Well, I had some extra time [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img]
Venema, continues his exegesis against the Post-Mil by asking another simple question, [color:blue]
Is a servant greater than His master? One of the great themes in Scripture is the theme of suffering and cross-bearing. This was a major theme in the Reformer’s writings as well—Luther, Calvin (2 chapters in his
The Sum of the Christian Life: The Denial of Ourselves, et. al.).
Suffering of Christians is unmistakably spoken about in Scripture (Matt 10:34-39, 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23-24, 14:27; Rom 8:18, Phil 3:10, Col 1:24, et. al.). To cite just one other example look at:
[color:blue]Romans 8:18-22 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature [color:red]waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
This passage reveals that this present age is one of suffering, not only of Christians, but of the whole creation. Not until [color:blue]
the manifestation of the sons of God, that is the close of this age, will this circumstance be changed! Therefore, it is an inescapable feature of this interval between the times of Christ’s coming and His return in glory that suffering marks the circumstance of believer and creation alike.
Now, the
Golden Age of the Post-Mil MUTES this biblical teaching about the fellowship in the suffering between Christ and His disciples. No matter how it is qualified or described, the Post-Mil
Golden Age excludes these dimensions of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Consequently, Post-Mil betrays a triumphant theology of glory that prematurely anticipates in history what will be a circumstance of God’s people only in the day of their vindication.
