The Millennium

Question

With 1 Corinthians 15:25 in mind, are we in the millennial reign of Christ, or just one phase of His Kingdom?

Answer

Yes, and yes. We are in the millennial reign of Christ, and the millennial reign is just one phase of his kingdom. Jesus' kingdom is known as "the kingdom of God," "the kingdom of heaven," "the kingdom of Christ," and "the kingdom of the Lord." This kingdom is the restored kingdom of David under the Davidic king (1 Chr. 28:5; 2 Chr. 13:8). The New Testament authors made great use of this idea — it was arguably the central motif in their theology. In fact, the gospel itself is frequently called "the gospel of the kingdom" or the "good news of the kingdom" (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Mark 1:15; Luke 16:16). In bringing the kingdom of God, Jesus began to fulfill the restoration promises of the Old Testament.

The millennial reign spans the period between Christ's advents. At Third Millennium, we commonly refer to the millennial reign as the "continuation" of the kingdom. The kingdom was inaugurated at Christ's first advent (Acts 2:32-36; Eph. 1:20-21), is now a present reality (Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 4:20; Col. 4:11), and will be consummated at Christ's second advent (1 Cor. 6:9-10; 15:25-28,50; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5). In the meantime, we are in the continuation period. Many people refer to this same period as the "already/not yet," meaning that the kingdom is already here, and at the same time that it is not yet here. It has already begun, but it has not yet come in full.