Luke 19:12 and the first part of verse 15 indicate that the millennial kingdom will be the kingdom received by Christ from God the Father. It comprises the kingdom of Messiah (2 Sam. 7:13), which is the expectation of many devoted Israelites from the Old Testament to the time when Christ will come back to restore the nation of Israel, and the kingdom of Christ (Eph. 5:5), which is the expectation of the seeking believers in the New Testament age. Hence, the millennial kingdom will fulfill the desire of God, the desire of the devoted Israelites, and the desire of the seeking believers in the coming age of one thousand years. It will be the last age of God’s old creation.
The millennial kingdom will have two sections—the heavenly section and the earthly section.
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be the kingdom of the Father. Matthew 13:43 says, “Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” The kingdom of the Father, as the heavenly part of the millennium, will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens as a reward to the overcomers.
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be composed of all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers. This is indicated by the Lord’s word in Matthew 8:11: “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will recline at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens.” This word refers to the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. In the manifestation of the kingdom the overcoming Gentile believers will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and with all the other Old Testament overcomers. As the overcomers participate in the feast of the kingdom of the heavens, they will drink the cup of the new covenant anew with their Lord (26:29).
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will actually be the New Jerusalem in the millennial age. In Revelation 3:12 the Lord says, “He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” This verse says that the overcomers will be pillars built into the temple of God. This promise will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom as a reward to the overcomers. All the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers will be gathered together to be the New Jerusalem on a smaller scale in the millennium. As those who compose the heavenly section of the millennial kingdom, they will also compose the New Jerusalem in the coming age of the millennium.
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be a reward to all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers (Heb. 11:26, 39-40). Verse 26 says that Moses esteemed “the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked away to the reward.” Since Moses was willing to suffer the reproach of Christ, he will receive the reward of the kingdom. This reward will be given to all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers, including Enoch, Abraham, David, and Paul. Whether or not we, the New Testament believers, will receive this reward depends on our enjoyment, experience, and expression of the processed and consummated Triune God. If we enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and express Christ, we will be among the overcomers and receive the heavenly section of the millennial kingdom as a reward.
The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be the realm in which Christ and the overcomers will reign over the nations. It will also be the realm in which the overcomers are priests of God and of Christ for one thousand years. The overcoming believers will reign in the millennial kingdom with Christ. Revelation 20:4 says, “They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Furthermore, the overcoming believers will rule over the nations. “He who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father” (2:26-27). Reigning with Christ over the nations in the millennial kingdom will be a reward to the overcomers. The overcomers will also be priests of Christ and of God. The overcomers “will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years” (20:6). In the millennium the overcomers will be priests to contact God and Christ and co-kings with Christ to reign over the nations. As priests they will cause God and Christ to enjoy their service and be satisfied, and as kings they will bring God in His authority to man and represent God to shepherd man in order to bring enjoyment and satisfaction to man. Hence, the heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be the realm for the exercise of this priesthood and kingship.