Are You Thinking About the End Times?
I never used to like eschatology. As a younger child, those portions of Scripture always made me nervous. I wanted my own earthly future after all. I longed to get married. I hoped to have kids. Any talk of eschatology painted a vision of a stolen life, either by a secret rapture—or if they were wrong—a painful tribulation. I read a couple of books from the Left Behind series as a kid, hoping its events would never come to me.
Because of its subject matter, we often place eschatology at the end of our list of priorities. The elaborate prophecies and seemingly complicated arguments lead some to believe the theology of the future is a topic that only scholars or serious theologians can understand. The fear of the unknown deters others, like me. We decide to settle ourselves happily in the remaining pages of the Bible.
Yet this way of thinking, along with many end-times predictions, can cause a misunderstanding of the role of eschatology for the Christian. Popular books and ministries that spring up around the end times tend to focus on only a few key passages. They talk of political maneuvers and one-world currencies. They turn our eyes to key passages surrounding the antichrist and the great falling away.
The study of these passages is important, but eschatology is so much more than timelines and millenniums or a few pages about antichrists. Eschatology should encompass the life of every single Christian. We’re a people who live for the future, and our hope in the future encompasses all of Scripture, giving us the strength we need for the present. As German theologian Jürgen Moltmann wrote,
From first to last, and not merely in the epilogue, Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward looking and forward moving, and therefore also revolutionizing and transforming the present . . . . Hence eschatology cannot really be only a part of the Christian doctrine. Rather eschatological outlook is characteristic of all Christian proclamation, and of every Christian existence, and of the whole Church. (as quoted in A Case for Amillennialism by Kim Riddlebarger).
My limited perspective as a younger believer made me fear the thought of the future. Now, I long for it to come sooner. These days, eschatology fuels me to keep going in my suffering as I look ahead to what’s to come.
Looking toward the Righteous
Log onto social media, and you’ll probably be able to find Christians arguing in about three seconds. It fills our feeds, blog posts, and personal lives. We hurt each other. We slander, defend, fight back, wound, and get hurt. Some days the body looks more like a chaotic mess, thrashing against itself, and causing more division.
We do it because we’re all sinners. Even as we’ve been born again, the stench of sin still leaves its mark. In these moments, eschatology shakes us to a reality we need to remember. Hurt and division in the people of God have permeated this world for many years. King David felt the pain of betrayal and the wounds of division first by Saul, then by his own son. Yet his knowledge of the future comforted him even then. In the midst of his cries for help David declares, “The righteous will surround me” (Ps. 142:7).
David used the future to strengthen him in the present. He found hope in the reality that one day he will stand with the righteous and the fear and division of sin will be gone.
This is our hope as well. Revelation 21 describes the saints of God as a bride adorned in white. She appears pure, spotless, and without sin (Rev. 21:2, 9–14). Can you imagine it? Our eschatology reminds us right now that we will all stand spotless, as a beautiful bride before each other and before our Lord and Savior.
“The next time you see two Christians who can’t seem to see eye-to-eye on social media, imagine their future.”
The next time you see two Christians who can’t seem to see eye-to-eye on social media, imagine their future. Imagine them embracing in perfect humility, reunited in a scene to rival Joseph and his brothers. Imagine the tears that fall, as each one feels genuine repentance for whatever assumptions, carelessness, and short-sightedness passed between them.
Have you looked ahead toward this day? Have you imagined it for yourself—when your own blinders, preconceived notions, and pride will truly be gone? Our future not only mends the brokenness between saints but God will also exercise true justice on the wicked. Every public and secret deed will come to light (Ecc. 12:14). When we look toward this future, our hearts soften in the present. It eases our wounds as we put our slights and even our deep cuts into the hands of our Redeemer. We are able to wait for the day when justice will be done and we will join with the pure, spotless bride of Christ in true unity.
Looking toward the Resurrection
Our eschatology not only looks toward the future of our righteous hearts but it also looks ahead toward the resurrection of our bodies. The resurrection of the dead anchored the early church, and it can anchor us today. Perhaps this seems like a given for the Christian, but in the midst of our modern world and our familiarity with the Easter story, we might forget it’s actually true. Jesus really did die, and his body came back to life. Because of this, our bodies will die, but they really will come back to life.
Paul tells us that Christ is the firstfruits offering, and just as he rose, we too will rise again (1 Cor. 15:23). Christians throughout history held on to this hope as they faced adversity and death. Athanasius wrote that because of Christ’s resurrection, “death is no longer terrible, but all those who believe in Christ tread it underfoot as nothing” knowing that they won’t perish but will become “incorruptible through the resurrection” (On the Incarnation, 20).
Our future resurrection enables us to believe our current troubles truly are “light and momentary afflictions” because we know something better is coming (2 Cor. 4:17–18).
We know our bodies aren’t right. We feel it with every ache, every strange new symptom, and every chronic pain that plagues our frail frames. Our hope is in the end to come. The suffering will end, and for our restored bodies it will be only a beginning.
Looking to the Redeemer
Of course, the Christian’s greatest hope in the end times is the chance to be with our Redeemer. We hope and wait for the day we will get to be with the God who created us and gathered us to himself. We will get to dwell with him, as he did in the garden with Adam and Eve. We will be his people, pure and unstained, and he will be our God (Rev. 21:3).
Revelation tells us that in his presence we’ll have no need of light, for our God will be our light (Rev. 21:23–24). We will get to see and touch the risen Savior, and he will wipe every last tear from our eyes (Rev. 21:4). Perhaps this is the sweetest hope of the end that should encompass the whole of our eschatology.
Yet even though this is a part of the Christian’s future, incredibly, we don’t have to wait for this reality.
“When we’re united to Christ, he doesn’t give part of himself to us. He gives us all of himself. ”
When we’re united to Christ, he doesn’t give part of himself to us. He gives us all of himself. He doesn’t hold back some of his grace for the end. He doesn’t hold back a bit of comfort. He doesn’t give us a taste and tell us to work hard for the rest.
No, even as we wait for our future, we receive all of Christ now. As Graeme Goldsworthy said, “There is nothing the believer will possess in heaven that he does not now possess in Christ” (Gospel and Kingdom, 119).
Do you hear that?
We wait for many things in the future. We wait for the sin in our hearts to be finally gone. We wait for our achy bodies to be renewed. We wait for relationships to be mended. We wait for justice to reign on the wicked. We look forward to restoration, recreation, and resurrection. But we never have to wait to know our Redeemer. He gives us all of him now.
We’re a people of the future, but even now, we’ve been given our whole Savior to give us grace, hope, comfort, encouragement, and mercy while we wait.
Think about the end times today—not about the politics, timelines, or guesses. Think about the eschatology that has comforted the saints in the church since the day Adam and Eve were promised a Savior. Think about the hope we have. And while you prepare your mind for what’s to come, remember the Savior you have complete access to right now.
Brianna Lambert is a wife and mom to three, making their home in the cornfields of Indiana. She loves using writing to work out the truths God is teaching her each day. She is a staff writer with GCD and has contributed to various online publications, such as Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition. You can find more of her writing paired with her husband’s photography at lookingtotheharvest.com.