Variety is the Spice of Life

A mentor of mine once told me that “variety is the spice of life.” Although it did not originate with him, it was new to me…and boy did I need it. He was using this proverb to help in guiding how I preached. My mentor wanted to see me diversify my sermon presentation in how and what I communicated. At the time I was an arrogant 23-year-old…if you are 23 may God sanctify you. I was sure I knew better.

Now as I look back several years to that conversation, with experience in between, I see that he was absolutely right. That “variety” that spices up life is often seen in transitions of different sorts, some fun and others hard. However, they are constant. In the good, bad, and ugly of transitions we can be thankful for them just the same. Experience, whether it be life in general or food or reading or within a relationship, that does not change is very boring.

So although there is much more I want to discuss with regard to the doctrine of God’s work to save I would like to keep things moving. I am certain I will return to that topic in the future. There is so much more to unpack. But for now we will move on to “The End.”

Beginning to Look at The End

By the “The End” I mean what commonly is called in Christian circles: The End Times. Now as with the doctrines that form our beliefs about salvation this also can be controversial. Yet again I do not dive into in the name of stirring up troublesome discussion (2 Tim. 2:14-19). As I said in my introductory post, the order of topics as laid out over the course of time reflects the theological journey of my 20’s. Now I confess that I have always struggled with needlessly stirring up controversy, so in hindsight I wonder if the controversial nature of the doctrines of salvation and of “end times theology” might have drawn me in. But whatever the motive was “End Times” (eschatology) is our next stop.

As we venture out in another direction I want to voice the questions, confusion, and answers I wrestled with. As regards the “answers” I encountered in my 20’s, they are both the answers given me by others (conversations or books) or answers that I came to own for myself. In that searching I came to see that there are healthy and unhealthy ways to approach eschatology; there are beneficial questions and not so beneficial questions. Also there are questions and doctrines which need to be explored first before moving on to others. Let me break it down like this:

If you have spent any number of years in church you have probably been involved in some discussion on…(drum roll): The Millennial Reign of Christ. Now no matter what you believe that to be (we will discuss later) here is the irony. As groups of christians discussing this we tend to jump over 19 chapters of Revelation so that we can have that discussion on Revelation 20:1-6. I have even heard it said that “Revelation 1-5 isn’t that important, the real stuff starts in chapter 6.” Inside my jaw dropped. I was blown away. Now that is a rarity for sure, but the point remains. Whenever we jump to discuss the Millennium in the book of Revelation we pass over 19 chapters of God-breathed scripture…on a side note…that is a very unhealthy way to read any part of the Bible.

Now all that to show as an example, and there are many other examples, of how we tend to do two things in our study of end times (eschatology):

1. Jump to secondary issues while passing over fundamental passages and doctrines. And connected to that…
2. There is a tendency to abandon the normal ways we read and study other parts of scripture.

With that said I dod not want to be a voice of criticism only. I want to point us in the direction of healthy study of God’s word, much of that will come from other’s who have influenced me. In short I do not want to be the seer simply giving the answers. Along with trying to lead toward conclusions I desire recommend helpful tips for Bible study.

The Design and Desire of the Posts to Come

My design behind the posts as a whole is to begin with scriptures, doctrines, and ideas that need our attention first. Again this is my opinion but I think I will be able to make a plausible argument for where I start and where I end. We will look at things such as:

• How many resurrections and judgement will there be?
• Considering how the New Testament texts guide us in looking at Old Testament prophecy about The End or Last Days.
• How has the church in various cultures and times understood this topic?
• Understanding the Millennium in light of what the Bible teaches about the Kingdom of God.

…and more.

My desire for these posts continues to be the same as it has been: to draw out applications from what we learn. However, hand-in-hand with that on this topic of “The End” is a specific desire to bring you biblical hope. We see in the New Testament that writings about the return of Jesus are 95% of the time given by the apostles to remind the church of their hope in Christ. What we learn from this pattern in the scriptures is that if our outcome in studying eschatology does not lead to hope in Christ and anticipating his return then we have missed something. I want to grow in a more hope centered approach to eschatology. May we grow in confidence in Christ our King as a result of time spent looking to The Text.