“But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel…(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls)…” (Romans 9:6, 11).
A fundamental premise of premillennialism is the blasphemous belief that Jesus failed to accomplish His mission of establishing an earthly (i.e., geo-political) kingdom. Because of this failure, He ended up crucified, delaying the establishment of His kingdom until the “millennium”.
Prior to His conception in her womb, His mother was informed His name would be Jesus, He would be given the throne of His father David, and His reign in His unending kingdom would be forever (Luke 1:31-33). Prior to His birth, His step-father was explicitly to instructed to name Him Jesus, “for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
His very name clearly indicates the nature of His mission was spiritual, not geo-political. John the Immerser’s identification of Him as the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) further demonstrates this truth. From the beginning of His ministry to its end (cf. John 18:36) Jesus’ incarnation was NEVER for the purpose of establishing a geo-political kingdom.
The fact that He did accomplish His divine assignment was declared by the apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 with these words: “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God…He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’” (Acts 2:29-35).
Because Jesus in His gospel did not offer the Jews a geo-political kingdom, they rejected it, contending that God’s word had failed. They (and our present day premillennialist friends) believe the Old Testament prophecies have not yet been realized. To them the gospel is a detour off the divinely intended/predicted path. It is like a ship that is off course, a runner who has strayed from a raceway, a flower which has fallen off of withered grass.
According to premillennialism, the church is a “stop-gap measure, completely unforeseen in Old Testament prophecy.
The inspired apostle Paul refutes this blasphemous belief by declaring the God’s word has not failed (Romans 9:6); it has stood (Romans 9:11). Christ’s atoning sacrifice as the Lamb God provided was precisely what He predicted (Isaiah 53:3-6). The building of His church, the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:18-19), is the eternal kingdom Daniel predicted (Daniel 2:44). The church is His kingdom over which He rules as king and priest (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6-9). As Zechariah promised (Zechariah 6:12-13), the church He built is the temple of the Lord (Ephesians 2:20-22) over which He rules as king (Ephesians 1:20-23). His disciples are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) who have been washed from their sins in His blood and made kings and priests to God (Revelation 1:5-6).
Every false doctrine contains the blasphemous lie that God has failed to keep His word in some way. Such is not the case with sound doctrine; it is ever founded upon the truth that God’s word stands.
Which do you believe?
