Introduction: The value of studying eschatology
The Millennium • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Handout
My Confession
My Confession
As I began to prepare this class, I realized it may be helpful to begin by confessing something to you. I admit that I came to this subject with a certain level of cynicism. Why the cynicism? The subject of eschatology, and in case you’re not familiar with that word, eschatology is the study of last things, is the area of theological study that possesses an understandable allure, but is often the object of obsession. And what I have observed over the years is that this obsession will often manifest itself in an unjustifiable certainty of particular eschatological views and a certain tendency to result in unnecessary division and regrettable condescension towards those who are perceived to have an opposing view. And while these observations may have some merit, I have come to realize that, as I already confessed, I have become somewhat cynical towards the subject matter and conversations that express these views.
However, I think my cynicism has been lessened by doing two thinks which were provoked by my preparation for this class:
I began to read my bible with a particular view of how what I am reading is impacted by eschatology. This was not a new practice for me, but doing so with a commitment to objective bible study has helped to clear the cynical cobwebs away from my view of Scripture.
I read Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology. Not the whole thing, but his section on eschatology. Of particular note and help to me was actually not something that he said, but a quote from Abraham Kuyper. I put this quote in the handout. Dr. Kuyper suggested that the relationship eschatology has to the other major areas of theological study can be thought of in the following way:
In theology [proper] it is the question, how God is finally perfectly glorified in the work of His hands, and how the counsel of God is fully realized; in anthropology, the question, how the disrupting influence of sin is completely overcome; in christology, the question, how the work of Christ is crowned with perfect victory; in soteriology, the question, how the work of the Holy Spirit at last issues the complete redemption and glorification of the people of God; and in ecclesiology, the question of the final apotheosis (the highest point in the development of something) of the church. All these questions must find their answer in the last locus of dogmatics, making it the real capstone of dogmatic theology.
To put it more succinctly, eschatology sheds a clear light upon every single area of doctrine.
The idea of the old passing away and the new coming… new creation is throughout Scripture. This is an eschatological consideration.
17 “For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
Isaiah 40–66 Creation of a New World of Joy and Abundance (65:17–25)
the reference to the shaking of the foundations of the whole earth, it being split asunder (24:18–19), and the vanishing of the heavens (51:6), hints at the need for a new creation.
And what Kuyper suggests is that this promise is more relevant to our understanding of God, man, Christ, salvation and the church than we may think.
So, for the remainder of the class, I want to propose some reasons why the study of eschatology is valuable.
As you know, the title of this class is “The Millennium”, and we will spend the majority of the class talking about the millennium. We will not focus on the nature of the relationship of Israel and the church, although by talking about the millennium, that will come up. We won’t focus on the rapture, but by talking about the millennium, the rapture will come up. Future resurrection and future judgement, the new heavens and the new earth, all of these and more are part of the study of eschatology, and connected to the study of the millennium, but we will narrow our focus to the millennium.
But, for our purposes today, we will consider the value of studying eschatology. The following list is certainly not exhaustive, but does outline what I consider to be especially important when it comes to this particular area of study.
I will propose one reason why we should value the study of eschatology. There are more, but we have time for one, and I think that this one is connected to many other reasons that could be mentioned.
The study of eschatology is valuable because:
Studying eschatology will help us understand the message of the bible better.
Studying eschatology will help us understand the message of the bible better.
I spoke with Isaiah the other day about the question and suggested that eschatology helps us understand the aim of the gospel more clearly. This is what I’m attempting to address here.
The latter days
The latter days
How are we to understand the fairly common phrase we see in our Bibles, the latter days?
Gen 49:1
1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.
The KJV translation says, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Literally this is in the end of days.
Of course the question is when are the latter days?
Let’s consider how the phrase or idea is used in Scripture.
In the Old Testament
The purification of Israel through exile
Deut 4:15-31.
Often in the Pentateuch, the phrase latter days is referring to a time of great blessing that is to come for the people of Israel (Judah).
In Deut., the phrase is particularly associated with the purification of Israel through and after exile.
People would fall into idolatry, but the remnant would repent. Then we get to verses 30-31:
30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
It can be observed in Scripture that the people of Israel experienced this scattering and coming back to the Lord more than once. And certainly, through it all, God did not forget His covenant with them, but there will be a time when the people of God will be gathered to Him, and they will be with Him for eternity.
Isa. 2:2-5.
The latter days, Isaiah describes as days of hope.
2 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
3 and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
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.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
Isaiah’s audience would have been familiar with this description. Temples were typically built on mountains (Mt Zion in Jerusalem).
The message is that the religion of the people of Israel would be shown to be true.
The nations would see that Yahweh, the covenant Lord of Israel, is the one true God (vv. 2–3a). After the exile, God's people would be vindicated, and the whole world would worship Him (vv. 3b–5).
