him.

Those who placed their faith in Jesus will enter into the Millennial Kingdom, a 1,000-year period where Christ Himself rules over the nations of the earth. Here’s what we read in the Bible:

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.’” Matthew 25:31-34 (NLT)

So what is this “Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world?”

It’s the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.

Satan Bound

In tandem with the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom, Jesus will have Satan bound for the full duration of the 1,000 years:

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon – that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan – and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while.” Revelation 20:1-3 (NLT)

When Jesus returns at the end of the Tribulation, He’ll bind Satan in chains and throw him into the bottomless pit.

But this isn’t a permanent sentence for Satan.

At the end of the 1,000 year period, he’ll be released for a short time.

The 1,000 Year Reign

With Satan bound and Christ on His earthly throne, the world will experience a thousand years of peace and tranquility.

Every born again believer in human history will help populate the Millennial Kingdom. This includes those who came to know Christ after the rapture of the church and were martyred for their belief:

“Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4 (NLT)

The resurrection of the Tribulation Saints is part of the first resurrection:

“This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:5-6 (NLT)

But what does it mean that “the rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended?”

Does that mean some Christians will miss the Millennial Kingdom?

No.

“The rest of the dead,” is a reference to the Great White Throne Judgment, which is addressed later in this article.

Christians throughout the ages will all participate in the Millennial Kingdom in one way or another. However, the timing of their resurrections will be different:

“Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.” 1 Corinthians 15:22-24 (NLT)

As Paul describes, “everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.”

However, the order of the resurrection is not the same for everyone.

Christ is resurrected first, followed by those resurrected at the rapture (all the Old Testament and New Testament saints and all born again believers in Christ up until the time of the rapture), and then, at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, those who came to know Christ between the rapture and the Glorious Appearing – yet died before the Glorious Appearing – will be resurrected.

This is a not a resurrection of the soul, but of the body. For upon the first death, our souls go straight into the presence of Christ. But upon the rapture, our souls will receive glorious, perfected bodies:

“But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NLT)

Believers Will Rule Under Christ

Those who escape the power of the “second death” – the resurrected Christian saints – reign under Christ in His Kingdom.

This is evidenced in several scriptural passages:

“Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him.” Isaiah 32:1 (NLT)

“Then the time arrived for the holy people to take over the kingdom.” Daniel 7:22 (NLT)

“Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey him.” Daniel 7:27 (NLT)

Jesus Himself assured His apostles they will rule the twelve tribes of Israel:

“Jesus replied, ‘I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’” Matthew 19:28 (NLT)

John’s vision in the Book of Revelation provides us with a glimpse of the Millennial Kingdom:

“Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge.” Revelation 20:4 (NLT)

But authority to rule under Christ is not reserved solely for the contemporary apostles of Jesus.

Every Christian throughout history will participate:

“To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, to them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.” Revelation 2:26-27 (NLT)

What Awaits You in the Millennial Kingdom

In the Millennial Kingdom, those of us who have trusted in Christ throughout the ages will be given authority by Christ to rule over the nations of the earth.

The life which awaits you is beyond anything you can imagine. Paul said:

“That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)

The millennial kingdom is real.

It’s coming.

And if you’re a born again believer in Jesus Christ, you’ll experience it in the near future.

In fact, here’s what the Bible says you personally have to look forward to...