Chapter 7

 

Last Things: The Fulfillment of Our Profession

         

Eschatology simply means the study of last things.  In Paul’s great exposition of the resurrection he uses the word eskatos  “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Cor. 15:45).  In Revelation Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Rev. 22:13; cf. 1:17; 2:8).  Peter refers to “scoffers will come in the last days” (2 Pet. 3:3).  He also refers to the very end of history, the last of the last days: “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ... He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Pet. 1:5, 20).  “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Heb. 1:2). “How they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.” (Jude 18).  John uses the word in his gospel to refer to the day of judgment: “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day” (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54).  At Pentecost Peter asserted that the coming of the Spirit on the church was a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy regarding the last days: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh” (Acts 2:17).  Paul warns that “in the last days perilous times will come” (2 Tim. 3:1).

At the end of the last days will be Jesus Christ will return and execute the last judgment.  “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt 24:30, 31).  “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.” (2 Tim. 4:1, 2).  “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.  The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.” (Rev. 20:11-13).

 

Personal Eschatology

 

The intermediate state referred to on pages 31-33 , is not the goal of our salvation.  Paul refers to this state as a period of waiting for our proper clothing, i.e. our resurrection bodies (2 Cor. 5:1-8).  This is heaven.  But our resurrection should not be viewed in isolation from the great historical event of which it is part.  “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4:17).  God’s elect from all nations will be vindicated before the great throne of final judgment, and ushered into his glorious presence in the new heavens and the new earth depicted symbolically in Revelation 21:1-22:5.  Heaven and earth shall meet in perfect harmony.  God shall be our God and we shall be His people forever.  “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (Rev. 21:3).  All of created reality shall be a temple of worship and service and the great plan of redemption in Jesus Christ shall be consummated in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  “we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Rom 8:23).  “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” (Rev. 19:9).

The other side of the great and final divide caused by God’s judgment is hell.  This is as much a Biblical reality as heaven.  The absolute justice of God demands it.  There is no room for the unrepentant sinner in the presence of an absolutely holy God.  “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8).  The gentle and merciful Jesus speaks of hell more than anyone else in the Bible.  “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'” (Mark 9:45, 46).   “it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” (2 Thess. 1:6-10).

Three errors must be condemned regarding the reality of heaven and hell: Purgatory, Annihilationism and “near death experiences.”  Purgatory is rooted in the Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation by works.  The Bible simply gives no evidence of a “second chance”.  As to Annihilationism the Bible is clear that the suffering of the wicked is eternal, not temporary.  “And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Rev. 20:10; cf. Rev. 19:20; 20:10-15).

 

Historical Eschatology

 

The church has held to several views of last things.  This subject really involves the Christian view of history.  All orthodox Christians hold certain elements of this truth in common.  History is a battle between the City of God and the City of Man (sin and the Devil).  Through the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ the City of God is sure to be victorious.  At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ the last judgment will take place at which there will be an eternal separation between the wicked and the justified.  The wicked will be cast into hell forever; and the justified will dwell in heaven in the presence of God and the Lamb forever.

The word associated with these views is used in only one place in the Bible in Revelation 20:1-10): millennium.  Thus the following four views are called millennial views.  The word literally means “one thousand”.  It is clear from Revelation 20 that the period referred to is one of extraordinary blessing.  The question is “When does this period become an historical reality?”  Thus the names of the views reflect the relationship of this millennium to the Second Coming of Christ.  The first two views are Premillennial (Classical and Dispensational): Christ returns at the beginning of the millennium; the second is Postmillennial: Christ returns at the end of the millennium; and the third is Amillennial: Christ comes the first time (incarnation) at the beginning of the millennium and at the end.

Classical Premillennialism teaches that at the height of the power of the Antichrist Jesus Christ will appear, raise His people from the dead, and usher in a thousand year period of Kingdom peace on earth, centered in a rebuilt Jerusalem.  At the end of the thousand years  Christ will raise the wicked, execute final judgment and usher in the new creation.  From the ancient church to the present Biblical Christians have held this view.

Dispensational Premillennialism arose in the nineteenth century and is believed by a large number of Biblical Christians today.  John Nelson Darby and C. I. Scofield initiated and popularized this view in England and America. Dispensationalism teaches that the nation of Israel and the Church of the New Testament are on two different historical tracks in God’s plan.  Biblical history is divided into seven dispensations: Innocency (creation to the fall); Conscience (the fall to the flood); Human government (the flood to the Tower of Babel); Promise (the patriarchs to Moses); Law (Moses to Christ); Grace (Christ to the millennium); and Kingdom (the millennial period).  Jesus offered the kingdom to the Jews when He came into history; but they refused.  Thus the period of Grace is a parenthesis in God’s plan which was unknown to the prophets. Dispensationalists look for history to get worse and worse until Christ returns to rebuild the temple, reinstitute the sacrificial system and reign in Jerusalem.  Judgment will come at the end of this thousand year period of peace and heaven will be ushered in.

The Biblical problems with this scheme are legion.  It undermines hope of the success of the gospel among the nations.  It makes the Lordship of Christ a future reality, thus fostering easy believism and the doctrine of the carnal Christian (one can accept Christ as Savior without accepting Him as Lord and still be saved).  It reads the Bible, especially the prophetic books, such as Ezekiel and Revelation, in a literalistic way, which evacuates the apocalyptic literature of its profound meaning.  It views the last days as future, thus focusing on the Second Coming as if Christ is not already the King.  It is, therefore, essentially antinomian, believing that the law only applied to Old Testament believers.  Because of its negative view of the present Dispensationalism teaches a weak view of the “organized church”, expecting it to be apostate.

The real question is “What does Revelation 20 teach?”  It teaches an overview of the entire period between the first and second comings of Christ, in which Satan is bound with respect to his blinding of the nations to the gospel.  The Great Commission is based on this assumption.  When Peter explained what the coming of the Spirit meant he asserted that Jesus Christ was enthroned at the resurrection (Acts 2:30, 31).  He is presently the Lord of His people who are to go to the nations with His good news.  Thus as with all of the numbers of Revelation one thousand is symbolic of a complete period of God’s dealings in history, leading to the consummation of His plan in Jesus Christ. 

Postmillennialism teaches that the millennial period will come before the second coming through the preaching of the gospel to all nations.  This Golden Age will come to an end when the great apostasy occurs.  Then Christ will return to judge and usher in the eternal kingdom.  Most of the Puritans and many reformed Christians hold to this view.  Unfortunately, nineteenth century Liberals set forth a similar view based on Moralism rather than the supernatural power of the gospel.  Iain Murray’s Puritan Hope is an excellent treatment of the Puritan doctrine of Postmillennialism.

Amillennialism teaches that the millennial period encompasses all of these last days between the two comings of Christ.  There will be no Golden Age of the gospel, though the gospel will triumph in the hearts of God’s elect from all nations before the great apostasy occurs; Christ returns to judge the living and the dead; and the new heavens and the new earth are ushered in.  Many Christians throughout history, particularly during the Reformation, and also at present hold to this view.

Postmillennialism and Amillennialism best capture the Scriptural data of the whole counsel of God.  What is critical is that we labor in light of the Second Coming to disciple the nations by teaching and preaching the Word of God and aggressively build the Church of Jesus Christ through the power of His wonderful Gospel.

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.  And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:16, 17).

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