The End of All Things, Part 2

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Written by David Lawrence

Monday, August 30 2010 00:00

In last week’s devotional we looked at the matter of the end of the world. In dealing with the often confusing and controversial positions taken by people, there are some relevant passages outside of Revelation which need to be examined. Let’s notice a few:

Jesus said that all the matters he was currently discussing with his disciples in answer to their questions about “the end” would be fulfilled in that generation (Matt. 24:34). We need to be very cautious about applying the specifics of Matt. 24 to the final end, when Jesus may have been talking about the end of the Jewish world as they knew it that occurred when Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70.
Paul affirms in 1 Cor. 15:24-28 that Christ is reigning in His kingdom now and shall continue to reign until He has put all enemies under His feet, the last of which is death. He will then subject Himself to the Father so that God may be all in all. Therefore, the kingdom is, to a very real degree, with us now, and shall grow and prosper under the reign of the King until the final end. Isaiah affirms the same of the Messiah in Isa. 9:7 when he writes, “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”
All the parables of the kingdom which Jesus told speak of the kingdom as a present reality. Understanding of the secrets of the kingdom has been given to His disciples, but not to those outside (Matt. 13:11).
At the end the angels sent by Christ “will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil” (Matt. 13:41). Thus the kingdom will exist on earth as mixed with good and evil, and all will be made right at the judgment.

Then there are certainly aspects of the kingdom which are now, and there are aspects of the kingdom which shall be then, at the judgment. It is my view that denying all current aspects of the kingdom is clearly unbiblical, and denying that there is anything at all to come in the future at the end of the world is also an extreme and unwarranted position. We are yet to be raised, the resurrection is not past (2 Tim. 2:18), and we have yet to receive our glorified body. The kingdom aspect of glorification, though seen as an accomplished reality by God (Rom. 8:30) is yet to happen to us while we exist in time on the earth (1 Cor. 15:35-55).

Our responsibility is to glorify God and to enjoy Him, to live lives of obedience and holiness, to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our sanctification, to preach the word, to pursue the course God has ordained for our lives, being thankful for every minute He gives us. He will take care of the end, and it will be glorious! Christ shall not fail. His kingdom will have no end. We have received an eternal, unshakable kingdom! That is cause for

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