On Earth as it is in Heaven

Now, with that uncomfortable topic of Tribulation Martyrs out of the way, we can be consistent in saying all believers (Jew and Gentile heirs together) will no longer be “flesh and blood.”  They will not marry.  They will not have kids in the Millennium.  They all reign with Christ for a thousand years. 

So, who do they rule over?

That requires a view of Revelation that is not a chronological, linear view but a holistic view…in which the same events are retold along with different scenes revealed due to different angles.

My overarching paradigm is:
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
(Matthew 6:10)

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Remember, Ephesians 6:12 “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (italics added to show that this is in the spiritual realm, not in Heaven per se).

Were one to view Revelation as linear or chronological, in Revelation 19, Jesus returns riding a horse with His armies, and they fight (on earth) the armies of the world. The bad guys die—indeed all of them, Scripture says—and they are eaten by birds.  Then comes the peaceful reign of Christ with the saints helping… for a thousand years…of ruling over …(who?) I guess nobody but each other … while on the earth.  But at the end when Satan is loosed for a little while because he “must” be then the devil deceives people from the far corners, Gog and Magog. 

Uh, where did Gog and Magog come from?  Weren’t they already dead and bird food? 
It makes no sense with a chronological reading.

But if we view it more holistically, John receives visions of the new events and new visions of the same events with new perspectives for new purposes.  On earth as it is in heaven.  (It’s not a simple repeat, but through a different lens).  The altar, thrones and resurrected souls (Revelation 6:9 and 20:4) are in Heaven as events continue to transpire on earth. 

John records them in an order because that’s how narratives are written.  So, it’s not quite like “flashback scenes” in a movie as concurrent events advance the story without a split-screen, but it’s a familiar way to try to understand a holistic format since we can’t see two arenas fully and simultaneously.

In Heaven they are accomplishing God’s Kingdom come, His will be done, “on earth as it is in heaven.”  When the Millennial Kingdom does come, they’re reigning and ruling…from Heaven…but their reign and rule is experienced…in the spiritual realm but importantly, also on our physical earth as we presently know it. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

How does that work? Just as in our present day, a time in which Jesus called Satan the prince of this world, we’re being spiritually ruled. Hold that thought: spiritually ruled. But Jesus also said Satan now stands condemned (John 16:11) and Ephesians 2:2 says, people followed evil “ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” If we can be ruled by evil spiritually, so too, there will be a time when righteousness and peace will rule the earth when Satan is bound, and God’s Kingdom comes. God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven.” Hallelujah!!

It’s complicated trying to understand the spiritual realm. But Scripture says there will be a Millennium of Christ’s rule. The unbelieving world still on earth will be spiritually ruled by peace and righteousness credited to Christ; they will have seen a physical army of evil destroyed and eaten by birds to put the fear of God into them; and now they will see what human nature alone can accomplish–in a thousand years of a world free from evil influences.

To see what man in his sinful, broken nature can accomplish apart from God.
Spoiler Alert: Nothing…