A Brief Overview of the Reign of Christ

and the Day of the Lord

 

Two weeks ago, we concluded

Revelation 22

  And the book of Revelation

But we left Many Unanswered Questions

 

In this lesson, we want to briefly review part of the book, but perhaps more importantly, put some things in chronological order.

 

By way of Review, We recall Revelation 1:19

 

(Rev 1:19 NKJV)  "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

 

"Write the things which you have seen, Rev 1 -

 

“the things which are,”  Rev 2-3- The seven churches

 

“the things which will take place after this” – The rest of the book, and our study in this lesson.

 

By way of Order, We’ll start at Revelation 1:7

 

(Rev 1:7 NKJV)  Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

 

 “He is coming with clouds,”

And we have been told this before in the New Testament.

 

(2 Th 1:7-8 NKJV)  and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,

(8) in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Compare this to:

 

(Rev 6:14-17 NKJV)  Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. {15} And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man,

hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, {16} and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! {17} "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

 

It will be a day of great separation.

 

This is a great pivotal point in history!

Before this point, there is great tribulation for Christians and the Jewish people.

After this point, there is rejoicing for Christians, and suffering for all others.

 

(Mat 13:41-42 NKJV)  "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,

{42} "and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

Christians will be caught up to be with the Lord.

 

(Mat 24:31 NKJV)  "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

(1 Th 4:16-17 NKJV)  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. {17} Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

 

We will not repeat everything here, but there is a period of great tribulation.  Then God’s people will be caught up to meet the Lord, and His day of wrath will be visited on the earth.  This day is called: “The Day of the Lord.”

 

(Isa 13:9 NKJV)  Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.

 

(Joel 1:15 NKJV)  Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

 

(Joel 2:11-13 NKJV)  The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? {12} "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."   

(Joel 2:13) So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.

 

(1 Th 5:9 NKJV)  For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

What happens when He returns?

 

(Rev 11:15-19 NKJV)  Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" {16} And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, {17} saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. {18} The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,

And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth."

 

(Rev 11:19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

 

God will be among us.  “God with us”

 

(Rev 21:2-7 NKJV)  Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. {3} And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. {4} "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.

There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." {5} Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."  {6} And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. {7} "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

 

I take this to be the 1,000 years and beyond

 

(Rev 20:1-7 NKJV)  Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. {2} He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; {3} and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.

But after these things he must be released for a little while. {4} 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. {5} But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

{6} 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. {7} Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison.

 

But he doesn’t last long!

 

(Rev 20:9-10 NKJV)  They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. {10} The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

 

It will be the Restoration of all things:

 

(Acts 3:19-21 NKJV)  "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

(Acts 3:20) "and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, {21} "whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

 

The Restoration:  The water of life

 

(Rev 22:1 NKJV)  And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

The Restoration:  The tree of life

 

(Rev 22:2) In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

 

The Restoration:  The Curse is gone!

 

(Rev 22:3) And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

 

The Curse!

 

 (Gen 3:16-19 NKJV)  To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." {17} Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. {18} Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. (19) In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."

 

The Restoration:  The Fellowship is back!

 

(Rev 22:4) They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

 

(Gen 3:8 NKJV)  And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

 

Even the animals will know a difference.

 

(Rom 8:18-25 NKJV)  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. {19} For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. {20} For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; {21} because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. {22} For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. {23} Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. {24} For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? {25} But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

 

A better tomorrow:  Our blessed hope!

 

(Titus 2:13 NKJV)  looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

 

Where from here?

 

Anything else in Revelation?

 

Do you want to study Isaiah?

 

Do you want to return to a study of the Old Testament prophets?

 

Other suggestions?