Everywhere you turn these days, it seems like something bad is happening.  Socialism is taking over our government. Islam is trying to take over New York City at Ground Zero.  Our president keeps showing his ties to Islam over and over again.  The current administration wants to do nothing to help Israel.  As a matter of fact, they are doing more to help Israel’s & America’s enemies than they are to protect our own borders.  Iran wants to nuke us, and on and on the story goes. It never seems to end. Then you start talking about world events with your Christian friends, and they start talking about the end of the world. The rapture is coming so get your rapture straps on. The world is about to go up in a flame of smoke. Satan wins the day. Our best hope is to store up canned goods, buy Uzi’s, and wait for the heavenly helicopter to take us home. Folks, this just isn’t the way that things are going to end.

If you believe in kingdom eschatology, one of the very first things that you learn is that God did not send down His most precious gift–His one and only Son Jesus Christ–so that the world could go up in a flame of smoke.  Oh the contrary! God sent His Son, Jesus, to redeem the whole earth.  Redemption includes more than just mankind.  It includes everything that God created in Genesis 1. For most of us, though, this teaching doesn’t line up with our apocalyptic thinking because we’ve been reading too many Hal Lindsey books and watching the Left Behind movies one too many times. But think about it for a second! Why would God give us the greatest sacrifice the world has ever seen just to see it all be for nothing in the end?  So we win a few souls to Christ, but we let the rest of the world burn up in fire? What kind of redemptive story is that?  It’s not redemption at all. It’s more like a scary Steven Spielberg movie, or a reality T.V. show gone bad. 

To have a proper view of what’s going on with world events, you must first start with a proper understanding of eschatology. Eschatology by definition is a word that describes last things.  Here are a couple of opening thoughts about eschatology:

1. Eschatology is connected to creation. The beginning and the end are connected. The language used in the book of Genesis is connected to language used in the book of Revelation.  Through Christ we understand both the beginning and the end of time. If you want to understand eschatology, you have to take a look at Jesus and His life.
2. The word eschatology is connected to the word teleology. Teleology is a word that has to do with a purposeful fulfillment of all God’s promises. It’s the outworking of God’s original plan.
3. Eschatology is connected to the advancement of the kingdom throughout all of history.  For example, the mountain that Isaiah prophesies about is the same mountain that Daniel prophesies about. Jesus’ kingdom will have no successor. Any other kingdom that tries to supersede His kingdom will fall. The truth of who God is and what His kingdom is will prevail. How much or how far will the kingdom have to advance before the King returns? We do not know. However, it surely has to advance more than it has right now in this time in history.
4. Eschatology points to the ultimate horizon. The natural horizon is where heaven touches the earth. In a spiritual sense, the word horizon speaks of the ultimate kingship of Jesus (heaven) touching our humanly realm (earth).

Guidelines for Adopting a Biblical Worldview of the Future (a.k.a. Kingdom Eschatology)

1. Look for the view that leads you away from despair and fear. Fear and despair de-energize us and cause us to lose hope. The future is not fatalistic; it’s covenantal. There is hope because we have a covenant with God.
2. Look for the view that declares restoration and reformation.
3. Look for the view that declares a victorious kingdom in history.
4. Look for the view that facilitates world evangelization. God’s transforming everything around us. The question is, “Do you want to be a part?”  God gave us the Great Commission to be fulfilled. In other countries besides America, Christianity is outpacing the population growth right now.
5. Look for the view that defines the Church as the steward and shaper of the future.
6. Look for the view that interprets the Bible by the Bible. Realize that apocalyptic passages speak in symbols and metaphors. They are not literal.
7. Look for the view that intensifies our intercession and worship. If we believe in progress, then we believe in more intensity.

A couple of wrap up thoughts:

1. The kingdom of God is a dynamic of the heart first, then the mind.
2. Any doctrine that steals your song or quenches your joy isn’t right.
3. A couple of good reads regarding kingdom eschatology: “Last Days Madness” by Larry Demar. “The Apocalypse Code” by Hank Hanegraaff. “Paradise Restored” by David Chilton.
4. The kingdom will not be fully expressed until the return of the King. However, our doctrine states that the kingdom is moving in a positive, forward progression to this day.
5. Jesus isn’t coming back for a Church who can’t “handle it” anymore. Jesus is coming back once the Church has handled its business and is ready to hand over the kingdom to the King.

Tags: apocalypse, apocalyptic, Biblical, Eschatology, teleology, worldview

This entry was posted on Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at 2:50 am and is filed under General, Kingdom Eschatology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.