Mike Bickle discusses the four foundational aspects of the Millennial Kingdom, emphasizing God's original plan for humanity to have dominion over creation and to be in a close relationship with Him. He explains that this plan includes a supernatural dimension (the New Jerusalem), a physical dimension (the Garden of Eden), a political dimension (the Kingdom of David), and a relational dimension (the house of prayer). Bickle highlights that these aspects will converge at the second coming of Jesus, fulfilling God's promises and restoring creation. He encourages believers to have a clear understanding of their eternal future, as it impacts their present lives and obedience to God.

Thank you, Helen. Turn to page 111. This is session 6, or chapter 6. I am very impressed by your hunger to go through 14 teachings and 3 questions and answers, 17 sessions. That's remarkable to me. In session 6, we're going to look at 4 aspects of the Millennial Kingdom. What was God's original plan when He created the heavens and the earth? Paragraph A, why did God create the earth and why did He create the human family? From eternity, there was a yearning in His heart as a father to have a family. There was a yearning in His heart from eternity past to have a family to share His life with. He wanted a family that would be His sons and daughters, and they would be the inheritance of Jesus as His bride. Paragraph B, He wanted a family who would rule creation with Him. Not just that they would love Him and relate to Him, but they would work together with Him in love. So when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them a mandate to exercise dominion over the earth. But this is a mandate that goes beyond just this age. It actually is a mandate that reaches into the age to come. In Genesis 1.26, He said He gave them dominion over all the earth. He told them to subdue the earth, to bring it under His leadership. And to bring His glory to the ends of the earth. And to cultivate the earth and bring it to its fullness. That was a very significant mandate that God gave them. Now this was a mandate He gave them before they fell into sin. And after He gave them this mandate, He said, it is good, it is very good. When Adam sinned, this mandate was not negated or canceled out. It's still in place. And in the salvation of Jesus, this mandate is at the very center. It's been redeemed as well. David spoke about this mandate in Psalm 8. In verse 3, he looked up to see the sky and the stars. And then in verse 4, he asked a very important question. He said, what is a human that you are mindful of us? Why do you think so much about us? Who are we? Why do you care so much? Why did you give us so much? Why did you want us to draw so close? And in verse 4, he asked this very deep question. He was being stirred up by the glory and the dignity of who he is as a redeemed man. The question you can ask for your own life. Who are you to God? And what does He really have planned for you in the eternal future? David went on in verse 5 and 6 and summarized his answer. And he referenced the dominion mandate from Genesis 1 26. He said in verse 5, Father, you have crowned your people with glory and honor. Beloved, you have been crowned with glory and honor in a way that you cannot fully grasp right now. I cannot grasp how big this statement is. And in verse 6, David said, you put everything under man's responsibility and under man's authority. Look at the phrase, you put all things under us. You crowned us with glory and then you put everything under us. Now this is a statement about our eternal destiny. By putting everything in the natural realm under God's people, God was committing to work through His people to change the whole created order. Instead of bypassing His people, He committed Himself to work through them in order to bring His glory to the earth. This is a remarkable commitment on God's point. Paul commented on this in 1 Corinthians 3 21. He said, everything is yours. Talking to believers. He said, the world is yours. The very creation of life itself, God did it for you. Everything present is actually already been given to you in Christ Jesus. We don't enjoy the full benefit of all that's ours, but it is ours by title deed. Because we belong to Jesus. Everything to come, everything in the future is yours. Then he said, everything is yours. He's quoting what David said. Page 112. Matthew 25 verse 34. Jesus commented on this truth. He was speaking of the Father. He says, there's a day the Father will say to those, I mean, he says the King will say to those on his right side. I mean, he's the King. And Jesus the King is saying, one day I will say to you, come blessed of my Father. Jesus is saying, I will say to you one day as the great King, come, because you have been blessed by my Father. But here's the important point. Come and inherit a kingdom that was planned out for you in detail from the very foundation of the world. Did you know that those blessed by the Father, or those who are born again believers, the Father has a detailed plan for creation, and he was thinking of you when he came up with this detailed plan. And we see it in fullness in the Millennial Kingdom and then on into the eternal realm after that. Roman numeral 2. Paragraph A. I want to talk about four essential aspects of God's plan that all come together in the Millennial Kingdom. At the second coming of Jesus, all four of these will come together in fullness. There's a supernatural dimension. There's a physical dimension. There's a political dimension. And there's a relational dimension of God's plan for us. B. These