End Time Insights

In his second epistle, Peter addresses the growing weariness of some believers due to the apparent delay in or even the failure of the “ arrival ” of Jesus to materialize, an open door for false teachers and outside critics to exploit. Instead of the predicted terrestrial and cosmic upheaval, daily life was continuing as it always had. The Apostle’s explanation is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago.

Jesus declared, “ The Spirit makes alive. The flesh profits nothing. The words which I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life .” His saying echoes the scriptural principle that life and the “ Spirit of God ” are inextricably linked. His Spirit generates life. The “ flesh ” is not inherently evil, but it has no true or lasting life without the Spirit of God. This principle has been established at least since the creation story was first recorded in the  Book of Genesis .

The gift of the Spirit is part of the New Covenant, the first fruits of the New Creation, and the promised gathering of the nations . The history of Israel includes national sins that caused her expulsion from the land of Canaan. But God foresaw her failures and determined to institute a new covenant, one  ENERGIZED AND CHARACTERIZED BY HIS SPIRIT  and one that would include the nations and culminate in the New Creation. With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the Age of the Spirit commenced.

Central to the doctrine of salvation is the promise of REDEMPTION . God will not abandon what He created. Moreover, both the term and the concept of “Redemption” mean the recovery of that which was lost, in this case, the creation itself that is presently enslaved by sin and condemned to decay and death. In His redemptive plans, the end state of redeemed things and persons will be vastly superior even to their original state when He first created them. This principle is epitomized in the promise of bodily resurrection.

The possession of the land of Canaan by Israel was a preliminary stage in God’s redemptive plan, one that always envisioned something larger than Israel or a relatively small plot of land in the Middle East. With the arrival of the Messiah, the covenant promises find their fulfillment in the “ true seed of Abraham ,” namely, Jesus, and this includes the future bodily resurrection and the new creation.

The church and its “ messenger ” in Laodicea received no words of praise from the Risen “ Son of Man .” Apparently, this congregation was in poor spiritual condition, and the letter indicates apathy had replaced its original zeal for the Lord. The best if not only hope for this church was to become purified like gold is refined in fire, presumably, by undergoing trials, impoverishment, and persecution.

If anyone fails to keep the words of the book, he will be excluded from citizenship in the city of New Jerusalem  – Revelation 22:6-21.  The book of   concludes with an epilogue that recalls the earlier promises to “ overcoming saints ,” reiterates warnings against faithlessness, summons believers to render homage to God alone, and calls for Jesus to “ come quickly .” Testimony from uncontestable sources attests to the trustworthiness of the “ words of the book .”

New Jerusalem is populated fully in fulfillment of the covenant promise to Abraham to bless all the nations  – Revelation 21:24-22:5.  The city of “ New Jerusalem ” with its massive dimensions has been  unveiled, and it will take far more than a tiny remnant of surviving “ saints ” to populate it. John next sees the “ city ” inhabited by the “ innumerable multitude ” of men and women redeemed from every nation -and ethnic group by the “ Lamb ,” including some if not many of the “ kings of the earth .”

Paul declares that there is “ now no condemnation ” for anyone who is “ in Jesus .” This happy condition exists because the “ law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set them free from the law of sin and of death .” And he links the salvation of the believer to the inheritance of Christ and the coming redemption of the creation itself. Adam’s one transgression condemned the entire creation to bondage and death, not just humanity, however, “ much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many .”

In his letter to the “ messenger ” of Laodicea, the Risen “ Son of Man ” is called the “ Beginning of the Creation of God .” In his death and resurrection, he inaugurated the New Creation. In the same sentence, and in the present tense, he also is called the “ Amen, the faithful and true witness ,” appellations applied to him previously in the Book’s prologue.