Throughout this series on eschatology, we have slowly been building a case for eschatological optimism. That is, Christ will triumph over the world through his church.
Jesus is presently reigning in heaven, subduing his enemies. He is renewing the earth, causing the rule of heaven to gradually descend upon the earth. The church is fulfilling the great commission, discipling the nations. All of this will produce a period of peace and joy and harmony that the world has not known since the garden.
As we look at the present state of the world, it appears that Jesus is committed to a long-term plan. For many, such long-term thinking may be disorienting. As one pastor quipped, we may still be in the early church.
That is, we generally think of the early church as the first few centuries after Christ’s first advent. However, if the present age lasts for say, ten thousand years, then our distant descendants will regard us as “early.”
In the next few posts, we will look at how to apply this eschatological optimism to our lives and what role we should take with regard to our present culture.
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3 comments:
Great thoughts Pastor Eric! Lord knows what we all need is a good dose of eschatological optimism and then learn how we should view the world’s twisted and sin-filled culture with His second coming in mind
"Jesus is presently reigning in heaven, subduing his enemies. He is renewing the earth, causing the rule of heaven to gradually descend upon the earth."
The reason I reject this particular view is that it makes Christ appear to be a very, very weak ruler indeed.
The enemies of the cross continue to advance themselves. The Bible promises us persecution and suffering throughout the N.T. to the contrary of your claim. If your claim was true, the church would suffer less and less persecution until it no longer existed. Since the 20th century has more martyrs than all the previous centuries combined, it is hard to see an improvement at this point.
In addition, the prince of this world is the Devil who will eventually be defeated at Christ coming.
I can't see the world being subdued until the return of Christ when he will rule with an iron rod as the Bible states.
Folken Family, the rule of Christ is far from weak. His kingdom has been gradually increasing since his ascension. Also, Christ defeated Satan in the first century. Please read my other related posts for the details.
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