When Will the End Times Come?
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14
When will the end come? What will it look like? Is there actually an end, or will things just go on as they always have? Christianity has a viewpoint about history. It believes that it is linear. It moves in a direction. In contrast to some religious systems that view history as cyclical, such as Hinduism, Christianity believes that human history has both a beginning and a final culmination. We get a hint of this in that Jesus himself talked about “the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
If we think about historical and biblical ages, theologians identify a number of them. Adam and Eve’s existence in the Garden was a particular age. Their life was characterized by their innocence, their perfect communion with God, and their idyllic time in Eden. Once they fell, that pristine era was over. Sin entered the world, and no one lived in innocence or the garden anymore. From the Fall until the Flood is considered a separate age by theologians. Civilization was beginning, and people lived to advanced ages. The great flood marked the end of that age.
The time after the flood was a new age and the time of the forming of the nation of Israel. It was preparation for the coming of Christ. It was the time of the law, the prophets, and life in the Promised Land. When Jesus was born, another new age began. His earthly life and ministry marked its own unique time. Jesus could be seen, conversed with, and touched. His life and ministry were a unique time in history. The coming of the next age was marked by the Day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is our current age, the church age, and is marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of God’s people and the spread of the gospel to the world.
What then will the next age be? What is God’s plan for the fullness of time? The answer is that, in the age to come, God plans to unite all things in heaven and earth to himself. What exactly does this mean? We have only hints in the New Testament. One glimpse is found in Revelation, chapter 21, where the new Jerusalem descends out of heaven. The angel proclaims, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:3).
What are we to do until Christ returns? We must preach Christ, calling all persons to repent and believe the gospel. In addition, we must also care for the natural world, claim all areas of culture in the name of Jesus, serve the poor, feed the hungry, visit the prisoner, and defend the helpless. In other words, there is much for us to do. A Christian should never be bored. Until Christ returns or we return to him, we cannot rest from our labors.
Does the responsibility of bringing in God’s kingdom rest upon us? No. We are not able to bring in the kingdom by ourselves. That will ultimately be the work of God and his power. We are confident, however, that God’s kingdom is surely coming, a day when suffering and death will pass away and when God will live among His people. This is our great Christian hope.