The Destiny of the Bride of Christ - Part 9
After the defeat of the unholy trinity at the battle of Armageddon, the Antichrist and the False Prophet will be hurled into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:20), and Satan will be imprisoned in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:2).
Then Jesus Christ Himself will establish His throne in Jerusalem and lead the world into the most glorious age in its history!
“The Lord will be king over all the earth at that time. There will be one Lord, and his name the only one.”—Zechariah 14:8-11 (ISV)
The prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6-7 will finally be fulfilled in its entirety.
“For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given; And the government shall be upon His shoulder, And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
“There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace, [He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From that time forward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” —Isaiah 9:6-7 (AMP)
God’s people were expecting this when Jesus came the first time. Even his own disciples were expecting a governmental ruler.
“So when they had come together, they asked Him repeatedly, “Lord, are You at this time reestablishing the kingdom and restoring it to Israel?”—Acts 1:6 (AMP)
It was totally understandable that those who were waiting for the Messiah were expecting Him to be a governmental ruler, because that is exactly what the Biblical prophecies foretold. It’s no wonder that when He came the first time as a meek and humble servant who died in the prime of life without even having a home to call his own … it confused everybody!
Now, at the end of the Church Age, having the benefit of hindsight, we can see that these prophecies of the coming Messiah were fulfilled only in part when Jesus came the first time. His second coming will bring the complete fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies. He came the first time as the sacrificial Lamb of God. He comes the second time as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, on the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.
“And to Him (the Messiah) was given dominion (supreme authority), Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and speakers of every language Should serve and worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”—Daniel 7:13-14 (AMP)
Those Worthy to Rule with Christ
The Bible is very clear that not all Believers will rule with Christ during His 1,000-year reign. Those who will be found worthy to rule and reign with Christ are described for us in Revelation 20:4-6:
“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” (NKJV)
These who are worthy to sit on thrones of authority in Christ’s kingdom are not the lukewarm believers of the church of Laodicea that made Jesus sick to his stomach. These are not the foolish virgins of Matthew 25 who were locked out of the wedding celebration. These are not the servants who shirked their responsibilities to the Lord, like the lazy, foolish servant in the parable of the talents.
These disciples who are with the Lord, reigning side-by-side with Him are “the called and chosen and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). These are those who were faithful and obedient unto death, “beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands” (Revelation 20:4).
These are only those believers from Revelation 19:7 who who prepared themselves to meet the Bridegroom. These are the wise virgins of Matthew 25 who kept oil in their lamps at all times. These are those faithful servants from the parable of the talents who qualified to be entrusted with higher positions of authority and responsibility.
It is only these faithful Overcomers who are considered worthy to be included in this First Resurrection.
“This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”—Revelation 20:5-6 (NKJV)
This is the First Resurrection that the Apostle Paul was willing to sacrifice everything to attain to.
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,** if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.**
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.** Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, **I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 3:10-14 (NKJV)
These are the Overcomers who are singled out by Jesus in his letters to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. The description of this resurrected group in Revelation 20 directly corresponds to promises Jesus made to the Overcomers in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.
“This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.
(1) Over such the second death has no power (Revelation 2:11),
(2) but they shall be priests of God and of Christ (Revelation 3:12),
(3) and shall reign with Him a thousand years (Revelation 2:26-27; Revelation 3:21).”
—Revelation 20:5-6 (NKJV)
It is only this remnant group of Overcomers who rule and reign with Christ on earth during this coming age.
It is only this remnant group of Overcomers who are found worthy to be His Bride for all eternity.
Jesus spoke of this division of His servants in Mathew 24 and Luke 12, exhorting His disciples to be like the wise virgins who are ready to meet the Bridegroom when He returns for them.
“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;** **and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”
And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”—Luke 12:35-46 (NKJV)