four aspects are important to experience the fullness of what God has planned for us. They will converge or come together in fullness for the first time, affecting every sphere of life for the church. All four of these were in the original plan of what God had ordained for Adam before he sinned. Adam would have walked in all four of these in fullness if he would not have fallen into sin. There's a New Jerusalem dimension of our salvation. That's the supernatural dimension. There's a Garden of Eden dimension that's physical. There's a Kingdom of David dimension which is political and social. There's a house of prayer or a temple of the Holy Spirit dimension. That is relational. These four will come together at the second coming of Jesus. They're all connected now, but they will come together in fullness when the Lord returns. Paragraph G. When we use the word heaven, we often use it to think about our eternal future with the Lord. We will live in heaven, we say. A million years from now when we're in heaven. That is a right concept. But when we think about our eternal future in heaven, it's important that all four of these aspects are in our mind if we're going to think of this according to the truth. Most people have a very deficient view of heaven. I don't mean heaven like it is now, but heaven in the future when heaven comes down to the earth. When you think of your life in 500 years from now or 5,000 years from now, how do you picture it? Most people have a deficient or a very very limited view when they think of heaven in the future. They usually only think of the supernatural dimension of the New Jerusalem. And it seems exciting, but they can't really relate to it because it's so dynamic and supernatural. They can't really picture it. But our eternal future in heaven is more than a New Jerusalem supernatural dynamic. There will be a physical Garden of Eden dynamic. There will be a political Kingdom of David dynamic. There will be a relational House of Prayer temple of the Holy Spirit dynamic. The reason that many are not that interested in heaven because they misunderstand it thinking it's separated from the physical realm. I mean everybody I know that loves Jesus, they're glad they're going to go to heaven. They're very happy about that. But honestly they're not that interested because they almost never think about it and they never study about it. And the reason is because in their understanding it's been separated from the physical dimension. It's only an ethereal supernatural spirit dimension they can't grasp. If we think wrongly about heaven we will never think about heaven. And if we don't think about heaven we won't live right on the earth right now. The Apostles taught often about their life in the age to come as affecting the way they live right now. When we have a biblical picture of our future and it's important to us we live different today. I believe it's impossible to live in the fullness of how we're supposed to live today without our heart anchored it with clarity of what's going to happen in the age to come. One of the main reasons that so many sincere believers live in such carnality and weakness they have no clear picture of the future of their life. Yes they're very happy they're going to go to heaven when they die but it doesn't really affect them in a day-to-day way in their thinking. If we think wrongly about heaven we will never think about heaven. And if we don't think about heaven we won't live right on the earth. And we can have a certain measure of obedience but it will never have the kind of intensity that our obedience will have if we're anchored with an eternal view. Some people say that man is so heavenly minded he's no earthly good. There is no such person that's so heavenly minded they're no earthly good. What that phrase normally means is that they're so irresponsible they never pay attention to anything that they're no earthly good. The real problem is people are so earthly minded they're no earthly good. It is impossible to think too much about the subject of heaven without it affecting your life in a very powerful and positive way. So let's look at the subject of heaven on the earth, the millennial kingdom and even the eternal dimension beyond that. First is the New Jerusalem is a supernatural eternal aspect of the kingdom of God. When the New Jerusalem comes down to the earth then heaven is literally on the earth. And at that time the heaven will have its full expression according to the original plan of God. Because the full expression of heaven is not happening right now because it's disconnected from the earth. But God's original plan from Ephesians 1 10 we looked at yesterday was to join heaven and earth together and then to live with man on the earth. Top of page 114. So at the second coming when the New Jerusalem comes down to the earth then the original idea God had for heaven comes to completion because it has an earthly and a supernatural dimension come together. The New Jerusalem will descend down to the millennial Jerusalem and the two Jerusalems will connect. The reason it's called the New Jerusalem is because it has a dynamic connection to the city of Jerusalem. Or it's the other way around. The reason God called the earthly city Jerusalem is because of the heavenly name Jerusalem. But the two Jerusalems are not complete until they come together. And Jesus brings them together. Ezekiel 43 verse 6 and 7. It's a very remarkable passage. Ezekiel saw Jesus and Jesus spoke to him. Ezekiel looked several thousand years ahead to the future. He saw the millennial temple in Jerusalem way in the future. And then