What about the End Times?

I had a very good question asked of me after our last class this past Thursday where we reviewed what the cosmic storyline is in the bible. The question posed is: What about the end times and what films like Left Behind are emphasizing in terms of the rapture and the final events of human history?

This is an excellent question and has relevance because the Bible speaks of the end times - in the Old Testament the phrase is "The Day of the LORD" and in the New Testament the reference is to the "End of all things" and sometimes it is emphasis on what the future holds in terms of "the coming future!"

Here is my response to the question posed:

You are asking very good questions. There is certainly no intentional reluctance to address the issue of the “end times” but I do so in keeping with the perspective of the course. Now that we have looked at the primary cosmic story in the bible we will be looking a bit deeper in the next few weeks about what the end actually looks like. I think that we can only properly see what is going to happen in the end when we see the entire biblical picture from beginning to end. In other words, there is no point going to the last scene of the Lord of the Rings when Frodo reluctantly offers the ring to the fires of Mordor to understand what happened without knowing the beginning and also understanding what happened in The Hobbit as well with his uncle Bilbo Baggins. The meaning of the end is crucially found in its link to the story from the beginning and all that takes place in the middle as well.


Similarly, I think I have established with you that God’s goal is to purge the world of evil and renew humanity and the creation. Now that this is the big picture goal we have established, we can speak of what the end will look like given what the bible tells us. To tell you the truth, I do not exclude rapture or millennium from this but I do think we cannot truly understand what these two pieces of the story of the end mean without understanding the fuller picture. Left Behind and other narratives like it assume that we will be taken away and this earth destroyed. I argue that this is not the biblical storyline. The biblical storyline is renewal. That means what ever we mean by rapture we need to maintain the reality that we will once again be on the earth – a renewed earth with no evil grant it – otherwise what God did at the creation in Genesis is one big mistake and now he will correct it by destroying it and starting again. I think by now we can realize that having relented for 2000 years in terms of Jesus’ return, God’s plan is to spare the earth and not destroy it. There are definite biblical images that show us this both in the OT and NT as well as the Jews continual view throughout their history of God renewing their land and ridding them of evil oppressors and their view of resurrection – renewal of our bodies and of creation. The Christian story of the end is an expansion of this Jewish view – not a replacement – otherwise we are in danger of not maintaining the unity of our scriptures based in OT and NT.

I hope I’m making some sense. We can definitely talk more about it in class. This is an important question and maybe we need a conversation in class about it before we get into more material. There is no doubt that Christ’s return is imminent. What we do know though is that it is not immediate. The early church has been expecting his soon return and now 2000 years have gone by with that same expectation. The truth is, we do not know when but we do know it is imminent. As to whether we are living in the last days? I think in terms of the storyline I have shared with the class last week, we have been living in the last days for the last 2000 years. I know its not helpful but when you think of a storyline that starts with God living in infinity – then these last 2000 years are certainly the ending which may have 1 – 1000 years more left – we truly do not know – but what we do know is that it will come.

Digging Deeper

Jerry Gillis preaches at an Evangelical Church in Buffalo New York and has four good messages on the End Times. Check them out at his website:

Sign of the End Time

The Timing of the End Time

The Big Picture

Living with the End in Mind

The Nature of Being and Our Identity

Our identity as human beings is to be celebrated! From a biblical point of view being human is an existence that God not only fathered but took great pleasure in creating. To think that God the Father takes pleasure in who we are; that we are his children and that His rescue plan is to recover our humanity and establish a new humanity in Christ is not only overwhelming but so encouraging.

We were challenged this past class to put this biblical value of humanity to the test. Not only was it interesting but so necessary. As a faith community we have for far too long segregated ourselves in our own communities and haven't thought long and hard about what it means to engage others in terms of living out the biblical value that all people matter in God's eyes. One of the big questions in this course is "Do we matter?" The logical subsequent question is "Do others matter?" Focusing on the marginalized in our society and examining our own views and prejudices by using Miroslav Volf's steps to inverting perspectives - to see if we really do understand those on the sidelines of society - reveals whether we just simply give mental assent to the value of humanity or act upon our belief by trusting that this is certainly true.

Do we trust in the power of the character of God's love so that we live it out in our character toward others? This I believe is where the "rubber meets the road" in terms of our faith and belief as individuals and as a faith community. We were reminded that such acceptance and affirmation of others demands a vulnerability that we are not so willing to offer. Maybe our insecurities and fears are preventing us from being vulnerable, but whatever it may be, we need to continue challengng each other concerning what is the true extent of Jesus' love in our community.

