New Age has Dawned
The commencement of the “last days,” the time of fulfillment, began following the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus.
When
we hear the term “last days,” quite naturally, we assume it refers
to the final short period of history just prior to the return of Jesus in
glory. This is a logical assumption. Yet, the New Testament presents this
period as the era of fulfillment that began with the death, resurrection, and exaltation
of Jesus. In him, the “ends of the ages” have come upon the people of
God.
For
example, the book of Hebrews begins by declaring that God, “in these
last days”, has spoken definitively in His Son. Elsewhere, the
letter describes how Jesus “appeared once for all at the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” - (Hebrews
1:1-4, 9:26).
While
Hebrews provides only minimal information about the future return of Jesus, it
lets the reader know just how fundamentally this change in eras is. Jesus is the high
priest greater than all his predecessors; he is the “priest forever”
after the rank of Melchizedek who holds this position unchangeable and unalterable.
Unlike
the Levitical system of the old order, his “once for all” sacrifice did “achieve
the purification of sins.” And his inauguration of the “new covenant” has
rendered the old one obsolete – it is “nigh unto fading away.”
THE OLD IS PASSING AWAY
Similarly,
Paul writes that “the appointed time has been shortened…For the
forms of this world are passing away.” The last verb is in the
Greek present tense (i.e., “passing away”), and it signifies
continuous action.
Thus, according to the Apostle, the forms and institutions of this present age have been in the process of passing away since the victory of Jesus over sin and death - (1 Corinthians 7:29).
Paul
describes how the Hebrew scriptures were written for the instruction of
Christians, the ones “upon whom the ends of the ages have
come.” He made a similar point to the Galatians by declaring,
“When the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son”
to redeem His people - (1 Corinthians 10:11, Galatians 4:4).
Peter,
in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, changed the opening clause from the
passage he cites from the book of Joel from “afterward”
to “in the last days,” and in this way, he links the
outpouring of the Spirit to the “last days.” The bestowal of the gift of
the Spirit to the church demonstrates that the era predicted by Joel has begun.
MESSIANIC AGE
Likewise,
Peter wrote many years later that Jesus was destined “before the foundation
of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for
your sake” - (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17, 1 Peter 1:20).
John,
in his first epistle, warns that “it is the last hour,
and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have
come; therefore, we know that it is the last hour,” and he
points to the false teachers who are active already in the church as evidence
that the “spirit of Antichrist” is active even now in the world - (1
John 2:18).
The
Hebrew Bible presents history as divided into two ages - the present evil age
and the “age to come.” The coming age, the messianic era, will be ushered
in when the Messiah arrives, and two scriptural promises will come to pass when
the final age begins - the expected outpouring of God’s Spirit and the
resurrection of the dead - (Joel 2:28, Ezekiel 37:26-27).
And
those messianic promises have come to fruition in the life, death, and resurrection
of Jesus. However, not necessarily in the way many expected. In his
ministry, Christ inaugurated the “kingdom of God”; no term was heard
more often on his lips. And in his healing miracles, exorcisms, and teachings, he
began to reclaim lost “territory” from the Devil. His acts demonstrate that the
“kingdom of God” has commenced.
And
he has tasked his disciples with proclaiming the “good news of the kingdom
of God” to all nations, to herald the arrival and present reality
of the kingdom, and in this way, to summon all men who will heed the
announcement to respond accordingly.
His
resurrection marked the commencement of the general resurrection of the dead,
which is why his resurrection is called the “first fruit” of our own
resurrection.
GIFT OF THE SPIRIT
Likewise,
the gift of the Spirit is called the “first fruits” of the future
redemption of our bodies. The Spirit is linked with resurrection because the
raising of the dead is an act of new creation. From the beginning,
God’s Spirit has been the agent of creation and the source of all life, and so it
is now - (Genesis 1:1-2, Romans 8:23, 1 Corinthians 15:20).
Moreover, the Spirit is our “earnest” (arrabōn) or “down payment” on the future resurrection and New Creation, the rock-solid “guarantee” that God will complete what He began in the resurrection of His Son.
The
“last days” have been underway since his resurrection and the outpouring
of the Spirit on Pentecost. The Cross was far more than just the execution of
Jesus or a model for selfless martyrdom. On it, God defeated all the
“powers and principalities” opposed to Him that have enslaved
humanity. The final victory was won in the sacrificial death of His
son, and it was and is cosmic in scope and effect.
With
Calvary, history has entered its final phase, and ever since, the existing world
order has been undergoing its death throes. The term “last days”
is NOT a chronological marker but a theological
concept. It refers to the era that began with the death and resurrection of the
Son of God.
In
Jesus Christ, the “age to come” has irrupted into the old fallen age, one
that will continue to “pass away” until the consummation of all things
at the return of Jesus, and that day will include the resurrection of the righteous
dead, the judgment of the wicked, and the New Creation.