he saw the Messiah walking up to him. And Jesus spoke to him and he pointed to the millennial temple and he said, This is the place of my throne. He was talking about the Jerusalem in the millennium on the earth. He said, I will dwell in this city, in this temple, on this throne forever. Jesus on the earth, in a temple, in Jerusalem forever. Now you know why the devil doesn't want Jerusalem to be under the authority of the kingdom of God. But then John says something else about the throne of Jesus. Ezekiel says Jesus's throne will be on the earth. John says his throne is in the new Jerusalem. John saw the throne of the father and he saw the throne of the son. And he said they shall be in it, meaning the new Jerusalem. So paragraph C, does Jesus have one throne or does he have two? The Bible makes it clear his throne is on the earth in the millennium and his throne is in the new Jerusalem. So does he have one throne or does he have two? The answer is yes. Both of them are true. He called it the throne of glory. Jesus said when he came back, he would sit on the throne of glory. The throne of glory includes more than the earthly throne in the city of Jerusalem in the millennium. It includes his throne in the new Jerusalem as well. But it's connected. And I use this very inadequate phrase. I admit it's inadequate and it's less than perfectly accurate. I call it his vast governmental complex. And that the north end of his glory, of his throne, is in the new Jerusalem. The south end of it is touching on the ground on the earth in Jerusalem in the millennium. But it's one reality. It's one throne. It's more glorious than we can ever imagine. I can't wait to see it. Psalm 48 verse 5 says when the kings of the earth see it, they will be terrified as well as they will be awestruck with marvel. Psalm 48 verse 5. The millennial kings, when they see that vast throne, they will be awestruck and they will be terrified, both emotions. Both responses in the same person. They will say, oh yes and oh no at the same time. They will want to run to it and they will want to run from it at the same time. It will be so glorious. Paragraph D. When the new Jerusalem descends to the earth, it will create a new situation on the earth. Paragraph D. It will even create a new situation for the new Jerusalem. Because when the earth realm and the new Jerusalem connect, there's a dynamic connection that affects both realms. Paragraph D. It will cause an open heaven over the earth. Right now there's a veil between heaven and earth. Or a veil between the natural and the spiritual realm. Angels and demons are all around but we can't see them. But at the time of the second coming, the veil lifts. The two realms are fully interactive together. There will be an open heaven, so to speak, over the earth and the glory will go forth and fill the earth. Paragraph D. And it will start in Jerusalem and it will spread out and fill the entire earth with the glory of God. Page 115. Jacob had a vision of this dynamic. He saw just a glimpse of it. In Genesis 28 verse 12. He had a prophetic dream one night and he saw a ladder. And the ladder was on the earth but the ladder reached to the very gate of heaven. So the ladder touched both realms. It touched the earth realm and it touched the spirit supernatural realm. And the angels were going up and down the ladder continually. And he said, how awesome is this place right here. Because it was an open heaven where the reality of heaven was being made manifest to the earth. He said this is the gate or the doorway to the heavenly realm. He said this is awesome. But he only saw a brief glimpse into the reality that I'm talking about. Because the gate or the doorway to heaven in the age to come will be the two Jerusalem's coming together at the throne of Jesus. And it will be far more dynamic than what Jacob saw. And the reality of the new Jerusalem will affect the earth and the things of the earth will come into the new Jerusalem. There will be a dynamic connection between the two realms. In Genesis chapter 2 and 3, God walked with Adam in face-to-face fellowship. And the spiritual and the natural realms were interacting together before Adam fell into sin. And when Adam sinned, there was a veil between the spirit realm and the natural realm. But that veil will be lifted at Jesus' coming and the two realms will come together. Page 116. Let's look at the second dimension of heaven in the future. Or a second dimension of the kingdom of God on the earth in the future. There will be a Garden of Eden dimension to it. It will be a physical paradise. The environment will be completely restored and completely renewed. The agriculture will have the blessing and the glory of God touching it. The animals, the atmosphere, there will be a dimension of physical pleasure. We will eat the food and it will taste good and it will feel good. We will have a resurrected body. But our body will be physical and material. It will not just be like a ghost or a spirit. We will have the supernatural capacity to enjoy food, to enjoy physical touch, to have physical pleasure. This is new to some people. When they picture their life in the age to come, they don't picture a physical dimension to it. Because their idea is that the physical dimension is bad. When God created the earth in Genesis 1, He said it's very good. The physical realm is not bad. It's sin in the physical realm that is bad. Look at Isaiah 51 verse 3. The Lord will comfort Zion, which is the city of Jerusalem. He will comfort all of her waste place because there will be great desolation and destruction around the city of Jerusalem