A good passage to review along these lines is John chapter 13 where John explains that "Jesus showed the extent of his love" to his disciples by the act of washing their feet - a very vulnerable and humbling action on the part of the Son of God toward those in his life. When we think of the characters present that day we understand that his love goes the distance in conveying acceptance and affirmation - even to one who would betray him several hours later. He goes on and tells his disciples that they will do "greater things" than even he has done because he goes to the Father. The essence of this in application to our lives is that because Christ is "in" us we then have the opportunity to build up the humanity of all we come in contact with on a daily basis. Jesus was not afraid of reaching out to the marginalized of his society and letting them know that there is acceptance and affirmation. What a calling and what a challenge he has passed on to us and what a privilege to be able to be that kind of community for our world today.

I wonder if there is something tangible we can do in the next days and weeks that takes us out of our comfort zone and pushes us towards affirmation and acceptance of others? I challenge us to push ourselves to more vulnerability in this sense knowing that Christ is with us and His Spirit will help us and that he has given us the opportunity to bring value to others by loving them.

Resources:

I have attached the powerpoint from last class On the Nature and Relation of Being

Making the Most of the Time We are in

Wrap Up to week 2 ...

Coming off the heels of our 2nd class, we have established the profound significance of the time we are living in. Given the post-modern culture that we live in, there has never been as great an openness as there is right now to spirituality.  Knowing how to communicate Jesus in such a spiritually charged environment is the challenge and privilege that we face in our day and age.

One of the points we ended with in terms of what such a post-modern culture is looking for is a new defining story. The story told by the modern world that our technologies and increase in knowledge can change our lives and bring the kind of world we've always dreamed of has not come true. In fact, in many ways the opposite has happened. We've seen other problems arise. The story promised is not the story our culture has experienced.

I want you to think about how we as a Christian culture of people who aim to live through a biblical focus can offer a defining story to the present post-modern culture that communicates a sense of  hope and security for the future. How can we communicate the biblical story so that it not only competes with other stories that are out there but actually is a viable option to people seeking a new defining story.

More ....

If you want to delve a bit deeper into this subject you can check out the web documentary series called "The Century of the Self" to see how the modern obession of the needs of human beings was manipulated and exploited through Freud's theories of the human psyche.



We talked about the "Elegant Universe" documentary from the PBS Nova special on what astrophysicists are projecting in terms of a theory that explains everything else in the universe. The search for that one equation that makes sense of everything is what is preoccupying these scientists. To view these episodes, you can access them at the following link: PBS Special - The Elegant Universe


Contribute....

If you know of any other material that would be of benefit to contribute to this then please add the information to this blog through the comment feature.

Powerpoint ...

For the powerpoint from last class click on: The Word Become Flesh and Why the Time is Ripe to Share Jesus

Welcome

Welcome to God, Humans and the Bible offered at Portico Community Church in co-operation with Master's College and Seminary.

This is a course that deals with the relationship between God, Humanity and Creation. We are going to delve into the biblical story to glean insight into God's plan for the world along with themes that describe the nature of our relationship with Him. It is a "big picture" course that attempts to show how the Bible [from cover to cover] communicates to us what our place in life is and why we are here on this earth.

In light of this, we will be dealing with the large questions of life:

• Why are we here?
• Do we really matter?
• Does the world matter?
• Does God really exist? ...and if He does, does He truly care about us and our world?

These are questions that burn in the heart of every human being. We will see how the Bible addresses these questions through its story line offering us rich imageries that help us to understand our place in the universe and God's plan for humanity and the world.

Participation in Classes

People are welcome to join us in the classes being held Thursday nights from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm starting January 21, 2010 and running through to April 8, 2010. The fee for sitting in the classes is $50. You can register with Angie Jansen at the Portico Community Church office.

Taking the Course for Credit

Those taking the course for credit should register with Master's College and Seminary. The course fee for credit is $579.00. You can contact Donna Haug at donna.haug@mcs.edu or 416 482 2224 extension 241 for more information including how to register and pay for the course.

Course Syllabus

Those taking the course for credit can access the course syllabus at the following link: BT2300 God, Humans and the Bible Syllabus. Please read through the syllabus carefully noting the textbooks, readings and assignments that you will be responsible for as well as the due dates for each assignment.

Course Textbooks

Class Participants:

For those of you participating in the class at the $50 fee, I recommend that you purchase the following books from Books for Christ as companions to the course lectures:

1. Baxter Kruger's The Great Dance *

2. C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity *

Taking the course for Credit:

Along with the two textbooks above, students taking the course for credit will also need the following book:

3. Colin Gunton The Christian Faith *

 *reminder that Books for Christ offers free shipping with orders over $50.

At the end of each class, I'll be posting a wrap up note on this blog as a way of continuing the conversation outside of class and also as an opportunity to share with you more information that you can access in relationship to what we are discussing and reviewing.

I look forward to meeting you and taking this very important journey through the Bible.