This was the same position as all the liberals held at the turn of the last century held unfortunatly "then came Amalek";
Well, that interesting. I always thought liberalism was about denying the gospel. Liberalism does not preach Jesus Christ. It hates Jesus Christ. It hates the word and the power of the gospel. Liberalism is all about man pulling himself up by his bootstraps.
That is a far cry from the biblical optimism found in the Scripture.
Biblical optimism is built on the fact that Christ is seated on His throne ruling the nations with a rod of iron. Not some weenie sitting in a corner biding His time until the rapture.
Biblical optimism believes that the Holy Spirit has real power to convert people by gospel preaching.
Biblical optimism believes that God’s desire for a great multitude that no man can number to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Not some wimpy minority.
So I think you are confused, historically and theologically.
Just when and with what was he bound and where is he kept?
He is bound with spiritual chains and held in spiritual abeyance “so as to not deceive the nations anymore”. If Satan were not bound, the kingdom would not have come, and the nations would not be in the position of being discipled.
“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” (Matt 12:28,29)
Jesus is plundering the household of the “strong man”.
Part of your error is that you do not read all that Rev. 20 says about the binding of Satan. You take it to be absolute, but that’s not what the text says. Satan is not powerless, except insofar as his ability to ultimately deceive the nations.
“Biblical optimism is built on the fact that Christ is seated on His throne ruling the nations with a rod of iron.”
Now I ask you again, what nations is He presently ruling with the rod of iron? What nations is He presently breaking and shattering with the rod of His authority/severity? I will repeat what I just posted and you tell me how He is ruling the nations with the rod of authority/severity, “unfortunatly “then came Amalek”; WWI, and then the Depression, and then WWII, the Holocaust and the bomb. Then the millions murdered by communism in Russia, the millions murdered in China and the millions murdered in Cambodia and Rhwanda. There were more wars in the last century than ever before in history. During the last century and into this, the greatest rival to Christianity has entered the battle field for the hearts of mankind”
I will add this, there are more children being born into paganism/heathenism every year than there are converts to Christianity and in the most enlightened of nations, America, Christianity is being censored from the public square. He is not ruling the nations yet with the rod of His authority/severity, that will come during the millennium when Satan is bound for 1000 years and can’t deceive the nations. Now He is calling individuals through the power of His gospel and building up His church.
Matt 12:28,29, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”
Luke 10:9, “And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”
The kingdom of God has come in the sense that the powers of the eschatological kingdom (My kingdom is not of this world), the active saving power of God, have actually entered human history in the person and activity of Jesus to redeem men from the kingdom of Satan. The earthly presence of Jesus bound Satan in the sense that he was not able to act freely as he had, but that binding by the presence of Jesus is different than the binding and incarceration of Satan during the 1000 years where he can’t deceive the nations. Here the binding is in reference to his power over individuals as can be seen by the helplessness of the demons in the presence of Jesus and His disciples when they were given power, not nations and certainly not Judas, the Sanhedren or the crowd.
It is wrong to understand these passages to mean that the kingdom of God has come in its fullness and there will be no future coming of the kingdom as we have been taught to petition. The kingdom as the realm in which the will of God is perfectly done is consistently future in the New Testament writings.
Biblical optimism believes that the Holy Spirit has real power to convert people by gospel preaching.
Biblical optimism believes that God's desire for a great multitude that no man can number to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Not some wimpy minority.
Amen!