Worldview & Expectation

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My name is Belushi Prevalon, coming to you from the Boston area. And right now, you are listening to Truology, the study of the truth as it is in Jesus. Welcome back to Truology. And I just want to begin by saying Happy New Year to you.

Welcome to the year of our Lord 2025. Yes, we made it. And I expect God to do wonderful things this year. And I expect the church to mature just so much more this year together as we enjoy whatever God has installed for us as we live amongst one another through His Word and His Spirit.

What a Christian Worldview Is and Why Philosophy Matters

On this episode, I will be talking about worldview and expectation. I thought this would be appropriate at the very start of the year to discuss what our worldview is and what we should expect to flow from it.

In a previous episode, I gave a comprehensive introduction to philosophy. In that episode, I addressed how every single person does philosophy, whether they know it or not. The difference between the person that is philosophically acute and his use of various terms and the person who isn't familiar with the terminologies or tools of critical thought is the difference of degrees.

One has usually been exposed to the books, the personalities, history, and practical uses, while the other has not yet explored the various traditions, nor have they sat in serious reflection upon their daily assumptions about life.

Now, regardless of whether you are philosophically wired or an absolute noob at philosophy, everybody does it. Understand that. Everybody does it. You either do it really well or you do it really badly.

In my introduction episode, I also went over some of the various departments of philosophy that would help us to understand and analyze whether what we believe about life is true, consistent, and defensible.

I also mentioned how it is the task of the philosopher to find the most reliable presuppositions or beliefs about life and use those to build a house or a worldview that is clear, firm, and communicable.

And finally, in that last episode, which, by the way, you can find in my archives, I went over a few different worldviews, other worldviews, and how we should analyze them in light of the Christian position on all matters of life.

And now, in this episode, I want to continue and to dive a little deeper into the matter of worldview, especially the Christian worldview and the expectations that flow from it, or the practicality of it in reference to the gospel of Jesus Christ, really.

If you're not into philosophy, just remember, it is inescapable. You are doing philosophy right now. You're applying your worldview perspective when you eat dinner, when you're at work tomorrow, when you listen to music, when you think about your children or friends, or play games, sports, or even when you are in solitude, alone with your thoughts because you're the introvert who likes to escape responsibilities to the world of your favorite books and poetry.

Yes, your philosophy or worldview is always at play. In this episode, I'd like to help you think more consistently as a Christian, redeemed by the grace of God, and given a new expectation and outlook on life because of the establishment and rule of Christ in heaven and on earth.

So, without further delay, let's get started. We will be going over two primary parts in this episode. Part one will be about worldview and how we define it, what is the basis for it, and the usual conflicts that we run into because of our particular worldview.

And part two will be about the expectations of our worldview, primarily seen through the Bible and how that trickles down into our personal and societal applications. So, let's begin with part one, worldview and how we define it.

The late 20th century Christian apologist Greg Bonson defines worldview this way. A worldview is a network of presuppositions that is not tested by natural science, in terms of which all experience is related and interpreted.

In case that was a little too dense for you, I did funnel it down into a simpler definition, and I put it this way. A worldview are essentially beliefs about life that determine what we know about life.

For example, what you believe about men and women determines what you know about men and women. So, the person who has a worldview, which is everybody, has a task at hand. When assessing your worldview, you have a two-fold task.

And the first part of the task is to seek reliable presuppositions or beliefs about life. So, when you sit down to think about how to put together a proper worldview, the first thing you're trying to do is you're trying to find reliable beliefs about life.

And the second part of the task is you're trying to take those reliable beliefs about life, and you're trying to connect them together and unify your commitments. So, you're not just trying to erect the walls, but you're also trying to put the roof on top and to live inside the house you have built.

So then, by nature, worldviews are package deals. They're not just one singular thing. There are many things that are aligned together, and they ought to be, you know, cohesive and consistent, or else we'll have contradiction and holes in our outlook.

Worldviews, by nature, are also very limiting. For example, if we go back to the illustration that I gave earlier with men and women, what you believe about men and women determines what you know and can know about men and women.

So then, worldviews, by nature, are very limiting. And because they're limiting, they are necessarily in opposition to other worldviews. For example, the Christian worldview of origins is diametrically opposed to the natural, atheistic, neo-Darwinian evolutionary perspective of origins.

