Do you think about the day when Jesus will reign as King in this world? Are You preparing (repenting) for the Kingdom of God? The Messianic Era, a.k.a. the Kingdom of God, is when Jesus (a Jewish King) will reign from Jerusalem for 1000 Years, and He will reign using the Torah as the law of the earth. Revelation 20:4 talks about those who were faithful unto death, it says “they came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Can you imagine, a day when all the leaders of the world will go before Him and for advice on how to manage situations in their own countries?
Isaiah 2:3-5 says, “… He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples…”
Zechariah 14:8-9 says, “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day, there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.”
In 1 Corinthians 15:23-29 Paul explains that Jesus will only reign for a set time, until He has conquered all death, then Jesus will hand this world back to God, and God will then be King of this world. Paul says, “now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.” Revelation 20 explains that at the end of the 1000 years all the dead will be raised. This is the time that Paul is referring to.
In Leviticus 26:11-13 God told the Children of Israel, “I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.” God’s plans are actually pretty clear, He wants to dwell here with his people Israel! Before God gets here, the earth has to be worked like a garden, and preparation has to be done for His Kingdom. Humanity has a job to do to prepare for the Kingdom of God (which is to repent), and then Jesus will still have some work to do after that and it will last another 1000 years. Jesus opened the door and gave all of humanity favor and the ability to repent, but we have to do the job to cultivate the seed of repentance in our own life and prepare for the Kingdom.
The Gospel Before Jesus
The message of repentance was the same gospel message that was taught from long before Jesus died on the cross. As the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 4, “For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.” This was also the message of repentance Noah preached before the flood: choose life and obey God’s instructions, walk in His ways, and cultivate the seed of repentance that God has placed in each one of us.
It was mentioned above, but it is very important to reiterate what Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 where he is explaining the end goal of the gospel message.
Paul says, “But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he has put everything under his feet. Now when it says that everything has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.”
The work of overcoming death has already started, at least from the point of Jesus being resurrected, but there is still more work to do. Paul is explaining above that Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection [this is the beginning of the Messianic Era], and we also get the ability to grow into our position in the Kingdom through repentance (Matthew 5:19). There will be a time where Jesus will reign as King in this world, and He will take 1000 years to complete His work. After that, He will hand this world back to God. This has not happened yet.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul also mentions a time after the second resurrection spoken of in Revelation 20, where it says everyone else will be resurrected after the 1000-year reign of Jesus and then those people will be judged [at the end of the 1000-year Messianic Era]. Paul says, when the last enemy is to be destroyed, then Jesus will hand this world back to God, and Jesus will be subject to God. The children of God will be the remaining people after all of the enemies are gone.
Paul also said in Romans 8:19 that, “all of creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.”
Since one day He will be here reigning as King, it is worth mentioning Jesus’ Aramaic name is Yeshua, and His Hebrew name is Yehoshua which means Salvation. The name Yeshua is a shortened version of the name Yehoshua, but in English we would call him Joshua.
The Kingdom of God
In Jeremiah 31:31-35 it says, “… God will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. He will put His Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts.” It is noteworthy to recognize here that God is making the covenant with Israel, not the other nations.
We first must attach ourselves to Israel to be a part of this covenant. People have been attaching themselves to Israel ever since the exodus from Egypt. Those people were called sojourners/God-Fearers, and many Gentiles followed the children of Israel through the Red Sea. God even told the Gentiles to keep the Sabbath along with Israel in Exodus 16 prior to giving the 10 Commandments. The Sabbath has actually been kept since creation, but that is a much longer discussion for another time.
In Isaiah 2:3-4 it says, “…the law (Torah) will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.” Jerusalem will be the joy of the whole earth! It appears that it will take 1000 years to finish the final touches in order for God to actually come here and dwell. Below is a short video giving another perspective of the Kingdom of God.
A Dwelling Place for the Lord
Before the fullness of the Messianic Era comes, and before New Jerusalem comes down and we all enter the World to Come, our body is to be a dwelling place for God.
In Exodus 25:8 Moses was told to make God a sanctuary as it says, “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.”
The Rabbis say this is a commandment for everyone.
Paul verifies this in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”
Can you imagine what it will look like for God to dwell with us here on this earth? Or what it could look like when Yeshua comes back and reigns as King and He will be using the Torah as the law of the land? Repentance is the path to where you can realize what that looks like. As you go through the process of cultivating the seed of repentance within you start to understand what that looks like. Some will realize 30% of what that looks like, while others may recognize 60%, and others will master repentances and completely understand what it will look like (Matthew 13:8).
The amount of seed that produces fruit in your life is your responsibility, and your achievement in the Kingdom of God is up to you.
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