Last week we concluded our Message Series on the Word of God! Prior to that, we discussed, in general, the “Ages or Dispensations”. We noted that we are presently living in the “Church Age or Grace Age”. This present age, the Church Age, started when Jesus ascended back to heaven and the Holy Spirit indwelt Believers of Jesus Christ.
During this present Church Age, Believers of Christ (Christians) are filled with God the Holy Spirit and are being sanctified (changed more and more to be like Christ) and every person in the world is invited by God to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved from their sins; but as we noted in the past this Church Age will soon end!
We are living in the Church Age; is it really ending soon! Are we really living in the end times and what should it mean for living a life?
First of all, let us note that there are 2 types of endings of life: there is the end of life for an individual person and there is the end of this world as we know it for all life.
Click, click, click…. 6 people somewhere in the world just died in 3 seconds. Statistically, every second, 1.8 people die in the world! A person can physically die at any moment for various reasons; what happens when a person physically dies?
Let us note that when God created human beings, they came from physical ground then God breathed life into them! Human beings are both physical and spiritual and because of sin, disobeying God, humans die. And so, what happens when a person dies? Open your Bibles to Hebrews 9…. Read along with me Hebrews 9:27-28…..
There are actually many truths in this passage:
1. A person dies on earth (a physical death) only once!
2. There is something else beyond the physical death on earth.
3. God is waiting to judge every person who dies on earth!
4. Since every person has sinned against God, only those who believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can be saved from God’s judgment!
And so, what happens at that judgment time for those who die? Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5:1-10….
We can note that human bodies are just earthly tents (earthly vessels) holding the inner self of a person. And according v7-8: When the body of a Believer of Jesus Christ dies, their inner self, their soul, goes directly to God! What happens to the body? We can note from v2: A Christian will be “clothed” again with a heavenly dwelling! We will talk more about this next week.
Now, what about those who do not believe in Jesus Christ when they die? We can learn from Luke 16:19-31….
We can note that the rich man did not end up in hell because he was rich or did not care for the sick and poor but because he did not truly believe in God; he knew Father Abraham in his head but never believed in God with his heart and life.
And so, when a person dies who does not believe in God, especially today not believing in Jesus Christ, their souls are held in a place called hell for future eternal judgment.
And so, we noted that an individual’s life can end at any moment. What about life in general as we know it; what does God say about the current world we live in? We noted that in God’s schedule, we are living in the Church Age and it will end soon. When God speaks about the End Times, they are about the end of the Church Age, and the end of Ages to follow till the Final Eternal Age! In the next few weeks, we will look into more detail the end times after the Church Age leading to that Eternal Age set by Jesus Christ!
For today, we already know that we as individuals can die at anytime; how soon is the end of this Church Age and what does it mean to us Christians? What signs does God tell us about how the end will be? Jesus was asked this question in the Gospel of Matthew 24; open your Bibles there… read along with me from v3-16…
I stopped at v16 because it tells us that Jesus is talking about many things which will happen after the church is established; but as we will see in the next few weeks, there will be many events after this Church Age we are living in.
In v15, we hear Jesus talking about an abomination in the Holy Place close to the end. Jesus cited the Prophet Daniel who spoke about the antichrist declaring himself God in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.
Now, there is no Temple rebuilt yet, but how close is the rebuilding? If we look into this subject, we can find out that Israel right now has all the resources to rebuild the Temple and restart the rituals; all is needed is the exact location! Once that location is set and cleared, the Temple rebuilding will start! And so, God gives us an idea of timing when the end of the world will happen; the end of the world will not happen till after the Temple in Jerusalem is built!
But let us note the things Jesus mentioned which brings us closer to the end; there will be:
- many deceivers (either claiming to be the savior of the world or giving lies about the future)
- wars and rumors of wars; nations and kingdoms against each other
- famines and earthquakes in various places
- Christians will be hated and persecuted
- Many will turn away from the faith
- An increase in wickedness
- Love of most will grow cold
Now, all of these things Jesus mentioned are already happening today! And so, even though the rebuilding of the Temple has not started, Jesus is telling us right now that the end is near; Jesus said the end is “at the door”!
What else does Jesus say about the end times?
Let us read Matthew 24:30-36….
We need to note many important truths from this passage about the end:
- Jesus, the Son of Man, will appear in the sky
- All the nations will mourn as they witness the power and glory of Christ
- Christians will be gathered together to be with Christ
- Heaven and earth will pass away
- Only God the Father, not Jesus nor angels, know when Christ will come to end the world
And so, when will the end of the world (as we know it today) end? Only God the Father knows the actual schedule of the end times BUT Jesus tells us that it will be very very soon and it will likely happen during our lifetime today! Now some will say that the early Christians thought Jesus was coming back during their lifetime. They may have thought that way but many of them didn’t have the Bible yet; 2000 years ago, there were no cars or airplanes or computers for people to go back and forth in the world and for knowledge to exponentially increase, as Daniel prophesied about the end of the world.
When will the end of the world happen? – Only God the Father knows when the end of the world will happen! But here’s a point we need to think about today: Jesus told all of these things over 2000 years ago; if the Christians back then were anticipating the return of Jesus Christ, shouldn’t we today? Are we excited about Jesus Christ coming for us as excited as those early Christians?
Let me close with that question for our application to our lives today: Are we truly anticipating the appearance of the Lord and Savior in our lifetime? – We should!
What should it mean to our lives that the return of Jesus Christ to earth is imminent?
Take a quiet moment right now and ponder about these things. You and I can die at any moment; how are we living?
2 Corinthians 5:9 tells us, “So we make it our goal to please Jesus Christ, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”
The return of Jesus Christ can also happen at any time; how are we preparing ourselves to meet Him?
Take a moment to quietly pray right where you are….
