Apocalypse; then or now?

APOCALYPSE; then or now?       

 Photos were from advertisements that I received in the mail and are used as effect only.

By Richard Joseph

A future Apocalypse makes a great movie (even though I never saw it) but that might be all it makes. I used to believe in a dooms day that was to come upon us and destroy the world. We would be running frantically trying to survive and trying to avoid the Beast from marking our foreheads and hands. I was waiting for the sun to fail and the moon to turn into blood. I always hoped that I wouldn’t meet the 7 headed monster or be burned at the stake. But I have to admit that when the big Jesus floated across the sky and took revenge on evil then I would be jumping with joy. In fact being the revengeful person that I am, that suited me quite well. The only problem with this scenario is that the bible never talks about a future event like that. It did however talk about one that occurred during the first century. After that we are to live under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Christians should live a victorious life thereafter. So why are we now cowering in the corner and allowing others to take over the rule that God gave us?

I believe it comes down to one question. When were, or are the End Times events?

The common answer is that these events will occur in the future sometime. Sort of like a carrot hanging in front of a horse; the horse keeps going but it never seems to get to the carrot. This is a way for people to make tons of money scaring others into buying their books and movies in hopes of trying to figure out when the end of the world will be. It would be much simpler if they bought a bible and read it. They would quickly find out that there is no such future event predicted in the bible. But what I really want to address is the attitude that this produces. Several authors talked about it and one in particular made a good comparison of a future apocalypse or a biblical apocalypse that occurred in the first century. Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. has addressed this in his book Before Jerusalem Fell on pages 336-337. He makes a great point of the significance of understanding whether the Apocalypse was past or future. He says “Hence, it is of grave ethical and cultural significance in that it impacts on the Christian’s view of history.”

In other words our world view will change diametrically by our view of this matter. If we see it as a future doomsday, we would then take on a defeatist attitude. We would not live in dominant victory like we should but instead be run over rough shod by the world system like what is currently happening. On the other hand, if we understand these events as first century fulfilled then we would work for a better future by the continuing reliance on the gospel. We would not be sitting around waiting for the big Jesus to float across the sky and save us. He already did his work and now it is our turn to appreciate what he did, and will continue to do, through us if we just allow him. Our practical lives would have a more fruitful outlook. We would strive to make a more solid Christian future for our posterity instead of telling them to sit quiet and wait. Christians should be ruling the world but instead we are worried about offending sinners. It is time to let go of the faulty theology and start living the life that Jesus died to give us.