Shall Christ return to this world to sit on the Throne of David in Jerusalem?

"Jesus of Nazareth needed no outward enthronement or local seat of government on earth, to constitute Him the possessor of David’s kingdom, as He needed no physical anointing to consecrate Him priest for evermore, or material altar and temple for the due presentation of His acceptable service. Being the Son of the living God, and as Son, heir of all things, He possessed, from the first, the powers of the kingdom; and proved that He possessed them, in every authoritative word He uttered, every work of deliverance He performed, every judgment He pronounced, every act of mercy and forgiveness He dispensed, and the resistless control He wielded over the elements of nature, and the realms of the dead. These were the signs of royalty He bore about with Him upon earth; and wonderful though they were — eclipsing, in real grandeur, all the glory of David and Solomon — they were still but the earlier preludes of the peerless majesty which David from afar discried when He saw Him, as His Lord, seated in royal state at the Father’s right hand, and on which He formally entered when He ascended upon high with the word, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth; and lo! I am with you alway even to the end of the world Amen." (The Interpretation of Prophecy, P. 236, by Principal Fairbairn).

Christ sat on David’s throne as David’s Son and David’s Lord when the Father at His ascension said to Him "Sit Thou at My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool" (Ps. 110:1). That throne in the glory of His exaltation He will not vacate in order to sit on a material throne in Jerusalem. How repugnant the view that would subject the glorified Redeemer to what is tantamount to a second humiliation! He is now reigning "for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth," and He shall through His Word and Spirit graciously subdue the nations of the world to submit to His sceptre, so that the knowledge of His glory shall cover the earth as the waters cover the face of the sea.

Dispensationalism and the Millennium

Dispensationalists are Premillennial in their view of the Millennium. But all Premillennialists are not Dispensationalists. Many noted Premillennialists expose and reject the particular tenets of Dispensationalists. According to the Premillennial view Christ will return to this world, resurrect the righteous dead according to its interpretation of the "first resurrection" mentioned in Revelation 20, will reign in person on the throne of David in Jerusalem for a thousand years, over a world of men yet in the flesh, eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage. After the thousand years are finished the rest of the dead shall be raised. This the Premillennialists hold is the second resurrection mentioned in Revelation 20. Christ will then judge the world.

The Post Millennial view (so called because it asserts that the second coming of Christ is after the Millennium at the great day of judgment) is that the Millennium shall be ushered in through Christ coming in the power of the Holy Spirit as He did at Pentecost, blessing the everlasting gospel of the grace of God in all lands. Dr. A. A. Hodge in his Outlines of Theology p. 569 shows that although many of the Christian Jews in the early church, mistaking altogether the spiritual character of the Messiah’s kingdom, were Millennialists or Chiliasts (from the Greek Chilias, a thousand), the view generally recognised by the whole church was the Postmillennial view. It rejected Chiliasm, as did the great Augustine who was a Post Millenialist. Chiliasm or Premillennialism, Boettner observes, was in total eclipse for a thousand years, between the time of Augustine and the Reformation, and that during the Reformation period and for a long time afterward it was held by only a few small sects that were considered quite heretical. The Amillennial view advanced by the German theologian Kliefoth in 1874 denies a millennium in this world. The thousand years or millennium of Revelation 20 is according to this view the millennium of the saints in their intermediate state of perfect blessedness. The A-Millennial millennium is not on this earth but in heaven. The Dutch theologians Drs. Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck and others popularised this view. It is now widely held in Holland and in Dutch circles and professedly orthodox churches in America.

7th Dispensation (Rev. 20:4): The Kingdom

This is the last of the ordered ages which condition human life on the earth. It is the kingdom covenanted to David (2Sam. 7:8-17; Zech. 12:8; Luk. 1:31-33; 1Cor. 15:24). David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will rule over the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords, for 1000 years, associating with Himself in that reign His saints of all ages (Rev. 3:21; 5:9,10; 11:15-18; 15:3,4; 19:16; 20:4,6).

