Installation by force
The thousand-year Kingdom Age will be installed on the earth by force.
Christ will return at the head of His army. He will smash through every defence that devils and men raise against Him. His fury in that day will be like that of a roaring lion against those who oppose Him, except that the visage and wrath of the most ferocious lion will seem to be the playfulness of a kitten compared with the avenging Christ.
Better that a person should molest a grizzly bear with her cubs than resist the Lord Jesus of the thousand-year Kingdom Age.
The only manner through which peace can be achieved, whether in Heaven or on the earth, is by the destruction of the wicked. God will not dwell in the midst of rebellion and perversion.
Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is returning to earth in the authority and power of God Almighty to crush all rebellion under His blazing feet. His feet of glowing bronze are the victorious saints, the conquerors. God has purposed to crush Satan under the feet of the Body of Christ (Romans 16:20; Revelation 2:26,27).
The Jews of Jesus’ day pictured the coming of Christ as that of a conqueror who would free them from the Romans and restore the kingdom of David. But Christ was born as a helpless infant in a stable.
The Christian Church envisions the return of Christ as that of a gentle teacher who will flutter meekly about the earth, entreating the rulers of the nations to listen to his loving call; meanwhile enabling his followers to escape to Heaven, there to float peacefully playing harps in clouds of bliss.
Instead, the Lord Jesus Christ will return as one more powerful and far more exacting than Caesar. By force, punishment, and destruction He will avenge every injustice and set up His world empire. He and His saints will rule all nations with a rod of iron, breaking them to fragments at every point of rebellion.
Therefore we preach and testify to the Church and to the world: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."
Antichrist, famine, pestilence, economic chaos—none of these judgments can injure us if we will keep our eyes fastened in faith on the Lord Jesus. God has everything and everyone under His control.
The vision that inspires us to press on to the fullness of redemption is the assurance that the life and work we have begun now will proceed until the day when we stand with Christ and look out over an earth in which all sinners and the effects of sin have been removed. Everything of value and beauty in the earth will be preserved and brought to perfection in Christ.
The judgment and destruction that will occur in the meantime do not trouble us. Why not? Because no spirit, person, or thing in any manner can touch a child of God except as the Father directs for the purpose of perfecting His child. Only God has the authority and power over us; no one else! There is glory for the saints from now on.
If we were to dwell on the realization of the sin, the famine, the misery that are in our world, we could become cynical and filled with despair concerning the message of the angels to the shepherds of Bethlehem. There is little peace on the earth. There is little good will among men. Of what benefit to the world has been the birth of Christ?
Then, when the outlook seems hopeless, the Scripture reveals to us what is just ahead. We understand that Christ will never fail nor be discouraged until His Kingdom has been set up on the earth and all the nations of the world come to Him for healing, for wisdom, for righteousness, for counsel, for government, for His approval and blessing.
The Kingdom-age Jubilee is not an impractical dream of poets and visionaries. He, Christ, the only lawful Ruler of the earth, is coming in thunder and fury to set up His throne exactly as it is written in the Scriptures. Woe be to anyone who attempts to resist His ruler ship!