What Living In The End Times Means
Jesus Christ, Our Eschatological Hope
[Editors note: This week’s post is slightly longer than normal and was condensed as much as possible. This topic is an exception to the normal word count as it deserves a proper treatment.]
Let’s be honest - the end times is often viewed outside the biblical framework we have, but shouldn’t be. Rather, the end times ought to be viewed through the perspective of the One who began its inevitable coming and instructs the motions of its enacting, Jesus Christ. It is common for Christians to rely on clichés about the end times with their origin in fiction novels like The Late Great Planet Earth and Left Behind rather than biblical truth centered on the person of Jesus Christ. I once did this.
The end is not akin to a modern apocalypse movie portrayal. “End times” and “apocalypse” often conjure up thoughts of movies like I Am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow, or even WALL-E. We imagine everything coming to an end, or a near end, and the chosen few barely surviving to faithfully continue the human race. As a kid, I often thought the end would come and I imagined myself escaping the inevitable disaster, much like the young couple in Deep Impact who are able get married to move up the list of people eligible to get on the ark to save themselves and the girl’s baby brother. This is a deeply romanticized version of humanity flirting with extinction.
These movies do capture some truth about how we understand the end times. We know something earth-changing is going to happen, and we know that there is hope. Then we often follow up these thoughts with heroics of ourselves surviving incredible disaster-scenarios while millions or billions perish in the inevitable disaster. We get that part really, really wrong.
Moving Away From Disaster Movie Tropes
Of course, disaster movies are often grounded in secular thought and are not intended give a biblical witness to eschatology. Eschatology is the theology of the end times, or simply, what we believe about the end times. I’m not going to get into the various beliefs about the specifics of what is going to happen. For further reading there I highly recommend my friend Ian’s work over on Staseōs. It’s a five part series, beginning here with part one. It is worth the dive if you want a good take on the subject. He does a great job communicating a solid eschatology in layman’s terms as a layman himself.
Rather, I want to talk about how our eschatological hope is Jesus Christ, and what that means. What do I mean by eschatological hope? I mean that Jesus Christ Himself is our hope for the future. Often, we get so caught up trying to dissect the Book of Revelation, trying to pin verses to specific geopolitical events, or find secrets in the text that might point to a day or a time of the Lord's return (which He says is impossible to do, by the way1), that we forget what the whole drama of Scripture is proclaiming in the first place. Let’s take a break from that and reflect on Jesus.
We often speak of Christ being our hope in life and death, but it is uncommon to take that thought to its natural conclusion. The New Testament makes bold claims about what it means for Him to be our hope. Take Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15 (you should go read the whole chapter):
Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.2
That's right, the dead will be raised! We will experience resurrection, just like Jesus did!
During Easter weekend there are three main tenses being pointed to. The first is the past; the story of Israel and God's salvation plan through them being fulfilled. Then there is the present; Jesus’ death on the cross, descent to the dead, and His particular resurrection showing various realities such as atonement, sacrifice, defeating death, etc. But there is also a future component to the resurrection. Jesus' resurrection points to our future resurrection where, as Jesus was raised bodily and lives, we are raised bodily and will live. This is so fundamental, Paul says, that “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.”3 This truth is so fundamental to our faith that it is defined in the creeds as a central tenet and is tied inextricably to eternal life and the coming Kingdom.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. - Nicene Creed
At whose coming [Jesus] all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. - Athanasian Creed
I believe in… the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. - The Apostle’s Creed
Jesus As Our Eschatological Hope
Our view of Heaven is also often a victim of Hollywood romanticism. The common picture is that we will die, our souls will drift on up to Heaven, and we’ll live happily ever after with God forever. There is some amount of truth to that idea, but the Bible paints a much more profound, epic series of events. This epic tells the future story of a conquering King.
Jesus is clear that those who are in Christ will be “with Him in paradise.” We can be absolutely confident in Jesus’ promise of eternal life.4 We can also be confident that He is coming again, here, to establish the New Heaven and New Earth.5 A resurrection will occur, and Christ will reign as King over the New Heaven and New Earth from His throne in the New Jerusalem. There will be a heavenly wedding of the Bride, the Church of Jesus, and the Groom, Jesus Himself, in which they will be finally united.6 These are all biblically described as both heavenly and physical events. Unlike our current experience of physicality, there will be no more pain and suffering. Those made righteous in Christ will live with God in peace forever.7
John Wesley captures the overwhelming feeling of the magnitude of this event well when he comments on Revelation 19:7, “What this implies, none of the spirits of just men, even in Paradise, yet know. O what things are those which are yet behind! And what purity of heart should there be, to meditate upon them!” How great a mystery that we can be assured of it, and yet the glory of it be so without description!