Alright? They do not jive together. They are complete opposites. So, you see, worldviews are beliefs about life that determine what we know and can know about life. We must seek reliable presuppositions and unify our commitments together, knowing that these are package deals that are in direct opposition with other package deals.

So, you might have some questions in regards to a worldview and how to put it together. You might be asking, how do I begin to assess my worldview? You know, how much do I need to know in order to have a good worldview?

You know, are there essentials? Well, yes, there are essentials. You know, you don't have to learn everything about philosophy, or you don't have to become an expert in Christian apologetics in order to start thinking and being more cognizant of your worldview.

You need to essentially focus on three primary areas, or at least I think you should begin with three primary areas, that'll help you get started in putting together a true and biblical worldview. And these three areas of focus are metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.

And in case those sound like super crazy, scary words, let me just briefly kind of explain what these three areas of focus really are. Metaphysics deals with the study of reality. So, in other words, what is the really real?

Christian, ask yourself for a second. What is the really real? I have asked this question in previous episodes before. From the Christian perspective, the really real is not simply just the material world.

The really real is the triune God who has created the material world. Okay? That is the Christian metaphysics. The Christian metaphysic is the triune God of Scripture. So then, what is the Christian epistemology?

In other words, how does the Christian know what they know? Well, we know what we know through the Bible, through the words of God. Thus saith the Lord. How do we know anything about the afterlife? Right?

God has revealed His Word to us. His Spirit has spoken to us by the preserved words of Scripture, spoken by prophets of old. That's how we know what happens after the veil of death. Right? So, third area of focus for the Christian is consider his ethics.

And, you know, I'm pretty sure everyone knows what ethics is. But generally, you know, ethics just has to do with morals or human behavior and what it ought and ought not to be. And for us, it should be very obvious from a Christian perspective where our ethics should flow from.

It should flow from the laws of God. And, of course, we will be getting into more of that in Part 2. But right now, I just want to introduce to you the three main areas of focus when we are trying to assess our worldview and how much we really need to know in order to begin to try to put together a proper Christian worldview.

So, in conclusion of this and just consideration of defining a worldview, I just want to remind you that a worldview is a packaged deal. It consists of our most fundamental beliefs about life. Thus, whatever we believe about life ought to allow us to practically interact in the world in a consistent and meaningful way because of our worldview.

It is ever important then that we have true beliefs about life so that we can exercise an accurate worldview. But, you know, how do we know we have an accurate worldview? Well, we will know when we have proper beliefs about life that are accurate and cohesive and consistent when we apply them to our framework and they come out sound and valid, especially when it comes to our defense of them and our practical interactions with other worldviews.

One of the best ways to find out whether your worldview is a good worldview is to interact with a completely different worldview. You'll see whether you have to commit to your worldview or adopt a new one.

You'll see the inconsistencies in yours or you'll see the inconsistencies in the other. So, for the Christian, we are really called, you know, sometimes, you know, I'll run into people and they'll question me saying, you know, are we really called to dabble in understanding philosophy and engage in worldview rhetoric and discussion?

I mean, doesn't God just call us to devote ourselves to him so that we can evangelize people? Does philosophy really, you know, is it really necessary? Doesn't philosophy just waste the time and distract us and shift us off course into pagan nonsense?

Well, for the people who think that way, it's unfortunate because for them, at least, the Bible does call us to be cognizant of our worldview. And the purpose of doing, you know, philosophy and assessing a proper worldview is to evangelize and to get involved in practical and industrious ways, expecting Christ to be glorified in all that we do.

So let's, once again, just take a brief moment to go over the basis of why we should be worldview conscious. We should be worldview conscious because, well, the Bible tells us so. It is within the pages of Scripture, our revelational epistemology or our theory or knowledge, which is how we know what we know through the Bible.

It is through that that we know who God is, and it is in knowing God that we know anything about everything else. In the Scripture, Genesis 1 .1, we are told about the creator God. In the beginning, God created.

In Genesis 2, we are told of man, his creation. So we see here the creator God, and we see here his creation, which includes man. And which would mean that if the Scripture is the means through which we know what we know, then we know what ultimate reality is, the triune God, the creator.