The Kingdom Age gathers into itself under Christ the various “times” spoken of in the Scriptures: (1) the time of oppression and misrule ends when Christ establishes His kingdom (Isa. 11:3-4); (2) the time of testimony and divine forbearance ends in judgment (Mt. 25:31-46; Acts 17:30; Rev. 20:7-15); (3) the time of toil ends in rest and reward (1Th. 1:6,7), (4) the time of suffering ends in glory (Rom. 8:17-18), (5) the time of Israel’s blindness and chastisement ends in restoration and conversion (Ezek. 39:25-29; Rom. 11:25-27); (6) the times of the Gentiles end in the smiting of the image and the setting up of the kingdom of the heavens (Dan. 2:34-35; Rev. 19:15-21); and (7) the time of creation’s bondage ends in deliverance at the manifestation of the sons of God (Gen. 3:17; Isa. 11:6-8; Rom. 8:19-21).

At the conclusion of the thousand years, Satan is released for a little season and instigates a final rebellion which is summarily put down by the Lord. Christ casts Satan into the lake of fire to be eternally tormented, defeats the last enemy, death, and then delivers up the kingdom to the Father.

Man Under Grace

"The sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ introduced the dispensation of pure grace, which means undeserved favor, or God giving righteousness, instead of God requiring righteousness, as under law. Salvation, perfect and eternal, is now freely offered to Jew and Gentile upon the acknowledgment of sin, or repentance, with faith in Christ."

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life" (John 6:47). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24). "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 10:27-28). "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9).

The predicted result of this testing of man under grace is judgment upon an unbelieving world and an apostate church. (See Luke 17:26-30; Luke 18:8; 2 Thess. 2:7-12; Rev. 3:15-16.)

The first event in the closing of this dispensation will be the descent of the Lord from heaven, when sleeping saints will be raised and, together with believers then living, caught up "to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thess. 4:16-17). Then follows the brief period called "the great tribulation." (See Jer. 30:5-7; Dan. 12:1; Zeph. 1:15-18; Matt. 24:21-22.)

After this the personal return of the Lord to the earth in power and great glory occurs, and the judgments which introduce the seventh, and last dispensation. (See Matt. 25:31-46 and Matt. 24:29- 30.)"

Comment:

Some teachers number the Tribulation as one of the dispensations, while combining the dispensations of Promise & Law. However, we see the Tribulation as a special period during which human civilization crumbles under the weight of the combined features of its ages long rejection of God.

Salvation Gospel in this dispensation:

Confess Jesus as Lord and believe in His resurrection.

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Dispensation of the Law (Exo. 19:1)

This dispensation began with the giving of the law at Sinai and was brought to its close as a time-era in the sacrificial death of Christ, who fulfilled all its provisions and types. In the previous dispensation, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as multitudes of other individuals, failed in the tests of faith and obedience which were made man’s responsibility (e.g. Gen. 16:1-4; 26:6-10; 27:1-25). Egypt also failed to heed God’s warning (Gen. 12:3) and was judged. God nevertheless provided a deliverer (Moses), a sacrifice (Passover lamb), and miraculous power to bring the Israelites out of Egypt (judgments in Egypt; Red Sea deliverance).

The Israelites as a result of their transgressions (Gal. 3:19) were now placed under the precise discipline of the law. The law teaches: (1) the awesome holiness of God (Ex. 19:10-25); (2) the exceeding sinfulness of sin (Rom. 7:13; 1Tim. 1:8-10); (3) the necessity of obedience (Jer. 7:23,24): (4) the universality of man’s failure (Rom. 3:19,20); and (5) the marvel of God’s grace in providing a way of approach to Himself through typical blood sacrifice, looking forward to a Savior who would become the Lamb of God to bear away the sin of the world (John 1:29), as “witnessed by the law” (Rom. 3:21).

The law did not change the provisions or abrogate the promise of God as given in the Abrahamic Covenant. It was not given as a way to life (i.e., a means of justification, Acts 15:10-11; Gal. 2:16,21; 3:3-9,14,17, 21,24-25), but as a rule of living for a people already in the covenant of Abraham and covered by blood sacrifice, e.g. Passover lamb, etc. One of its purposes was to make clear the purity and holiness which should characterize the life of a people with whom the law of the nation was at the same time the law of God (Ex. 19:5,6).
Hence, the law’s function in relation to Israel was one of disciplinary restriction and correction, like that exercised over Greek and Roman children by the trusted household slave or tutor (Gal. 3:24, translated “schoolmaster”) to hold Israel in check for their own good (Deut. 6:24): (1) until Christ should come (Christ is actually our Tutor, for the grace which saves us also teaches us, Gal. 3:24; Ti. 2:11-12); and (2) until the Father’s appointed time that the heirs (children of promise) should be removed from a condition of legal minority into the privileges of heirs who have come of age (Gal. 4:1-3). This God did in sending His Son, and believers are now in the position of sons in the Father’s house (Gal. 3:26; 4:4-7).
But Israel misinterpreted the purpose of the law (1Tim. 1:8-10), sought righteousness by good deeds and ceremonial ordinances (Acts 15:1; Rom. 9:31-10:3), and rejected their own Messiah (John 1:10-11). The history of Israel in the wilderness, in the land, and scattered among the nations has been one long record of the violation of the law.

