PMW 2024-032 by Kendall Lankford

[Gentry note:

This nicely presented, insightful article appears on The Shepherd’s Church website (The Shepherd’s Church is located at: 10 Jean Ave. Suite 12, Chelmsford, Mass.).]

INTRODUCTION

If you have been with us over the last 8 weeks, we have been attempting to summarize what a failed eschatology looks like. From the hyper-defeatism of dispensationalism and premillennialism to the subtle apathy for cultural engagement that seeps in through amillennialism and the Radical Two Kingdoms, we have been attempting to show that a wrong view of eschatology will have an impact on how you live in the world. Because let’s face it, if you believe that we lose down here (As John MacArthur famously said), we will not work down here. If we believe the rapture is always moments away, then why waste your time doing the long work of making disciples and transforming culture? If we believe that all of our energy and effort should go into spiritual activities (the Kingdom of God) and that this work does not overlap with the physical world (The Kingdom of Man), then why engage at all? Why obey Jesus’ command to be salt and light in the world if the only aspect we will ever see redeemed is spiritual? Better to spend your time converting souls for a Gnostic utopia than Biblically discipling nations to live with Jesus in the New Heavens and New Earth.

While each of the views we have covered so far has minimal overlap, two things they do have in common are that they are entirely wrong about eschatology and that they have throttled down the church so that she has become a passive-sickly agent in this world. In this series, we have been looking to change that.

And that brings us to our topic for today. How is Postmillennialism the correct view of eschatology? What does it mean? What implications will it have on my life? Can it be demonstrated convincingly from the Scripture?

To that end, let us begin by defining Postmillennialism, and then we will spend the majority of our time today showcasing this view in the pages of Genesis.

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WHAT IS POSTMILLENNIALISM?

Unlike the smorgasbord of major depressive eschatologies, Postmillennialism uniquely grapples with the unstoppable power of God, the awesome glory of Jesus’ Gospel, and how the earth will come under the Lordship of Christ the King before this rodeo is over. Instead of presenting Jesus’ great commission as an absolute failure, Postmillennialism takes seriously how the Gospel will change hearts, the church will disciple societies and nations (Matthew 28:19), and because Satan is bound (Matthew 12:29; Revelation 20:2), and the principalities and powers have been disarmed (Colossians 2:15), Jesus will win back the world and will bring it under His Father’s rule (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

Central to this perspective is the understanding of what eschatology is. Eschatology is not the poorly written conclusion or the explosive plane crash of an otherwise glorious trip. Eschatology is concerned with how everything that was lost in the first Adam will be restored under the Lordship of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Eschatology is not the final chapter where everything falls apart; it is the story of how everything comes back together in Jesus. This distinction is crucial.

With that in mind, Postmillennialism acknowledges that everything that fell in the first creation will be healed and restored by Jesus in His new creation, the Kingdom. To clarify, we are saying that this New Creation kingdom began when He ascended into heaven and will not be finished until everything is restored when He makes “His blessings flow far as the curse is found” (Joy to the World; Isaac Watts, 1719).

The postmillennial conviction is that God will do this by filling the world with worshipers who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23-24). Why? Because that is the end for which God designed the world (Genesis 1:28). At the heart of postmillennial thinking is the idea that God is going to redeem all that was lost in Adam, that He will fill the fallen world with worshippers in garden spaces, where He will bring the Kingdom of God across a globe that was under the tyranny of the devil. He will do that through the preaching of the Gospel, the making of disciples, and through the life-changing work of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we know Christ never fails at anything He sets about to do. Thus, because Christ has endeavored to bring the world under His rule, He will not stop until He has been successful everywhere the curse is found.

According to the postmillennialist, this process of worldwide Kingdom expansion began when Jesus ascended into heaven and sat on His throne to rule, inaugurating a period known as the “Millennium” (Revelation 20), which is not a chronological term but symbolic of this growing epoch when righteousness, peace, and the acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty become pervasive realities. This era will be marked by an unprecedented increase in the number of worshipers who live out and celebrate the truth of God’s Word, culminating in a world saturated with adorations and praise for Yahweh, our King.