The central figure of this story is Jesus. Just as He was the Messianic hope for Israel and the central figure of that story. He is who fulfilled every prophecy of the Old Testament. How is it that David knew he would experience resurrection?8 He knew that the Messianic hope for a coming King of Kings was true. Imagine for a moment what it would be like if Christians awaited the second coming of our King like the Israelites faithfully waited for the Messiah. We should recognize that, like Israel waiting for a Messiah, we are waiting for our King to return. We should be faithful in our waiting, living out His commandments until He returns, careful to not repeat Israel’s mistakes.
Beware of the Black-Pill of Eschatology
Persecution is Not Our Eschatological Hope - Jesus Is
I have witnessed a disappointing trend that people, almost exclusively American, have a romanticized, disaster-movie idea of persecution. One pastor recently commented to me that they hope the time of persecution “comes quickly” for us as “the church loses its power in comfort and multiplies under persecution.” The root of this idea is certainly in a romanticized view of the end times. In this view, persecution is welcome as it acts like a winnowing. Only the heroic, the brave, and the truly Christian remain in the Church while the rest, the inauthentic or nominal Christian, fall away.
The New Testament warns us that we will likely face great persecution for our faith. There is no denying the multitude of verses that warn us to prepare for persecution, and remind us the Holy Spirit will give endurance to the persecuted. These will be blessed, along with the holy martyrs of the faith.9
There is no denying the reality of persecution today. People suffer horrible injustices because of their faith in Christ. The Bible speaks of great tribulations for Christians in the end times. However, living in the end times also points us to an eschatological vision for something better than unrestrained suffering. When our King returns, His Kingdom will be fully inaugurated and his reign established “from sea to sea.”10
The idea that we all simply must suffer persecutions to be authentic, and that we must continue to suffer in similar ways as the Apostles to remain authentic until Jesus comes back, stands in opposition to the picture of the inbreaking Kingdom that Scripture gives us. This is not a prosperity Gospel, let me be clear that freedom from persecution is not guaranteed. Many are even called to leave their safe nations to go to places where we will be persecuted. But, given the conquering nature of the Gospel, it is no wonder that in places that the Gospel has conquered (or at least religious tolerance, a biblical idea, has won over in the culture), persecution will be limited and other challenges to the Church will arise. Micah prophesied about nations in the last days that will be overcome with the peace of God:
He will settle disputes among many peoples
and provide arbitration for strong nations
that are far away.
They will beat their swords into plows
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nation will not take up the sword against nation,
and they will never again train for war. - Micah 4:3 (CSB)
Some take 2 Timothy 3:12 at face value, out of its Roman context, and claim persecution is inevitable. Even if it were inevitable, persecution coming indicates there will be reprieves. That does not mean we must feel the need to rush to be under the yoke of persecution again to be authentic Christians. Reprieves from persecution, no matter the length, even generations, are a blessing not a curse.
The Grim Reality of Persecution and Martyrdom is not Bathed in Hollywood Hope, but Blood
Further, to wish, hope, or pray for persecution to come stands in contrast to the relief the Gospel proclaims. Even in the midst of suffering, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope”11 so that we will even experience “peace.”12 Especially for pastors, persecution must not be your desire for your congregation as their shepherd. Consider the details of this report of an Islamic State attack in Nigeria in 2020 that targeted Christians as well as anyone not faithful to the Islamic State:
A string of attacks last week in the northeastern Nigerian province of Borno left over 140 people dead, mostly civilians, as the West African syndicate of ISIS (ISWAP, formerly known as Boko Haram) has begun a new offensive to capture territory in the war-torn province. The attacks began last Tuesday morning, when ISWAP militants raided the small town of Gubio and tricked civilian guards into surrendering peacefully. Once the town was disarmed and gathered together, the jihadists opened fire, summarily executing dozens of men women and children. Those who fled were chased down and run over by all-terrain vehicles, killing dozens more. The village was set ablaze, six local leaders were abducted and over 1400 head of cattle were stolen, leaving behind a scene that the regional governor described as “barbaric.”13
Is that really what you wish to happen to your congregation? No, it cannot be. I cling to the belief that these people who claim to desire persecution to make the American Church in some form “better” do not know what they are really asking for. Sure, persecution is possible without martyrdom, but can our prayers make such distinctions? We do not control that.
I believe this error stems from a romanticized view of persecution from the comfortable American mind, in an ironic attempt to escape American comfort. After all, we have not seen real persecution for generations. Sure, there are echoes of negative social stigma if you refuse to compromise in modern America, but persecution paved in blood is not our reality.