Dispensation of Human Government (Gen. 8:15)

This dispensation began when Noah and his family left the ark. As Noah went into a new situation, God subjected humanity to a new test. Heretofore no man had the right to take another man's life (compare Gen. 4:10-11, 14-15, 23-24). In this new dispensation, although man's direct moral responsibility to God continued, God delegated to him certain areas of authority, in which he was to obey God through submission to his fellow man. So God instituted a corporate relationship of man to man in human government.

The highest function of government is the protection of human life, out of which arises the responsibility for capital punishment. Man is not individually to avenge murder, but as a corporate group he is to safeguard the sanctity of human life as a gift of God which cannot rightly be disposed of except as God permits. The powers that be are ordained of God, and to resist the power is to resist God. Whereas in the preceding dispensation restraint upon men was internal (Gen. 6:3), God's Spirit working through moral responsibility, now a new and external restraint was added, i.e. the power of civil government.

Man failed to rule righteously. That both Jew and Gentile have governed for self, not for God, is sadly apparent. This failure was seen racially in the confusion of Babel (Gen. 11:9); in the failure of Israel in the period of the theocracy, which closed with captivity in Babylon (2Chr. 36:15-21); and in the failure of the nations in the "times of the Gentiles" (Dan. 2:31-45).

Man's rule will finally be superseded by the glorious reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose right to reign is incontestable (Isa. 9:6,7; Jer. 23:5,6; Eze. 21:27; Luke 1:30-33; Rev. 11:15-18; 19:16; 20:4-6).

The dispensation of Human Government was followed as a specific test of obedience by that of Promise, when God called Abram as His instrument of blessing to mankind. However, man's responsibility for government did not cease but will continue until Christ sets up His kingdom.

Dispensation of conscience (Gen 3:8–8:22), Adam to Noah

Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment that assists in distinguishing right from wrong. Moral judgment may derive from values or norms(principles and rules). In psychological terms conscience is often described as leading to feelings of remorse when a human commits actions that go against his/her moral values and to feelings of rectitude or integrity when actions conform to such norms.^[1] The extent to which conscience informs moral judgment before an action and whether such moral judgments are or should be based in reason has occasioned debate through much of the history of Western philosophy.^[2]

Religious views of conscience usually see it as linked to a morality inherent in all humans, to a beneficent universe and/or to divinity. The diverse ritualistic, mythical, doctrinal, legal, institutional and material features of religion may not necessarily cohere with experiential, emotive, spiritual or contemplative considerations about the origin and operation of conscience.^[3] Common secular or scientific views regard the capacity for conscience as probably genetically determined, with its subject probably learned or imprinted (like language) as part of a culture.^[4]

Commonly used metaphors for conscience include the "voice within" and the "inner light".^[5] Conscience, as is detailed in sections below, is a concept in national and international law,^[6] is increasingly conceived of as applying to the world as a whole,^[7] has motivated numerous notable acts for the public good^[8] and been the subject of many prominent examples of literature, music and film.

The dispensation of innocence (or freedom), (Gen. 2:8-17,25), prior to Adam's fal

Original sin is the doctrine which holds that human nature has been morally and ethically corrupted due to the disobedience of mankind's first parents to the revealed will of God. In the Bible, the first human transgression of God's command is described as the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden resulting in what theology calls the Fall of mankind. The doctrine of original sin holds that every person born into the world is tainted by the Fall such that all of humanity is ethically debilitated, and people are powerless to rehabilitate themselves, unless rescued by God.

Some hold that humans are only responsible for conscious acts of sin:
"We believe that original sin differs from actual sin in that it constitutes an inherited propensity to actual sin for which no one is accountable until its divinely provided remedy is neglected or rejected." [1] This view maintains that the effects of original sin are "innocent effects", and that people are only held accountable for "actual sins" or "personal sins", which are a "voluntary violation[s] of a known law of God by a morally responsible person."