when the Lord returns. At the end of the tribulation, it will be like a wilderness of destruction around the city of Jerusalem. But the Lord will make it like the Garden of Eden. He will fully restore the physical, agricultural, atmospheric, and animal, all the dimensions of the physical Jerusalem. Then that glory will spread out across the whole earth until the entire world is transformed into the characteristics like this. And it will take a thousand years for it to go forth and to be tested and mature in righteousness, all that God wants to do in the millennium. The reason it's a thousand year reign because it will take a thousand years to establish all that God wants and then to test it and to make it mature in righteousness. Ezekiel saw the same thing, talking of Jerusalem in the millennial kingdom. He was speaking about Jerusalem in the millennial kingdom. Verse 35, And this land that was desolate, because it will be desolate by the end of the great tribulation, it will be so fully restored it will be like the Garden of Eden, but it will even go beyond. Because Jesus's throne will actually be in Jerusalem and the new Jerusalem will have descended down to that place. Top of page 117. Now, there will be a Garden of Eden dimension on the earth. And there will be a Garden of Eden dimension in the new Jerusalem. But the two Jerusalems will converge and connect. There will be a river of life on the earthly Jerusalem and a river of life in the new Jerusalem. There will be a tree of life on the earthly Jerusalem and a tree of life in the heavenly Jerusalem. There will be a tree of life on the earthly Jerusalem and a tree of life in the new Jerusalem. So, these two things are revealed, but this is actually one reality. Look at paragraph C. The scripture begins and ends with God living face to face with his people in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis chapter 2 and 3, we have the picture of God in face-to-face fellowship with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Revelation 21 and 22, it ends with God face-to-face in fellowship with his people in the Garden of Eden. What the Father originally attended in the first two chapters of the Bible will be fully restored in the last two chapters of the Bible. Paragraph D. The kingdom of God or heaven on earth will fulfill man's utopian dreams of a perfect world. The reason man dreams of a world of bliss and perfection, because that's how God created man originally in that context. That idea, that longing is still in the spirit of man. Because it's a cry for Eden is still in our spirit. And it's going to be answered. Now, if we don't see the Garden of Eden aspect of our salvation, then we're missing some of the glory of Jesus as our Creator. We see him as our Savior, but we don't see the fullness of Jesus' glory as our Creator. He didn't just create the earth, he created the earth with the Garden of Eden and he's going to restore it in his salvation. Top of page 119. Let's go to the third aspect, the kingdom of David. Or the throne of David is what the scripture calls it. I use those terms synonymously because the Bible does. But Jesus is coming back to sit on the throne of David. It will be a human throne, meaning it will be a throne that will affect the human social and political arenas. The future will not just be supernatural with the New Jerusalem and physical with the Garden of Eden. There will be a political social dimension that touches the collective human race on the earth. It speaks of that which is political, earthly, and even that which is Jewish. There will be a Jewish dimension to Jesus' leadership in Jerusalem that will spread to the whole world. Did you know when Jesus became a man, he is human forever? He didn't become a man and then when he rose from the dead, he said, Father, boy, that was a tough run and he laid his humanity aside. It didn't work that way. When he became man, the arrangement was he would have to become human forever, for billions and billions of years he would be human. But he is more than human. He is Jewish forever. He will be Jewish in a million years from now like he is now. Some of the rulers of the earth are going to be shocked when they stand before the judge of the earth that he is a Jewish man. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah, forever he is from Judah. Just like you will be Korean forever, he will be Jewish forever. He will not just show up different in the age to come, he will be the true person he is now. Just like he is Jewish in the present, he will be Jewish forever. In the millennium, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of sitting on the throne of David. In the millennium, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of sitting on the throne of David. This speaks of David's human, political, social dimension of his kingdom. Page 121. There's a fourth dimension. We will be a house of prayer forever. This is a relational and spiritual dimension of our experience in the age to come. It says in Isaiah 56 verse 7, we will be called the house of prayer forever. Isaiah 56 is actually talking about the people of God in the millennial kingdom. But in Matthew 21 verse 13, Jesus applied it even to this age. Jesus took a passage that was describing the millennial kingdom, and he borrowed it and applied it to this age as well. