Postmillennialism

A distinguishing characteristic of advocates of covenant theology is their view of the future. They believe in a very optimistic future in which the Kingdom of God will expand throughout the world in agreement with the Great Commission that Jesus gave his church prior to returning to his throne in heaven. Postmils believe that the mission for the corporate church is to extend the Kingdom of God into all the world in fulfillment of the Great Commission given to us by Christ.

The Great Commission

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mathew 28: 16 - 20, NIV)

Postmils believe these are the last marching orders given to all Christians by the risen King Jesus. We are to be faithful to this last commission given by our King until he returns - no matter what the apparent historical perspective looks like. Postmils believe that even if it was apparent that the end of the world was surely going to occur next week, we are called to be faithful to our last marching orders and continue to spread the Kingdom of God by evangelizing and then discipling entire nations and people groups for our master.

This biblical paradigm has had a powerful influence in church history, even when it was not apparent that there was much hope that the Gospel would have much of a chance of succeeding in history. Postmils believed that even though they may not see the immediate fruit from their labors that they were paving the way for future generations of Christians to follow in their paths and bring the Gospel to places where it had not gone previously.

Once the Gospel had penetrated new areas where it had never been before, this only represented the beginning for the work of the missionaries that brought the Gospel to the people in that area. Postmils take a long view toward the future and are determined to disciple that nations or people groups so effectively that a Christian culture develops as a result of their discipleship efforts. In this way the Kingdom of God is expanded as the people are not only exposed to the saving message of the Gospel but discipleship follows in which the converted people learn to live according to the principles found in the bible. They believe biblical truth should lead to a cultural transformation as the converted people come under the lordship of Jesus.

The following video clip gives a historical overview of this perspective and its impact in world missions.