And we know what our place in the universe is as God's image bearers and vice regents to take dominion by his grace and command. So there are other things that we can know through knowing God, which is everything else that we can know at all, including history in its direction.

For example, you know, what is history and where is it going? You might ask. Well, it is through Scripture that we know what history is and where it's going. For example, in Colossians 1 .19 through 20, we read, For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.

And having made peace through the blood of his cross, talking about Jesus, by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. So as a brief example here, if we wanted to know what history is, we would have to relate it back to what God has revealed about himself and primarily his son, Jesus Christ.

So here we are told that the father is actively consummating all things, whether they be things in earth or in heaven in Jesus Christ. So that's where history is headed. It is headed towards the consummation in Jesus Christ.

You see how our revelational epistemology plays into our theory of knowledge and our theory of reality and ultimately also our theory of ethics, where it is through the Scripture that we find God's law for our moral values.

So, again, because our worldview, you know, worldviews are package deals, the Christian worldview, whether we like it or not, is in direct opposition to all other worldviews due to its distinctive convictions about life.

Now, let's take a brief moment to assess what are some conflicts we will certainly deal with because we have embraced the Christian worldview. So because we have embraced this worldview, some of the conflicts we tend to deal with almost immediately first have to do with personal conflicts and then external conflicts.

Some of the personal conflicts include just the basic secular defaults that we all have ingrained in us. If you're like me and you got saved in the midst of a sinful lifestyle, then you just have by default some secular assumptions about life that you must learn to grow out of and embrace and have the Lord help you through those things.

We also deal with unfaithfulness to Christ's Lordship. You know, our sinful nature just seems to fight against what Christ has revealed, and we must learn to yield to what he has taught us in his word and by his life.

Thirdly, in terms of personal conflicts that we deal with, I see us dealing with misinformation. And by this, I just mean, you know, false or wrong teaching or in sometimes just being completely uninformed about certain things.

For example, you know, if you were a flaming liberal before and then you got saved, one of the crucial aspects of life you should probably start thinking about immediately is, you know, what should your stance be on abortion?

You know, when is the image of God actually formed at conception? You know, when is human life actually really human? You know, these are important things that we deal with personally and immediately when we embrace the Christian worldview.

And, you know, these are things that, of course, take time to develop, but they're personal conflicts that always are at the forefront of how we should, you know, they're at the forefront of why we should really begin to shape a worldview that is thoroughly Christian immediately and not put it off to the experts.

Secondly, in terms of our conflicts, I see external problems that we deal with. Our first external problem has to do with the environment that we live in. It is thoroughly religiously pluralistic, meaning that the overwhelming amount of people in our society, especially in America, believes that Christianity just fits inside the museum of religion.

In other words, they believe that Christianity is just one of many other religious options available. You know, it's just one among the various religions that have existed. Therefore, it is not a true religion.

It is, you know, all religions are essentially just religion at best. And, you know, people choose or choose not to embrace this over that, yada, yada, yada. That's an external conflict that we deal with because we know, as Scripture reveals to us, that God is not simply just one among many gods, but He is the one true God, and only in Christ His Son is eternal life, truth, justice, and peace really recognized.

And so, secondly, in terms of our external conflicts, I see other active worldviews necessarily fighting against us and always, you know, functionally working in opposition to the will of God, such as, you know, the atheistic, Marxist, humanistic, false objectivity that is always disguising itself as the neutral ground and basic assumption of human life.

You know, this is, you know, people who are typically in charge seem to greatly adhere to this and hold this. And when you object through your quote-unquote religious perspective, you are dismissed as being biased and pre-committed to a religious framework and cannot properly see objective reality and cannot associate in matters of human affairs.

Right? So, we see those external conflicts. The religious pluralism and other active worldviews that are constantly in battle and pushing back against the things, the true metaphysical reality, and the true epistemological reality and ethic that the Bible reveals and shapes for us in the Christian worldview.

So, in conclusion, the basis for the Christian worldview is found explicitly in the pages of Scripture. That should be obvious. Therein, we find reliable presuppositions about reality, who God is himself, which is triune and holy, knowledge, which is found in his self-attesting word, the Bible, and morals in God's revealed law, not only written in our hearts, but also outlined and recorded in sacred Scripture for us in the Bible.

