A gracEmail subscriber asks, "What does the Bible mean when it says that we are living in the end-time? How is that true since we live almost 2,000 years after such statements were first made? If this is the end-time, how should that affect the way we live?" * * * The resurrection of Jesus and the pouring out of God's Spirit on believers were two of several eschatological or end-time events foretold by the Hebrew prophets. The end-time has begun although it has not yet reached its finale. How should we live in this interim between the Messiah's first and his final appearing? How should we … [Read more...]
END-TIME PEOPLE (1)
A gracEmail subscriber asks, "What does the Bible mean when it says that we are living in the end-time? How is that true since we live almost 2,000 years after such statements were first made? If this is the end-time, how should that affect the way we live?" * * * First-century apostles and prophets repeatedly declared that the end-time had begun. Paul writes that the night is almost gone and the day is at hand (Rom.13:12). James and Peter say that the End is near (James 5:3, 8-9; 1 Pet. 4:7). Yet it would be a mistake to read these as "calendar" statements, as if Paul and Peter and James … [Read more...]
THE END HAS BEGUN
A gracEmail subscriber asks how the New Testament writers could say that the end is near, since 2,000 years have now gone by and world history still continues. * * * The Jews in Jesus' day expected Messiah to come at the End of world history. This End would not be recognizable by a calendar but by End-time events. When Messiah came, God would make atonement for sin, raise the dead and pour out his Spirit on his people in a new creation. To their surprise, in the midst of time and history Jesus appeared -- whom the Apostles declared to be God's Messiah (Christ, Anointed One). God raised him … [Read more...]
THE PAUSE IN THE END OF THE WORLD
A gracEmail subscriber reacts to a recent column: "This line caught my attention, 'during this pause in the End of the world . . . .' With all that is happening what insights might you offer? I've always thought the Lord could come back in my lifetime." . . . And well he might, for Jesus himself urged: "Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (Matt. 24:44). Events unfolding in our own day do not excite me nearly so much as the things that happened 2,000 years ago and which are reported in the gospel story. For those things -- the Messiah's … [Read more...]
THREE STAGES OF PROPHETIC FULFILLMENT
A gracEmail subscriber asks what Peter meant when he said: "Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you -- that is, Jesus. This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets" (Acts 3:19-21 NET). * * * Peter and John have just healed a lame man in the name of Jesus Messiah and the Jewish leaders have asked for an explanation. The ensuing conversation mentions three … [Read more...]
HOLDING THE WORLD LIGHTLY
We live during an interim on God's calendar, a defined but unknown period of time that began with a significant event and that will end when Jesus comes again. This is the period of God's conquests, which began when Jesus was enthroned at God's right hand in heaven and will continue until the last enemy, death, has been destroyed (Psalm 110:1). It is simultaneously the period of heaven's reception of Jesus, which will end with the redemptive restoration of all things spoken by the ancient prophets (Acts 3:20-21). In both respects, we live between the Already and the Not Yet. Because the … [Read more...]
DEVIL, BEAST & FALSE PROPHET (2)
A gracEmail subscriber asks for an explanation of Revelation 20:10, in which John sees the devil, the Beast and the False Prophet thrown into a lake of fire where they are "tormented day and night forever." A few verses later, "anyone not found written in the Book of Life" is cast into the same lake of fire (20:15). * * * It is significant that every time John mentions human beings in the Lake of Fire, he is careful to add the explanatory phrase, "which is the second death" (Rev. 20:15; 21:8). He seems to go out of his way to ensure that we do not make a mistake on that point. This symbol of … [Read more...]
DEVIL, BEAST & FALSE PROPHET (1)
A gracEmail subscriber asks for an explanation of Revelation 20:10, in which John sees the devil, the Beast and the False Prophet thrown into a lake of fire where they are "tormented day and night forever." A few verses later, "anyone not found written in the Book of Life" is cast into the same lake of fire (20:15). * * * The Book of Revelation is written in a kind of prophetic code drawn from certain Old Testament books and some nonbiblical Jewish writings between the Testaments. Writings that use this code-language are known as "apocalyptic" literature. (The Book of Revelation is known as … [Read more...]
MARK OF THE BEAST (2)
A gracEmail subscriber asks: "What is the mark of the beast mentioned in Revelation 13:16-18? Is it a RFID ('radio frequency identification') chip that will be implanted in the hand or forehead of those who follow the great adversary of Jesus Christ in the last days?" * * * People sometimes call the last book of the Bible "the Book of Revelations," as if it were a preview description of the details of earthly history. In doing so they are twice mistaken. It is not the Book of "Revelations," but rather, as its opening words tell us, "the Revelation (or Uncovering) of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 1:1). … [Read more...]
MARK OF THE BEAST (1)
A gracEmail subscriber asks: "What is the mark of the beast mentioned in Revelation 13:16-18? Is it a RFID ('radio frequency identification') chip that will be implanted in the hand or forehead of those who follow the great adversary of Jesus Christ in the last days?" * * * After an introduction that begins with an appearance of the glorified Jesus Christ (Rev. 1-3), the Book of Revelation consists of a series of dramatic visions given to the aged Apostle John who was exiled on the island of Patmos because of his gospel witness. This cosmic drama is full of vivid, larger-than-life symbols … [Read more...]
