Background:
The millennium, the thousand year rule of Christ, was a doctrine that really got my attention when I became acquainted with the Worldwide Church of God back in the mid-60's. At that time it was our Gospel. Every issue of the Plain Truth magazine would contain articles about problems in our society and of how "things would be better in the World Tomorrow". To put the details of the millennium together we had to take certain selected passages of the Old Testament literally. This is the general approach of "pre-millennialism" and we are not the only Church who has taken this approach.
Within a decade, I realized by my own study that, while the New Testament writings emphasised that Christ would return, it did not emphasise the millennium. It rather emphasised salvation through Christ and its transforming power in our individual lives. So at that time, I concluded that the millennial reign of Christ and salvation through the blood of Christ were both "parts of" the Gospel, and both should be emphasised in our preaching and our outreach.
I do not hold that view today. The details of the millennial reign of Christ are subject to interpretation, but salvation through Christ is emphasised throughout the New Testament and must be the thrust of the Church's worship and outreach.
We may hold the views on the millennium that we always have as long as we realize that
The April 22, 1997 Worldwide News, the newspaper of the Worldwide Church of God, contains a summary of the various points of view of the Millennium. The links are below.
Article - A balanced approach to the millennium
Table - The Millennium: Four Major Views