Since it is through Jesus Christ, then, that we know who we are and what our purpose in life ought to be, then we should endeavor to be consistent with his will for us and the world he has ruled. Unfaithfulness is not easily dismissed because every word and deed will come into judgment when we stand before our Lord and Savior for what we did and did not do for him with the things that he has given us, especially with the way we were called to live in the earth for him.

Yes, there are conflicting religions in the world that would love to overthrow our commitments to Christ so that they can have the privilege of marinating in the hindrance of the kingdom of God for a moment.

But, listen, as God's people, let us not be dull in mind, lest the enemies of Christ should glory over us, even in the most subtle ways through default secular assumptions about life. Whether it be at a family cookout or a conversation at the break room at work or a street-level engagement, let us bring everything captive to the reality of Jesus Christ by remembering that our worldview is not their worldview.

Our worldview is the true worldview. This should not gender an attitude of eagerness and unrest to always be at odds with other people. Rather, it should gender a prudent preparedness that seeks to honor the Lord so that we would never be off guard in the world we are called to be always ready in advancing his kingdom.

If you are finding Truology to be a help to you thus far, please consider liking and subscribing to this podcast wherever you listen to it so that what you've been able to value today can reach someone else for the glory of God.

Thank you.

Biblical Postmillennialism and the Hopeful Expectation of History

Okay, so that was all part one. We have an understanding now of what a worldview is by definition, what the basis of our worldview is as flowing from Scripture, what some of the common conflicts that we deal with both personally and externally.

But now I want to move into section two. Because, you know, when we consider what our worldview is, the question naturally is, okay, now what? You know, what traits should characterize your outlook in life in general now?

You know, should we be people who are constantly on guard and fearful of the coming Antichrist? Do the central tenets of our worldview as shaped by the person of Christ in the entire revelation of Scripture call us to see ourselves as marginalized people or something else?

You know, are we waiting to exit from this sin curse world right now? Or are we to expand upon a certain cause? What do we know for certain will happen in 2025? Well, those are all good questions, and I want to take care of them in part two, which will be consisting of explaining the expectations we are to have in light of the worldview that I just explained to you.

So now let's begin. What I mean by expectation is what do we now anticipate will happen as we commit ourselves to a full life in worldview informed by the reality of the rule and reign of Jesus Christ?

Surely if Jesus Christ is ruler of all realms and is the highest appeal and measure of all spiritual and earthly authorities, we should not expect that as his people, through our role in his kingdom, should lose influence and control of all that he owns to some diabolical threat.

Yet this is the view that is pervasive of modern Christians today. They view the rule of Jesus Christ as strictly being spiritual in nature and having nothing to do with any temporal or physical manifestations in this life until he comes back post-rapture.

Now, this is wrong. As a matter of fact, it would seem ludicrous for me to posit to you that the influence of the church in time and on earth will actually increase, not decrease, conquering and discipling all nations before we shall see the blessed Lord appear again in his glorified flesh to consummate all things.

But fortunately for us, this isn't crazy at all because that is what the Bible teaches. And if it is going to be through the Bible that we know what we know, then our expectation should flow accordingly.

And for those who would groan at this optimistic outlook of the success of the gospel in human history, I would call them once again to remember what kind of worldview they are to commit to in the first place, a scriptural one, not one dictated by the newspaper or the things that are currently happening around us.

We're called to believe in the revelation of the Bible, not just with a pietistic separatist spiritualism, but with a cohesive unity of a reliable belief system that effectuates our actions in every area of life, expecting the hope of the blessing that is in Christ to manifest itself in all that we do in his name and for his kingdom.

So in this next section, I want to discuss just that, our expectation theologically, personally, and in society in light of Christ. So let's let's commence. We'll begin with the biblical expectation. And I want to first present to you the eschatological viewpoint.

We firmly need to hold on to and understand in order to have a proper outworking of the worldview that has been presented to us, with Christ being king and we being his people established on earth to accomplish his will.

And what is that eschatological viewpoint? It is biblical post-millennialism. Now, post-millennialism is a hopeful and optimistic eschatology opposed to the dispensational pre-millennial outlook that sees the church as having more of a decline in history.

