HOW DO YOU SPELL C-R-O-S-S

“See”

Look at Calvary. Don’t turn away. I know it’s not easy. What is done to Him is shameful. I know. But look closely! Past the spittle. Beyond the blood. There. In His eyes. Friend, that is love. It is love for you! See the nails in His hands and feet, fastening Him to a tree He created for man’s use. Look at the love He has for you!

“Are”

Are you able to see that He bled for you? Are you willing to admit that you are lost without Him? Are you ready to submit to His will, to obey Him, and to live for Him? Are you prepared for eternity? Are you convinced?

 “Oh”

Hear His cries of pain and agony. The death of a thousand deaths. Bitter moans of His disciples. The gasp of heaven’s angels. The sorrow of a Father for His only begotten Son! The gasps and exclamations of a hateful mob.

“SS”

That’s the hiss of the beguiling serpent. The one who is bruising the heel of the perfect One (Genesis 3:15), putting God the Son in the tomb. This is the moment of his triumph. Though resurrection will soon bring the ultimate victory for Christ and hope for man, at the cross of Calvary the devil must be enjoying his front row seat. Doesn’t he anger you? Disgust you? Motivate you? Live for Jesus. Don’t live for the snake!

Friends, the cross spells the difference between heaven and hell, hope and helplessness, joy and sorrow, day and night! The cross spells life!

“And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross…” (Ephesians 2:16).

Author Unknown

The Thousand-Year Reign

The vast majority of Protestants believe the “thousand years” of Revelation 20:1–7 refers to the tenure of Christ’s reign in an earthly kingdom upon His return. Since He will come before His alleged millennial reign, this theological system is called “premillennialism.” Since the aforementioned passage is the Bible’s only reference to a millennial reign of Christ, premillennialists rely heavily upon it, in spite of the fact that it does not contain or support premillennial dogma. For example, the passage does not mention such essential parts of the pre-millennial program as the rapture, the bodily resurrection of saints, the city of Jerusalem, an earthly reign of Christ, a thousand years of earthly peace, or even the Second Coming—all essential points of the dogma. A principal key to understanding the book of Revelation is that it is largely written in symbolic orfigurative “code” language (Revelation 1:1). No other Biblical document contains more signs and symbols than this one. One should thus approach its details as symbolic unless there is some contextual reason not to do so. Note the figurative flavor of the opening verses of Revelation 20 (the “angel,” the “key,” the “greatchain,” the “bottomless pit”/“abyss,” and the “seal” are all obviously figurative). There is every reason to believe (and no reason not to believe) the “thousand years” is also figurative. The events described in Revelation 20:1–9 are not a chronological continuation of chapter 19, which describes Jesus’ return, His destruction of all the ungodly, and His casting the “beast” and the “false prophet” into Hell (vv. 11–21)—all of which are highly figurative descriptions of the end of time and the Judgment. Revelation several times moves in cycles from the beginning of the church to the end of time, the last such cycle occurring in 20:1–9. In these verses John recaps the period from Pentecost to theJudgment (the Christian Age), during which Satan is bound for “a thousand years,” “loosed for a little time,” and at last cast into Hell forever. During this period (the present Christian Age), Christ now reigns over His kingdom, the church (Matthew 16:18–19; John 18: 36; Colossians 1:13; Revelation 1:5–6, 9), and simultaneously, Satan’s power is restrained. The “thousand years” of Satan’s “binding” and of Christ’s millennial reign is figurative, denoting a long, but indeterminate, period (cf. the “thousand hills” [Psalm 50:10] and the“thousand generations” [Deuteronomy 7:9]). During this time, “souls” (not bodies) of martyrs “reign” with Christ in Heaven (not on the earth), awaiting the universal bodily resurrection at His coming (John 5:28–29; I Corinthians 15:22–26). We are living in the millennium, the figurative “thousand-year” reign of Christ.

Note: This article was written for and published in the Denton Record-Chronicle, February 16, 2007.

Dub McClish