Thine Is the Kingdom
(ed. by Ken Gentry)

Contributors lay the scriptural foundation for a biblically-based, hope-filled postmillennial eschatology, while showing what it means to be postmillennial in the real world.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Unlike escapist or pessimistic eschatologies, Postmillennialism sees the future as a canvas for God’s redemptive work, transforming not just individuals but whole families, cultures, and nations. This view does not naively ignore the presence of sin and misery in the world but instead acknowledges a substantial decrease in its power and influence by the Risen Lord Jesus. Through this global transformation, which will happen slowly over many generations, the world will experience a foretaste of heaven as more and more people come to know God, are filled with His Spirit, and begin living out Christ-like behaviors and attitudes on earth.

Knowing this, the postmillennial vision compels Christians to engage actively in the world, driven by the certainty that their labor in the Lord is not in vain. Believers are called to spread the aroma of Christ in every sphere of life, laboring in hamlets, highways, high rises, downtowns, white houses, and empires that must be transformed into communities of worshipers before the Lord returns. This eschatological outlook infuses our daily living with purpose and direction, motivating us to partake in the divine mission of filling the earth with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).

In sum, Postmillennialism is God’s plan, in Christ, by the power of the Spirit, to fill the world with faithful worshippers. It is not just an eschatological viewpoint but a Biblical vision of the hope and redemption God promised to bring back into this fallen world. It is the only view that shows how everything lost in Adam will be found in the second Adam, Jesus Christ. It opens our eyes to the incredible successes of Christ in church history. It frees us to view the future optimistically even as we labor hard in the present. And in my opinion, it is the only view that accounts for what the Bible promises will happen in Jesus’ Kingdom.

So, with that, let us look at a positive and Biblical case for the doctrine of Postmillennialism from the book of Genesis.

A WORLD FILLED WITH WORSHIPERS BY DESIGN

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – Genesis 1:28

To construct a Biblical eschatology, we must begin where the Bible begins. In the first chapter of Genesis, we see God’s plans and purposes for the world. A world made out of nothing. A world constructed without sin. A world in perfect conformity to the will of the Father, such that everything we behold in Genesis 1 pleases Him and is called very good by Him. If there was ever a way to discern the kind of world God would want, we must look no further than the one He made.

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In Genesis 1, after constructing heavenly space and earthly space, God made man with a unique and glorious purpose. After filling the cosmos to the brim with lights to rule the day and night, and after filling the skies with all kinds of birds and winged creatures, and after filling the oceans with teeming fish and sea monsters, and after filling the earth with every kind of animal and creeping thing, God also proposed to fill every square inch of this earth with humans, who would worship Him, and would spread His dominion and would rule over His creation to the glory of God. But, instead of beginning, as He did with a fixed and completed assortment of stars or with a fully multiplied ocean overflowing with sea beasts, God decided to begin with just two human bodies, made in His image, made to worship Him, both male and female, with the commission of using those two bodies to fill the four corners of this earth with their offspring (Genesis 1:28). To say that a different way, God Himself multiplied the galaxies and stars, as well as the winged and scaly beasts, but invited humans (the only creature God did this with) to partner with Him in their multiplication. This means God made human beings to become a multiplied species that filled the earth, but He allowed us to participate in our multiplication through monogamous covenant marriage.

Thus, we see the kind of world God wanted to make was a world filled with human worshippers, and by God’s grace, God invited humans to partner with Him in accomplishing that vision. This tells us all we need to know about God’s intention for the world. He created two sexual creatures to be bound in heterosexual covenant monogamy, to propagate the knowledge of God across the face of the earth through child rearing and family worship. This worshiping, fruitful, and multiplying family is what God called very good in Genesis 1, and this is what was so very bad about the fall in Genesis 3.

When sin entered the world, things fell. And by “fell,” I do not mean like a vase falling off a shelf, although as a metaphor that is not far off. What I mean is that everything God designed became broken. It no longer functioned in the way it was intended. And by everything, I mean everything. The earth fell. The land fell. Masculinity, femininity, marriage, and sex all fell. Moral reasoning, spiritual discernment, worship, creativity, and the ability to comprehend the knowledge of God all resoundingly fell. But what did not fall and was not broken was God’s intention to fill the world with worshiping people. This is where Postmillennialism is unique among the eschatological systems.