Some commentators put post-millennialism this way. They believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, will prevail over the families and nations of the earth. Another commentator puts it this way.

The kingdom of God is going to break the power of sin wherever there is defection from the will of God. So this is generally what the post-millennial outlook in eschatology, eschatological viewpoint, holds to.

A hopeful and optimistic view of what's going to happen in history. But do they ground this viewpoint specifically on the fact that some commentators have some really nice things to say about it? No, of course not.

But rather, the biblical post-millennialism is actually grounded in the expectation of Jesus Christ himself. And where would we find the expectation of Christ? Well, obviously in his scriptures. And one that I'd like to bring up really quickly is 1 Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 23, where Paul is making some comments about the resurrection to come.

He says, He says that when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, implying that the kingdom of God is already established in the earth, and that one day Christ will consummate it, and delivering it up to the Father in glory.

Another implication that we see here is where he says, What does this mean? It means that this is what Christ is currently doing right now until that full consummation to the Father. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

So what is Christ currently doing through the institution of the kingdom of God? He is subduing all his enemies. And the last enemy that shall be destroyed will be the enemy of death, which he shall destroy through the power of resurrection, given and granted by his grace to his people.

So besides these really fancy commentators and what we seem to be given here in terms of a schematic of history by the Apostle Paul, is there anywhere else in the Bible that seems to embrace this post-millennial outlook, this hopeful, optimistic viewpoint of history?

Well, of course there is. There's so many pieces of scripture that have this prophetic declaration and emphasis. And I want to take a moment to take you through quite a few of them. In Psalm 22, a psalm that Jesus clearly applied to himself, we read this,.

So clearly here, there's a prophetic declaration and emphasis on worldwide conversion. And that seems to be a central tenant of the post-millennial outlook. And if we hold to biblical presuppositions, we do not base what we think will happen in history on merely just the circumstances of what's on the front page of the newspaper, but rather on what God says one day will indeed happen.

And here is proof of a worldwide conversion where all the nations shall worship before thee for the kingdom is the Lord's and he is the governor among the nations. Plural, all the nations that will exist will one day turn and remember the Lord and worship him successfully through the preaching of the establishment of the Messiah.

There is also an emphasis on the knowledge of the Lord spreading everywhere. And we find this in Isaiah 11, 9, where it says they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Now, what does that mean? Well, as in the days of Noah, when the waters flooded the entire globe, so will the knowledge of the Lord cover the entire globe as the waters, the floodwaters in the days of Noah covered the seas.

So here is an emphasis on the successful outreach of the word of God and the discipleship of God's commands to the nations and to the point where it will be massive and global and have quite the transformational emphasis of, you know, no one will hurt in God's holy mountain.

So in other words, wherever God is ruling, no one will hurt. And where is God going to rule? He's going to rule throughout all the nations of the earth. The knowledge of the Lord will be everywhere and will transform people away from wickedness.

We also see a call to baptize the nations. Now, everyone knows this New Testament statement by Jesus, where he says, go ye therefore and do what? Teach all nations, teaching them what? Baptizing them also and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

Do we if let me ask this first, if we believe that the work of the church is truly the work of Christ, do we believe that we will be successful in that endeavor? This will separate the post-millennial biblical outlook from those that base their assumptions about history on whatever is happening currently in the news media.

This is this is the call. This is a call to baptize the nations. And Christ says he will be with his people all the way until the end of the world. And do we not believe that he will successfully accomplish this?

Well, we should believe that. We should not base what we believe about the outcome of history on what's going on around this, but rather upon what Christ has declared will happen. He will do this in due time.

And we are assured by the apostle Paul that he must reign until he will finally successfully do this, you know, subduing the nations and through through the means and medium of the church, baptizing and teaching them to observe whatever he has commanded us to go preach.

We also see the prospering of the gospel through the people of God. Psalm 72, verse seven says, In his days shall the righteous flourish in abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. All right. So here is a biblical statement that in his days shall the righteous flourish.

When are the days of the Messiah? It is not later on, but rather, according to the viewpoint of the apostles, I point to, you know, Acts chapter two, where Peter is preaching. And he says that, you know, it is Christ has ascended to the throne of heaven.

