The people of today may be willing to receive the good news of the blood atonement. The atonement is something that benefits man. But receiving the lordship of Christ is another matter. It is not obvious how submission to the kingship of Christ benefits us. In fact, such submission to the will of God in Christ does away with our so-called liberty. The humanists of today recognize this and resist Christianity with all their power.

Mankind is bent on freeing itself from every inconvenient rule. How willing will it be to become the bondslave of Christ? Are the Christian people of today willing to become the bondslaves of Christ? Is the Wife of the Lamb ready to accept Jesus as her unqualified Lord? Or does she expect to direct the Lord by her will?

It is ironic that the "New Age" teaching, which proclaims a counterfeit of the Kingdom Age that is coming, also teaches union—union with God and nature. The "New Age" teaches also that man is a god and can become an integral part of God Almighty. The difference in the New Age teaching and the Gospel of the Kingdom is that the Gospel requires stern, total obedience to Christ while the New Age doctrine stresses absolute liberty to follow every inclination of the "god" who is in us, that is, the god that is our self.

The end result of the Gospel of the Kingdom, the Gospel that teaches stern obedience to Christ, is the liberty of the children of God, a liberty, joy, and glory that exceeds all the hopes and dreams of mankind.

The end result of the New Age gospel, the gospel that teaches we are free to do as we please, is the chains of sin, Satan, and our self-will. In addition, the future of those who disobey Christ is terrifying beyond human comprehension.

Satan promises liberty to those who follow him. The truth is, Satan and those who follow him already are in chains and shall continue to be in chains throughout eternity.

The thousand-year Kingdom Age, which has been termed the Millennium, will be one of spreading the rule of Jesus to the nations of saved peoples of the earth. The holy city will not descend to the earth until first there has been an age of image and union during which the nations of the saved, and God's elect as well, are brought into total submission to the will and moral image of God as expressed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The process of producing image and union involves suffering. It is through suffering that we cease from sin and self-will and become submissive to the will of God.

The concept of the kingship of Christ is beginning to enter the Christian Church. We conceive of Christ as the loving Savior, the Helper, the gentle Shepherd. It is difficult for us to receive Jesus as a real King with absolute authority.

To be continued.