Continuing with the subject of,

The Millennium and the End of Sin

In our previous post we were addressing the issue of what Adventist believe believers will be doing in heaven while the earth remains desolate and void of life save that of Satan and the fallen angels.

According to our Adventist friends:

“God is going to give the redeemed 1,000 years in heaven to learn about what’s behind His judgement of humanity.

As you can imagine, we will have many questions! Why did this happen? Why did this person choose this path? Why is this person in heaven and not that person?

This millennium is a privilege from God. He invites us to ask our questions and invites us to share in His knowledge of everything that happened on earth.

Before the earth was created, sin had its origins in the angel Lucifer’s heart. He became jealous of God’s sovereignty and he questioned God’s judgement. He even started a war in heaven (Revelation 12) when he indulged the thought that he could be better than God. Lucifer, now called Satan, started the Great Controversy—a spiritual war of good versus evil.

This makes the millennium particularly meaningful for those in heaven with Jesus, as they will be shown how God’s judgment was fair and just. Satan’s accusations will be ultimately disproved.”

Two mistakes are made here by our Adventist friends, the first is the idea that God (the Almighty) himself will be responsible for the judgement of the world in the next age and the second and more importantly is the idea that the judgement to come upon the world during the millennium is somehow related to their past sins, the sins of this life.

God is not going to be judging anyone during the millennium for he has turn that judgment over to the Christ, Head and body.

“GOD hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained” – “Jesus Christ, the righteous.” (Acts 17:31)

“The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.” (John 5:22)

“Know you not that the saints shall judge the world?”

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.” (Rev 20:4)

The only ones with whom the Father Himself is judging, and these presently are the saints, the spirit begotten. This judgment began a little over two thousand years ago with the Head of the House of God, our Lord Jesus Christ and continues until the last prospective member of the body has been judged, i.e., tried (tested).

The second mistake they make here is supposing that mankind is to be judged upon their past sins, the sins of this life.

The judgment to come has nothing to do with the sins of this life, these sins have all been atoned for through the ransom sacrifice of Christ.

Once again, we return to Rom 5:18:

“Therefore, as by the offense (the sin) of one (man, Adam) judgment came upon ALL MEN (extensively) to condemnation (death, “the wages of sin is death.”) Even so by the righteousness (the obedience) of one (man, the Man Christ Jesus) the free gift (forgiveness of sins, Salvation) came upon ALL MEN (co-extensively) unto justification of life (justifying their living again).”

Note however, it is not that God will let the sinner go unconditionally, but, as Scripturally declared, God will let go the prisoners out of the pit (out of death), because he has found a RANSOM, (Job 33:24) The man Christ Jesus GAVE HIMSELF a ransom (a corresponding price) FOR ALL. (1 Tim. 2:6) Therefore all that are in their graves (prisoners in the pit) shall hear his voice and come forth, in due time–when the Redeemer shall “take to himself his great power and reign.”

“We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,” i.e., God ceased to resent our sins, because our ransom price had been paid, as provided by himself, who so loved us that he gave his Son to redeem us. Thus, too, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES UNTO THEM” (but unto his beloved Son, who freely gave himself as our substitute).

The sins were imputed to mankind until Jesus died; then God forgave, i.e., ceased to impute to us what our Redeemer or Substitute had paid. God did not PARDON, i.e., “refrain from exacting the penalty,” but “laid upon him [our Redeemer] the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 53:6) “He bore [the penalty of] our sins in his own body on the tree.” (1 Pet. 2:24) And thus we see how God forgave us freely “for Christ’s sake“–because he paid the penalty which was the full satisfaction of justice.  (1 John 1:7; 2:12; Eph. 4:32; Acts 4:12; 10:43; 13:38; Luke 24:47)

Therefore, there will be no need of reviewing the past sins of mankind, to imagine such to be the case would be to consider the great sacrifice of our Lord as being insufficient to cover the sins of the world.

Once again recall the words of 1 John 2:2, “He is a propitiation [satisfaction] for our [the Church’s] sins, and NOT FOR OURS ONLY, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)

We continue with our next post.