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| Volume 23 Number 6 June 2021 |
Page 14 |
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| Volume 23 Number 6 June 2021 |
Page 14 |
Emanuel Daugherty
Jesus was fulfilling His mission
– “running for a touchdown.”
Premillennialists believe that Jesus, when He was rejected and crucified, caused God to change His plan for the Kingdom: (1) that Jesus will yet return to the earth, (2) set up an earthly kingdom and (3) rule on the earth for 1,000 years.
Truth. The Lord was not “caught off guard,” He was not “blindsided” by His opponents. He wasn’t surprised by the cross looming before Him. He knew what was in man (John 2:24-25). Scripture shows plainly that Jesus came as prophesied, lived among men and fully completed the work God gave Him to do! In His High-Priestly prayer, Jesus said, “I have finished the work You gave me to do” (John 17:4). The work Jesus came to do included the cross and to be killed (Isaiah 53:3-6; Matthew 16:21). When the writer of Hebrews wrote saying the blood of animals could not take away sin (10:4), he further wrote:
Therefore, when he came into the world, He said: Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come – In the volume of the book it is written of Me – To do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that he may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:5-10 NKJV)
It is not Jesus who failed but the Premillennialists who deny the very blood shed for their salvation! If Jesus failed, then none have been saved over the past 2,000 years! Their doctrine calls for a restoration of animal sacrifices! What blasphemous teaching!
Truth. Yes, Jesus was rejected and crucified, but this did not interfere with the Lord’s plan of redemption, for it was according to God’s eternal purpose (Ephesians 3:8-12). The crucifixion of His Son was part of God’s plan to save man. Again, John said, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
Truth. Peter said the Savior was “…delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God…” (Acts 2:23). The apostle John wrote of Jesus, calling Him “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). To imagine, and even preach, that the Creator, the Omniscient God of the Universe, did not know Jesus would be rejected is staggering to a reasonable mind! That Almighty, Infallible God did not know that He would turn away from His plan of Redemption, yielding to weak, mortal men, is inconceivable! What the forces of death, hades and the grave could not do, men did do (Matthew 16:18)! What an absurd doctrine!
Truth. A careful, unbiased reading of Matthew 16:18-19 shows plainly that when Jesus spoke of building His church, He was also addressing the coming of His kingdom. “…I will build my church… I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” The two are one and the same; to be in the one is to be in the other. Believers are added to the church by repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38). Believers are added to the kingdom by the same process, by being born again by water and the Spirit (John 3:3-5).
Truth. It has now been nearly two millenniums since Christ went to the cross. Premillennialism insists He is coming again to this earth to rule as King. Their followers wait in vain, generations come and go, and still no return, no rapture, no kingdom, no throne and no reign of Christ on earth. Their “prophecies” of the “when” of Jesus’ return flood the airways, Internet, televisions and bookstores. Every generation sees Premillennialism recalculating, redoing its charts, rewriting and reprinting. In this, Premillennialists are much like the Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah and gave up their Messianic hope. Premillennialism is a sad, embarrassing, disappointing and soul-crushing doctrine. He that errs therein is not wise.
Before the season is over, we beg the fans of Premillennial doctrine to search the Scriptures (John 5:39). “Examine yourselves, as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves…” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Life, Time,
Faith,
Love and Hope
Mark N. Posey