This is ultimately fulfilled in Christ, the temple of God who is exalted over all nations (John 2:22).
John 2:22.
22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
So we see that Jesus fulfills what was prophesied in the OT. We now transition to the NT’s treatment of the latter days.
In the New Testament
The New Testament shows Jesus’ coming to be the beginning fulfillment of the latter days of the Old Testament.
Set in motion with more to come.
Resurrection
Dan 12:2.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
This refers to judgement of the resurrected righteous dead and unrighteous dead.
Acts 2:24.
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Jesus was the pioneer of resurrection life and the first to shine in the way of Daniel’s prophecy.
The latter days are all about Jesus
Heb 1:1-5.
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
Verse 5 is a quote of Psalm 2:7
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
What we therefore know is that the Son who is the heir of all things in Heb. 1, is the begotten Son in Psalm 2. The Messiah is the heir of all things.
So these last days (Heb. 1:2) includes the reign of Messiah which began at His first coming in that He has spoken to us (v. 2 again) and He is the heir of all things already. This rule however, will reach its full culmination at His second coming.
So again, Jesus is the pinnacle of the latter days.
What can we conclude about the latter days?
The Old and New Testaments do not use the phrase latter days to refer to only future events.
Latter days refers to the beginning of the end times, not the consummation of them.
Jesus (His coming, ministry death, resurrection, ascension and second coming) is the pinnacle of the latter days.
We live in the latter days (1 John 2:18)
1 John 2:18.
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
So if we are meant to understand Jesus to be the pinnacle of the latter days, and we now live in the latter days, when it comes to the relevancy of eschatology, we must see it as oriented around what Jesus has accomplished and what He is accomplishing and what He will accomplish. Our understanding of God’s word must reflect this reality.
But perhaps we are still feeling like this is a little removed from what’s important… or at least what is relevant to us now.
Consider another important concept:
Already - Not yet
Already - Not yet
This idea is more relevant to our lives than we might assume. What this eschatological idea addresses is how our identity (who we are - the indicative) impacts what we do and will do. How what has been done and secured truths like the return of Christ, His kingdom, the gathering of the saints to Himself, the final judgement and resurrection of the dead impacts what we are to do and how we are to think of ourselves and this world now.
How do the indicatives of the bible relate to the imperatives?
How does the reality that the latter days have already begun but are not yet consummated help us understand the commands we are issued in Scripture (particularly the NT)?
What this idea addresses is who we are eschatologically in Christ and how that relates to what we are called to do.
Some examples of eschatological realities impacting us now:
Col 3:1
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
What Paul does here is validates the authority of the command to seek the things that are above by placing the command in its eschatological context. Jesus was crucified, died, buried, rose again and ascended to heaven THEREFORE seek the things that are above… now.
Eph 4:32.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Such a familiar text… We are to forgive one another as , that is, in the same manner as God in Christ forgave us.
The atonement of Christ and His resurrection are the basis for the command to forgive one another.
Jude 18-19.
18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
The ungodly mockers existed in the church to which Jude wrote.
John 6:54.
54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
No doubt that the reference to Jesus raising up those who belong to Him on the last day is future (not yet), but we are meant to connect the present, that is the fact that we possess eternal life (already) to that future.
To put it another way, our future hope (the certainty of Jesus’ return and our resurrection to Him) is the backdrop of our life in Him now.
Studying eschatology will help us understand the message of the bible better. And a better understanding of our bibles should result in stronger faith. More stability, more resilient joy, peace that really does surpass understsnding, a clearer connection between all of our lives to all of Christ.
What are some implications of this clarity?
Concluding Implications
Concluding Implications
Embrace the Tension
Embrace the Tension
Studying eschatology will pit the hope we possess in Christ against the cares we have in this world.
The tension that is associated with the already/not yet reality in which we live. Embracing this tension will lead us to clarity on the hope we have in Christ.
For example, there is a tension expressed in 1 Cor. 15 between a reality defined by death and a reality defined by resurrection. Both death and resurrection are real, but one is greater.
So here’s a summary of the tension :
Paul outlines the gospel
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
What the Scriptures clearly teach is that Jesus died for our sins, and was raised from the dead on the third day. So death was overcome in this.
Some were saying that the resurrection of the dead was a myth.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But Paul says that the resurrection is everything.
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
But Paul is not promoting positive theology. Positive theology is a theology that marginalizes or even ignores that painful truths of life and focuses exclusively on what is pleasant.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
Paul is acknowledging that death is part of life. We die, but that is not it. Because Jesus is risen, those who belong to Him will rise to Him.
And in addition to that, all things will be made right
24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
So we live in an already/not yet reality, and this is a reality of tension. We do not pretend that the present pains of this world do not exist and do not effect us (like death), but we do not loose sight that we have a certain hope. Jesus is alive and those who belong to Him will be raised and will be with Him for eternity.
49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