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit reality. Where the people of God together experience the manifest presence of God. And they release his manifest presence through prayer. Paragraph C. Being a house of prayer means that God speaks and moves our heart. Then we speak back to God and it moves his heart. And the result is that God opens up his hand and releases his manifest glory and his resources. He releases them into the earth realm and to the natural realm. All of God's resources are already abundant in the realm of the spirit, but he releases them into the earth realm when his people pray. We will be called a house of prayer even in the age to come. Because that describes how we will operate in the Holy Spirit. When God names somebody, that describes how they operate in the spirit and how they function. When God names someone or he names a city or a person. When God gives somebody a name, it describes how they function in the spirit and the character of their heart. So when God names his people the house of prayer, that describes how we will function forever in the spirit. Even in the age to come. God will speak and move our heart. Even in the resurrection, this will happen. Then we will speak and move his heart. He will release his resource and his glory into the earth realm. Because remember he put the earth under our feet and he won't just release it except he goes through us through prayer. The people of God will experience the Holy of Holies reality in the age to come as a house of prayer. The Holy of Holies. Page 122. Jesus's throne will be in the Millennial Temple in the Holy of Holies. In Zechariah 6, the prophet Zechariah saw Jesus. Or he received revelation about Jesus. And the Lord showed him that Jesus will build the Millennial Temple and then he will rule, he'll put his throne in the Holy of Holies in that temple. And that Holy of Holies, throne of Jesus, house of prayer will be the governmental center of the entire earth. And we will connect to his government through prayer. We will speak and release his authority and his resources into the earth realm forever and forever and forever. The governmental center of the universe right now is the prayer room, but it's the prayer room around the throne of God in Revelation 4 and 5. But the throne of Jesus in Revelation 4 and 5 and the throne of Jesus on the earth are going to come together on the earth. And then as with resurrected bodies, as we live in prayer even in the age to come, we release that authority, that government throughout the whole earth. Human history began in a prayer meeting in the Garden of Eden. Adam walked with God in the cool of the day. That's a prayer meeting that began in the Garden of Eden. The nation of Israel began in a prayer meeting at Mount Sinai when they were delivered from Egypt. Jesus began his public ministry in the wilderness talking to God in a prayer meeting. Jesus ended his earthly ministry in the Garden of Gethsemane in a prayer meeting talking to God. The church was born in a prayer meeting in the upper room in Acts chapter 1. Paragraph F, natural history ends as the church all over the nations is singing and worshiping in the earth. That's how Jesus returns. Jesus returns in answer to a global prayer meeting. He appears in the sky in answer to that prayer meeting. Page 123, just a few points in summary. Paragraph A, Israel focuses on the earthly dimension of the kingdom without the heavenly. But the church focuses on the heavenly without the earthly. The Jews think of a Messiah coming to restore the throne of David. They think of the worldwide government of God coming out of Jerusalem filling the earth. They think of reforming and restoring the whole earth and restoring the Garden of Eden. You don't find much in their writings or in their history about the angels or about resurrected bodies. You don't see that mentioned much. Paragraph B, the church is opposite. We focus on the heavenly dimension with angels and resurrected bodies. Streets of gold with diamonds and jewels. We don't think much about reigning with Jesus on the throne of David on the earth restoring the Garden of Eden. Paragraph C, if we miss the Garden of Eden dimension, we're missing out on some of the revelation of the glory of Jesus as our creator. If we miss the throne of David dimension, we're missing some of the revelation of Jesus as king of the nations. Paragraph D, he is both king of the nations and he's head of the church. He has both realities in him. He is both the son of David and he's the son of God. We have to see both the Christian view of the heavenly kingdom with the new Jerusalem and streets of gold and the Hebrew view of the kingdom of David and the Garden of Eden and the worldwide governmental structures. We need all four aspects to get a clear view of what heaven on earth is like. And when this gets in your spirit, it becomes like an anchor that causes us to look at life different and it gives us motivation to live different. Amen. Let's stand. We're going to take about a 15 minute break. Whoever wants, we're going to have a question and answer time about IHOP. Then we come back for another teaching at 6 o'clock tonight. So don't feel like you have to stay for the question and answer time if you don't want. I'm thinking of how many meetings you've already been in this week. But I invite any question about anything at IHOP, any theology, any position, and we want to have that dialogue as part of this end time series. But this question and answer is about IHOP and our beliefs and our practices, not so much about the end times, though you can ask about that. We're going to have two more question and answers on the end times, so you can ask them then as well. And we're filming each of the three question and answer sessions, so if you need to be gone, that's fine, because we will capture it on film. We'll begin in 15 minutes.