After Christ’s Return

The following Bible prophecies give information on events which are to take place after the return of Christ to earth:

God will set up a world-wide kingdom which will overthrow all human kingdoms

“In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed … it shall break in pieces and consume all these (human) kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).

“And the seventh angel sounded;  and there were great voices in heaven, saying The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ …..” (Revelation 11:15).

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth …..” (Zechariah 14:9)

Jesus will rule as king in this Kingdom

The angel said to Mary before Jesus’ birth:

“The Lord God shall give unto him (Jesus) the throne of his father David:  and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;  and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32, 33).

Jesus’ capital will be Jerusalem

Jesus said that Jerusalem is “the city of the great King” (Matthew 5:35).

“Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion (in Jerusalem), on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” (Psalm 48:2).

“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16).

Jesus’ Kingdom will last for one thousand years (also known as the “Millennium”)

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:  on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6).

Jesus’ law will be wise and righteous;  there will be equity and plenty for all

“Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the king’s son.  He shall judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment  ……. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy;  and shall break in pieces the oppressor” (Psalm 72:1-4).

“ …. With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth:  and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:2-4). 

War will be abolished and all men will live in peace

“And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off;  and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks:  nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

But they shall sit every man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it” (Micah 4:3, 4).

“The meek shall inherit the earth;  and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (Psalm 37:11).

All men will obey the laws of God

“Many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob;  and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths;  for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying Know the Lord:  for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:34)

A Temple is to be built in Jerusalem where all nations will worship God

The prophet Ezekiel in chapters 40 to 48 gives detailed specifications for a vast Temple to be built in Jerusalem where all people will gather to worship God.  This is described as a “House of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:7; Mark 11:17).

“And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16).

Men will worship God using one language

“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent” (Zephaniah 3:9).

The earth will bring forth abundant food for all;  the curse placed on it because of disobedience will be partially lifted

“The days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed” (Amos 9:13).

“The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as a rose ….. in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:1, 6).

Jesus will use his power to relieve sickness and suffering;  people will live to great ages

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.  Then shall the lame man leap as an hart (Hebrew – deer), and the tongue of the dumb sing …” (Isaiah 35:5, 6).

“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days;  for the child shall die an hundred years old;  but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed” (Isaiah 65:20).

Even animals will leave at peace

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;  and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;  and a little child shall lead them …. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain:  for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9).

 It will happen

The apostles taught that Christ would return to judge the world based on the great truth of Jesus’ own resurrection:

“He (God) hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained;  whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

Jesus promises places of rulership in this Kingdom through baptism and obedience to the Gospel

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne” (Revelation 3:21).

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:  on such the second death hath no power:  but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6).

“He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved …” (Mark 16:16).

At the end of his thousand-year reign, Christ will hand the Kingdom up to God once sin and death has been abolished;  God will then be all in all

“Then cometh the end, when he (Christ) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;  when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death …..

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto Him that did put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

God’s purpose with the earth will have been fulfilled and the earth shall then be “filled with the glory of the Lord” (Numbers 14:21).