I have no doubt that those who wish for persecution are willing to endure it. However, they have mistakenly come to believe that a path paved in the blood of the martyrs is the quickest way to “fix” what is wrong with the American Church. Do we have so little faith in Christ’s love for His bride, the Church, that we think only our sacrifice will fix our issues, instead of relying on the eternal sacrifice of our Savior and the power of the Holy Spirit? He has done it before in the midst of our Great Awakenings and revivals, and He will do it again through the Word.14 Instead of counting on God to act, in the most American way we see Jesus and say, “thanks, I’ll do it myself.” We choose the do-it-ourselves quick-fix we are so prone to choose in our instant gratification culture.
The error of this thinking is just like the disaster movie. This view implies that the Church in nations that the Gospel has conquered or where there is religious tolerance must perish to be authentic, and looks to the faithful remnant as the hope for the future, oblivious in thought to the tragic suffering and loss of life that has occurred. This is not to mention the outright dismissal of those who were once in reach, the nominal Christians, and discarding them as out of reach pagans, not worthy of efforts for revival. The correct view is that our hope is in the Church that perseveres when that occurs, not in a hope for that to occur with ourselves hailed as the faithful martyrs and heroes, survivors of the true church.
It is also factually inaccurate that persecution is a guaranteed multiplier of the church. Pre-USSR, 90% of the Russian population identified with Orthodox Christianity, around 90 million people.15 After the Marxists came to power and state atheism took the reigns, churches were burned by the hundreds and priests and faithful believers shot and sent to the gulags by the thousands. Russian Orthodoxy was on a path of extinction. 31 years after the fall of the USSR and the number of Christians in Russia is just now reaching 90 million again, but at only 61% of the population. Still, the resurgence is because of the Church thriving under religious freedom, not persecution.16 Other historical cases such as North Africa, Anatolia, and the Middle East, once the thriving hubs of Apostolic Christianity, are in many cases barely holding on to their existence and have not been thriving under 1000 years of Islamic persecution. In these cases, Christianity has survived under persecution, but it clearly has not thrived. The miscalculation may stem from Christianity thriving under the persecution of the Roman Empire and quickly, historically speaking, became the dominant religion of all Europe. Though there are times the Church has thrived under persecution, it is not a guaranteed outcome, but more of a tossup. A tossup is no assured eschatological hope to place faith in and wish for.
Ultimately, the resurrection of the dead through Jesus as our eschatological hope gives us a different vision. A vision of things being undone. The dead rising to life. The Garden tragedy and sin-plague being reversed. The Great Commission being fulfilled. Pain and suffering - and yes, even persecution - being extinguished across the nations. All of this is being accomplished right now through the power of the Holy Spirit using the Bride of Christ, the Church, to bring the Gospel to all nations. Once that Great Commission is fulfilled, we will witness our Eschatological Hope face-to-face, we need not desire unnecessary suffering for it to occur.
A Prayer for This Occasion
Father,
Thank you for the blessing we have to openly declare your Name with no fear of persecution. We recognize that this is only possible because of the work of the Holy Spirit and the Church in fulfilling the Great Commission all over your blessed creation. Free us, we pray, from any desires to find quick fixes to the problems your Church faces because of the freedom we enjoy. Instead, send your Holy Spirit in the spirit of revival just like in the days of John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, and the other Saints who went before us. We repent of desiring the suffering of your Church so that the picturesque of a revived Church we have created for ourselves would rise in the place of your plans for your Bride.
We pray for the persecuted Church across the world. Give them the strength promised in your word to endure, and fulfill the Great Commission in spite of their sufferings. Advance your Kingdom and fulfill every prophecy as we look toward our Eschatological Hope, the Marriage of the Lamb, and the New Heaven and New Earth, where we will live eternally with you in joy.
If it is in your will that we in America would join in their sufferings, give us strength and prepare us diligently for that season by reviving the faith of our churches.
We pray this in the Name of Jesus, who reigns with You and the Holy Spirit forever, world without end.
Amen.
Matthew 24:26, 25:13
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (CSB)
1 Corinthians 15:13-14
Matthew 25:46 ,John 3:16, 5:24, Romans 6:23, 10:13
2 Peter 2:13, Revelation 21:1-5
Revelation 19:6-10.
Revelation 21:4, 22:14, 22:17
Job 19:26, Psalm 17:15, Psalm 22:29
Revelation 6:9-11
Psalm 72:8
Romans 5:3-5
John 16:33
https://www.faimission.org/wire/boko-haram-on-rampage-nigeria-killing-140
2 Timothy 3-4:8
https://www.rbth.com/history/329361-russian-orthodox-church-ussr-communism
https://wciom.ru/analytical-reviews/analiticheskii-obzor/velikii-post-2021/