Instead of believing that God would give up on His “very good” plan and never accomplish what He set out to do initially, Postmillennialism sees God continually and consistently engaging with His fallen creation to ensure His plan will be accomplished. Again, God originally designed this world to be filled with human worshippers who spread His dominion and glory over every square inch of the land. With this in mind, those who ascribe to Postmillennialism do not see God abandoning that vision but gloriously and joyfully fulfilling it throughout Biblical and redemptive history.

In the following, I will sketch out, as briefly as I can, how God intends to fulfill His Genesis 1 vision of filling the world full of vibrant, faithful worshippers throughout the book of Genesis. Along the way, we will stop at various points and places in the Old Testament to see how God engages with sinful man to accomplish this plan. As you will see, these are the hopeful little breadcrumbs littered liberally along our Old Testament path. By the end, if you have eyes that are open to the text, you will not only see that God is still interested in this “very good” vision but also that in Jesus Christ, He absolutely will accomplish it.

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A WORLD FILLED WITH WORSHIPERS THROUGH NOAH

When man fell, He chose to fill the world with sin and sinners instead of the worship of God by godly worshippers. This polluting of the earth’s canvas began when Adam was thrust out of the garden (Genesis 3:23-24), and His family began multiplying transgressions on the surface of the land. Remember, it was his son Cain who painted the ground with Abel’s blood (Genesis 4:8). It was Lamech (the fifth generation from Adam) who boasted in gratuitous sin (Genesis 4:23-24); it was the prediluvian race of man who multiplied sin and misery all across the face of the earth (Genesis 6:5); and it was that demonically driven generation who interbred with the fallen angels to produce the race of giants called the Nephilim (Genesis 6:1-4).

In obedience to the nature God gave them, human beings multiplied what they most loved. But, instead of multiplying affection for God and holiness that they were designed to love, they multiplied the sins and miseries they were created to hate. This led to a period of unspeakable horrors on earth, as the only inclination of man at all times was just sin (Genesis 6:5). These acts of global rebellion and the sorry state that the world had fallen into provoked the wrath of Almighty God to destroy the world in the torrent of His furious holiness (Genesis 6:6-7).

In His justice, God was not obligated to save anyone. All had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All deserved His wrath (Ephesians 2:3). And yet God, in an act of unimaginable mercy, spares a single family, sets them apart for salvation instead of judgment, and then reiterates His commitment to having a world filled with godly worshippers. Take a look at what God says. When the ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat, and when Noah and His family disembarked the titan vessel, God spoke the following to Noah:

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. – Genesis 9:1

Far from being finished with His plan, He reiterates it! Think about it: if there were ever a time for God to redefine the terms or scrap the old plan to institute a new one, this would have been the time. And yet God does not do that. Instead, He reinstituted the same old plan that He gave Adam, showcasing that He had not forgotten it, had not abandoned it, and fully intended to accomplish it. Before God is finished with this physical world and Jesus returns, He will fill it with worshippers. This is what He enumerated to Noah.

A WORLD FILLED WITH WORSHIPERS THROUGH BABEL

After Noah died, his offspring and ancestors rebelled against the Lord as their Father Adam and his progeny had before. Instead of multiplying righteous worshippers to the ends of the earth, they multiplied a little faction of rebel sinners who refused to leave the plains of Shinar (Genesis 11:1-2). Instead of spreading outward, they decided to build upward, to build a tower that touched the heavens instead of people who blanketed the earth. This blatant rebellion against the plans of God occasioned the Almighty to come down and throw them into a fit of chaos and confusion (Genesis 11:3-9), subdividing them into all of the various people groups, tribes, ethnicities, and linguistic groupings. From this, it is clear that even in His judgment on them, He was committed to scattering humans to the four corners of this earth and filling the world with their offspring. This brings us to the promises of Abraham.

A WORLD FILLED WITH WORSHIPERS THROUGH ABRAHAM

After God accomplished the first part of His Genesis 1 plan . . . .

To finish the full article, click: https://www.theshepherds.church/blog/how-genesis-proves-postmillennialism

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