In contrast to the two other millennial positions, Postmillennialists say that Christ will return only after/post the overwhelming success of the gospel in present history. All millennial positions agree that when Christ returns there will be unprecedented victory for the people of God. The Amillennial position like the Postmillennial position, believes that when Christ returns that will be the beginning of the New Heavens and Earth. We will live eternally with our Lord. Premillennial eschatology believes that when Christ returns he will usher in a millennial reign. The people of God will rule on earth with Christ for a thousand years of prosperity; then at the end of the thousand years Satan is set free for a short while and Christ crushes the evil one and sends him to the lake of fire. Then after that, we will live with Christ for all eternity.
The Premillennial scheme is a bit more complex. This is why if you grew up in a Premillennial church, you may remember the charts.
On the other hand, Postmillennialism and Amillennialism are fairly simple to understand. These positions are saying: “We are not waiting for a rapture, then a period of tribulation for seven years, then another coming of Christ (the Second Coming), then a thousand years, then the Final Judgment.” To be sure, scholars who defend premillennialism are very successful in conveying their ideas. After all, they are the majority view.
But if you were to ask the question: “What makes Postmillennialists different from Amillennialism and Premillennialism?” The answer is: Postmillennialism is the only eschatological position that believes in the victory of the gospel in time and in history. In other words, Postmillennialism believes “that the promises in the Old Testament of an age of great blessing on earth will be fulfilled”[1] while the church is on earth.
The question we will answer this morning is, “How can the Postmillennialist demonstrate biblically that the blessings of God’s kingdom come through the spread of the Gospel before the Second Coming?”[2]
Many assume that our understanding of eschatology comes from the Book of Revelation, but in reality our understanding of eschatology ought to come from the Book of Genesis.
[1] Smith, Ralph. A Covenantal Kingdom: A Brief Summary of Postmillennialism, pg. 3.
[2] Smith, pg. 3
2 Replies to “Postmillennialism: A Victorious Eschatology, Part IV”