Over the past couple of years I have become fascinated with studying the end times. With 150 chapters in the Bible where the end times is the primary theme, I knew I needed to get a better understanding of this epic story line. Jesus actually talked about His second coming more than His first coming. God’s end time plan will include unprecedented glory and revival and the church will get to be a part of it. This is truly remarkable! Still many are filled with fear of the “end.” However, when you begin to see His ultimate plan, you realize that He is not coming to bring an end, but rather a new beginning.
Many are filled with fear when thinking about the end times because they think that Jesus is coming to destroy the world and everything they know. They emphasize the antichrist, the rapture, and Armaggedon, all while missing the glory and beauty of the Man we are actually waiting for. Remember, it is called the “Blessed Hope” after all! When we begin to see the glory within His plan, and the Man behind the plan, we can be filled with hope as we “eagerly wait for His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8).
The truth is that Jesus is not coming to destroy the earth, He is coming to completely renovate it. Most people believe that we will spend eternity in heaven, but we will actually spend eternity here as heaven literally comes to earth. We will be here in a newly created world, as a real Man is sitting on a real throne, in a real city! Amazing!
Let me ask you a question – why would Jesus come to destroy the world that He came to save? John 3:17 says that Jesus did not condemn the world, but to save it. Yet many believers think that the first thing He will do when He returns is condemn the world. Another interesting thought can be found in Romans 8:19. Why would the earth groan for the manifestation of the sons of God if this very manifestation will only bring forth it’s total destruction?
This is why I prefer to think of the “end times” as the “beginning times.” Jesus is not coming to bring an end, but a brand new beginning! We are not looking ahead to the “last days” we are looking to the “first days.” Paul taught us in Ephesians 1:10 that in the fullness of time, Jesus will bring heaven and earth together in Himself. He will bring to completion all things through Himself, and we will all sit under His leadership here on earth forever. And I can’t wait!
One Thing 