JD Walt in a seedbed.com daily text this week wrote:
“Rather than interpreting the Word of God in light of the times, we must learn to interpret the times in light of the Word of God.”
I remember the time, long before I went to seminary, over 25 years ago, when God began to speak about hope into my heart…. and it had absolutely nothing to do with being raptured …. It first moved me into the post- tribulation ranks. If God would carry his people through exiles, fiery furnaces, earthquakes, stormy seas, impossible obstacles, betrayal by others, long odds in battle, heartbreaks, even death….. and He did…. then He can handle wars, rumors of wars even in a nuclear age, Cat 5 hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, wildfires, devastating diagnoses, climate panic, immoral or incompetent leaders, pandemics, or anything else humankind can face. Through the generations His promises have remained trustworthy for children of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, through the line of David and for those of us today who are in Christ. I came to believe that faithfulness and obedience to God would bring one freedom from apocalyptic anxiety, which is really just another way of saying fear of suffering and death. I began to see pre-trib rapture as “wishful thinking” and some denominations’ and evangelists’ doctrinal tool to capitalize on people’s fear of suffering and death (and desire to avoid it) to manipulate behavior, if fear of eternal hell after death didn’t bring them in, by offering them a sure escape with Jesus’ return. Thus had begun Christianity’s preoccupation, it seemed to me, with God’s people watching for signs of the end in every generation for several centuries and yearning for Christ’s return in one’s own time.
If one thinks that by believing in a “magical solution” one can gather among others who believe the same and they’ll all go as a cohort into Paradise, it seems to me that they are at risk of being caught in religious dogma and easily led by false teachers.
I personally surrendered to the authority of Christ and the Word of God, trusting in His Holy Spirit to guide me into understanding His Word according to His timing and purpose for my life…. trusting in His promises and leaning into full obedience, to the extent of my understanding of His conviction and instruction in His Word and by His Spirit.
It has changed a lot of things about the way I view life, faith, the future, and even death.
I can the see evil in the world and not despair because I know God is still sovereign. I can suffer and not blame God or lose hope that goodness will prevail, whether I get to see it in this life or not.
Eschatology and ecclesiology are important theological concepts… what we believe about God is very much influenced by both and determines our faith formation and our response to the vicissitudes of life….
A.W.Tozer said,”“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” So…. what DO we believe about end times? I have generally been as little concerned with the timing and means of Jesus Christ’s return as I have with the timing and means of creation. The details of either one, however each is eventually illuminated by God to mankind to have occurred, don’t change the fact that they are in God’s plan and in His hand….. God created, God directs and judges, God redeems….. I have asked God to simply show me what He needs me to know according to His purpose and timing for my life. I don’t require the details of everything, past and future, to trust Him for today.
“Whereas patience is the mother of expectation, it is expectation itself that brings new joy to our lives. Jesus not only made us look at our pains, but also beyond them. “You are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy.” A man or woman without hope in the future cannot live creatively in the present. The paradox of expectation indeed is that those who expect joy to come out of sadness can discover the beginnings of a new life in the center of the old, that those who look forward to the returning Lord can discover him already in their midst.” Henry Nouwen