And this is the fulfillment of him sitting on the throne of David. So this is the Messiah coming, being fully established in all authority and throughout all realms. And here is another piece of evidence in the scriptures telling us that in his days shall the righteous flourish.

So what are we to think and come out with in light of this piece of scripture? Well, we are to believe that the righteous indeed will continue to flourish and grow because Christ is currently ruling. We are not to believe that the righteous are going to diminish throughout history and have less influence and impact, but rather they are going to be upheld by the power of God's grace and through his spirit.

As we preach faithfully the gospel and commit to him and call those who are opposing his kingdom to repent and believe and turn unto the Lord. One commentator, in light of this emphasis, says this. There is going to be a visible numerical increase of believers.

There is going to be personal peace with God, piety, assurance of our calling and wholesomeness in our lives. This is going to bring a blessed purification and expansion of the church. And, you know, this seems to be well supported in light of the biblical presuppositions that the scripture seems to call us to hold to.

We are not to see ourselves as a diminishing people, but rather a people who are going to continue to be multiplied throughout history. Furthermore, we see that the Bible teaches us that in due time there will be an end of warfare.

Where do we find this? Well, in Isaiah 2 -4 we read,. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore.

What are we supposed to conclude from this? We are to conclude that in due time, because of the establishment of the Messiah in heaven and the establishment of his kingdom on earth, as we successfully disciple the nations, that there will be no more warfare throughout history because the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth and all men's hearts will be changed.

And that will effectuate into the fact that men will not raise up in warfare and want to kill other men, but rather come to worship God in one unifying global way. There is also the statement regarding the highest authorities in the earth will eventually come to serve the Lord God.

We find this in the book of Revelation 21 -24, and it says this,. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor unto it.

So as Christ is ruling and as the kingdom of God is perpetually established throughout history, we will see even the highest authorities come to bow the knee to Jesus Christ and bring their glory and honor into the kingdom for his credit's sake and for his glory's sake.

So this is well-founded presuppositions that we should be holding to and not to have a pessimistic outlook as the people of God in light of what the scriptures say. Another commentator says this, There is going to be a subduing of the earth to God's glory, and we are going to see the kingdom of Jesus Christ come to expression in medicine, in technology, in arts, in economics, in politics, in our courts, in our families, in our schools, etc.

We are going to see the full impact of all the highest authorities and all the great men in history come to bow the knee to Jesus Christ and bring their honor and glory to it, supporting and living for Jesus Christ through regenerated hearts and by his law.

Furthermore, we see that Christ assures the success of his kingdom against all oppositions. In case you're getting very skeptical, here is what Christ says about the establishment of his kingdom on earth.

And he says, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Do we believe this? Do we believe as the people of God that Christ indeed will not allow diabolical threats to crush the influence and expansion of his church?

He says, I will build my church. So this tells us that the work of Christ is the work of the church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Meaning that the church is not the one in defense, but rather it is the gates of hell that are in defense.

They are erecting themselves a defensive bulwark against the expansion and spread of the people of God. And when they erect those bulwarks, they will be decimated as the walls of Jericho came crashing down through the faithfulness of God's people, obeying his commands to march around all the land of Canaan.

So do we believe this? I would say we must believe this because the Bible leaves us no choice or else we are disobedient. We have a hopeful expectation of the progress of history because there are numerable prophetic declarations of the success of the gospel of Jesus Christ affecting the world around us.

As we remain faithful to our most basic commitments to express God's lordship in every area of our lives until he has triumphantly put all his enemies under his feet. You see, the knee-jerk reaction of the pessimistic premillennialists regarding this view of human history will be to say that those passages quoted will come to pass during the millennial reign of Christ after the rapture, and after the literal establishment of Christ's ruling in Jerusalem.

But what would they be forgetting here? What would they be forgetting in terms of these passages? It is the scriptures that have already told us that these things will take place when Christ is ruling.

So here's a question. When is he ruling? Now or later? He is ruling now. By his own admission in Matthew 28, he is ruling now, both in heaven and on earth. That is an inescapable fact of the scriptures.

The apostles recognized that in Acts chapter 2, when they said that at his ascension was the mark of the fulfillment of his rule on the seat of David. This then was the basis of their proclamation of the gospel to repent and believe in the Lord.