The Focus of the End Times

I mentioned eschatology in my previous post. Eschatology is the branch of theology which deals with the latter days of the history of mankind, or "the end times". What sort of things can we expect to happen? The disciples asked that sort of question of Jesus in Matthew ch. 24. In His response, Jesus told us of the signs of the end times and what the condition of the world would be as they approach. Many folks have a tendency to believe that only New Testament prophecies speak about the end times, but there are Old Testament prophecies that do so as well.

A common misconception about the End Times is that the world will be blown out of existence. What is true is that the world will change drastically from the way it exists today. The Bible tells us that Jesus will be coming back to earth and that He will establish a New Kingdom, but before He does so the world will be plunged into a state of chaos unlike any previous time in history. Because of the unrepentant, sinful nature of mankind there will be devastation on many levels. 2008 saw over 220,000 people lose their lives in natural disasters. Those kinds of things will only increase the Bible tells us, until Jesus returns. He will return for a final battle against those who reject Him as Lord, and He will utterly win that battle.

It's important to remember that the Bible tells us that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, and that each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. I say that because I have a dear friend who regards my eschatology as close to heresy, saying that what I believe makes God sound "so mean!" Everyone has opportunities to repent of their sins or not. We will see the promises regarding those who do as well as those who don't, fulfilled.

The truth is that we don't want to focus on what will happen to the unbelieving who reject Jesus and call God mean for the consequences which they bring upon themselves. To do so might be a distraction from God's glory, and the fact that we should be grateful that God will bestow unfathomable blessings upon the faithful as He has promised to do. We do however want to remember to share at every opportunity in the diverse and wise ways available to us through His empowerment, the goodness and grace of God in Jesus Christ, His Son.