What is Eschatology?

• People are obsessed with what will happen in the future. 
  • Hollywood has produced many movies on this theme. 
    • One vision: total annihilation by nuclear or environmental catastrophe. 
    • Another popular scenario is science gone wrong or emergence of new diseases. 
    • Or maybe the future holds the destruction of humanity by robots. 
    • Or maybe humanity is destroyed by alien life forms. 
  • In other words, people are interested in “eschatology”.
• But today we’re talking about the Biblical perspective of eschatology. Eschatology = the study of “last things”. 
  • In other words, what happens in the future, particularly the final stages of the world and of individuals. Drawn from the data of God’s Word and what God has revealed about the future on the pages of Scripture. 
  • Two realms of study: individual eschatology and general eschatology. 
    • Individual eschatology looks into the last things as applied to the individual: what comes after a person dies. 
    • General eschatology studies the bigger picture: what happens in the final stages of this earth’s current existence and what comes next. Commonly called “End Times.” 

The Return of Jesus Christ

• No one knows when, but Jesus will return to this world to set everything right and to transform his people for eternity.
• “The day of the Lord”
  • An OT theme: God shows up to establish his rule, eradicate evil (Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, a day of vengeance on his enemies.), and restore the whole world.
    • Note: Joel 2:1 sets context: “Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the Lord is upon us.”
    • Joel 2:30-32 I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth – blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved….
  • This is the background that is fulfilled in the person of Jesus.
• Jesus said many times that he would return
  • It will visible (Rev 1:7 Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him – even those who pierced him.). Bodily: not as a spirit. Personal: It will be him as himself.
• The timing of Jesus’ return is a mystery (Matt 25:13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.”)
  • We should be “on duty” at all times (Matt 24:42, 44 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming…. You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”)
• Jesus will come for his people, who will be transformed
  • John 14:3 “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
  • 1 John 3:2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
  • 1 Thess 4:14-17 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
    • 1: Resurrection of dead
    • 2: Transformation of the living
  • Jesus’ followers will meet him in the air (the “rapture” = “caught up”)
  • In this series, we’ll talk about the timing of this event vs other future events.

The Tribulation

• Evil will prevail and God will judge planet Earth in an intense period before Jesus publicly returns.
  • Mark 13:19-20 For there will be greater anguish in those days than at any time since God created the world. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless the Lord shortens the time of calamity, not a single person will survive. But for the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days.
• The Tribulation – what happens on the earth before Jesus comes back?
  • The rise of evil in rebellion against God
    • Revelation 13:1, 5, 7 Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea…. The beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months…. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.
  • God’s judgment on the earth
    • Revelation 16:1 Then I heard a mighty voice from the Temple say to the seven angels, “Go your ways and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.”
• So it is a time of terrible calamity → before the public return of Christ
  • One question: Will Christians be subjected to this tribulation?
    • Tune in to the third week of the series

The Millenium

• Jesus rules on earth before God’s final judgment for 1,000 years (either literally or symbolically)
  • Rev 20 describes a 1000 year period when Jesus will rule on this earth
  • Revelation 20:1-4 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon – that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan – and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousands years were finished…. Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God…. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
  • Is the book of Revelation to be taken literally or figuratively?
• The premillenial view
  • “Pre” – Jesus comes before the millennium
  • 1,000 years is literal, a time when Jesus rules on earth
    • Only at the end of that time does final judgment occur
• The postmillenial view
  • “Post” – Jesus comes after the millenium
  • Not a literal 1,000 year period, but figurative of God’s rule throughout human history
  • God’s rule is extended progressively through his church so that the whole earth is ultimately brought under Jesus’ Lordship
• The amillenial view
  • “A” – no literal millennium → Rev is mainly symbolic
    • Describes the spiritual warfare that occurs throughout history
  • Jesus is now ruling over his people as Lord
    • His return ushers in the eternal age

The Age to Come

• The end times wrap up as the Earth is made new and God’s people join him there for eternity.
• All human beings will stand before God in a final judgment of their lives
  • Revelation 20:12, 15 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of LIfe. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books…. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
• Earth will be recreated to recapture the original glory of Eden
  • 2 Peter 3:10, 13 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment…. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
• God’s people will take up residence on the new earth, in the presence of God himself
  • Revelation 21:3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.”
• Those who did not trust in Jesus to be right with God will enter God’s judgment for their rebellion and sin
  • Revelation 21:8 But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars – their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.
• Join us in week 5 as we talk about: what is the nature of hell?

The Takeaway

• Christians have disagreed on many points of eschatology. But the one essential aspect of this subject that defines orthodox Christian is the assertion that Jesus will return at some unspecified future date to judge, rule, and redeem. This is a glorious hope and an incentive to followers of Christ.
  • This is a glorious hope for followers of Christ, as well as an incentive to stay faithful to his work while we await his appearing 
    • Titus 2:12-13 We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.