Knock, knock

 

Hey, Cobblestone,

     I’ve made this confession before: I am by no means an end-times expert. If you want to be convinced one way or the other about how, exactly, the prophecies of the Revelation and Daniel will work out, I’m not your guy. But I should probably make it clear: I’m not without an end-times theory. Indeed, I have two, and I hold both to be viable – even likely. And now you know for sure why nobody’s blowing up my phone asking questions about the end of days!

     Some eschatologists say the condition of creation and mankind will continue to decline, most rapidly in the very last days, and bottom out at an all-time low, setting up the huge-est of all contrasts when the rightful King returns to make all things right. Other eschatologists, equally sincere, say the condition of creation and mankind will improve, most rapidly in the very last days, simply through the ongoing sanctification of individual Christians, and the rightful King will be pleased to return and receive his spotless bride, the church. Though the argument of the first bunch seems more plausible (based on sheer observation), I believe both bunches are right. And wrong.

     Are you trackin’ with me yet?

     Of course not. So let’s back up to the origin of my theories and see what they’re made of. No end-times theory is worth a dime if it’s not rooted in Scripture – a lot of Scripture. You’ll probably think my eschatology is kind of quirky, but I can assure you it’s not without scriptural grounding. Here are both theories, along with the Bible evidence and the pet names I’ve given them.

     Say hello to my little friend, the “Bad2Worse End-Times Theory.” It states that the earth’s axis is something more like a greased pole to a very hot place, and the planet is quickly attaining terminal velocity. Terminal. As recently as one generation ago, if what’s going on now would have been going on then, most people would be asking, “What the heck are you even talking about?!” The Bible evidence comes, for instance, from 2Timothy 4:3-4…

    For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

    Was the Information Age born for this, or what?

     And then there’s the “On-Ramp End-Times Theory.” Can you imagine backing out of a driveway directly onto Interstate 75? If you can, then you can also imagine the impact and trauma that are bound to be the result. That’s why we have on-ramps: to come up to speed, to merge with what’s happening on the super-slab. The On-Ramp Theory has biblical basis in Ephesians 5, which describes Jesus sanctifying his bride…

…so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (verse 27).

    That’s happening right now, at Jesus’s pace. And unless I’ve missed my guess, he plans to have the greater part of the work done before the wedding day.

     But how can these seemingly disparate endings both happen? Key word: seemingly. Being a Christian in this last age is like attending the greatest of all dramas – and we get to be the audience, the stage hands, and the players… all at the same time. Without this three-dimensional view, both endings surely would seem impossible.  

     Before I lose you (again), here’s what I mean. The pet name “Bad2Worse” comes straight outta 2Timothy 3:12-13…

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  

    For doubly-doggone-sure, humanity at large will sink to an all-time low. But only Christians will know how dire the situation has become. Conversely, non-Christians will think humanity has finally found a way to boot-strap itself out of the quicksand, and Christians are the ones who’ve not gotten the memo on how to do that. The only fix for the deception/deceiving is the rightful King coming to separate “the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32).

     Likewise, the On-Ramp Theory gets worked out in Scripture. In Matthew 25 again, Jesus describes all the counter-cultural, amazingly helpful, and delightfully godly deeds of “the sheep” – feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned – and they respond with…

“did we…?” (verse 37).

    “Those on his right” are propelled by Christ-likeness to the point of merging seamlessly with what the Lord is preparing in heaven and bringing to earth. Those on his left will be backing blindly onto I-75.

     None of this would be worth my writing, or your time reading, if it didn’t have an application for right-the-heck now; it could be filed away in one of the lonelier places along the broad spectrum of end-time –ism’s. So latch onto this if you will: It’s OK for Christians to be shocked by what’s happening in this young century, but there’s no reason to be surprised. Granted, the rate of acceleration can be disorienting, but this has been a long time coming. Hold fast. From our three-dimensional perspective, we have a unique opportunity in this age to cooperate with the Lord in bringing his kingdom. Just because evil people and impostors… go on from bad to worse doesn’t mean they are excluded from eventually coming to the knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 2:4). And just because unbelievers missed an on-ramp a while back doesn’t mean we can’t wave them onto the next one. The benefit: we who have loved the Lord’s first appearing will have more family to rejoice with at his second.

     There’s plenty of then-and-there prophecy to be had in Scripture, and it all matters. The end will play out a certain way, and God will be glorified. Jesus wins; the devil loses, forever. But in the here-and-now, perhaps our greatest hope could be in the astounding statement Jesus makes in the letter he commissioned to the lukewarm church in Laodicea:   

    “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:19-22).  

 

Knock, knock.

  

Grace and Peace (through opening the door),

 

John