Malachi 4:1-6/St Luke 21:25-36
“What the Bible Says About the Future”
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
In the fullness of time Christ came into our world; born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (Gal 4:4-5).
What had taken place beforehand pointed forward to this event. And all that has happened since finds significance and meaning in and through Christ. Even this moment in time has its goal, its telos, in Christ. All of history - past, present, and future - hinges upon the Man on whom all the Law and the Prophets hang.
Each Advent is pregnant with the anticipation of His coming. And every celebration of Christmas is also a bittersweet disappointment that the Day is not yet. And so you are given to remain, to wait a little longer, to stay awake, to keep your lamps burning, to watch and pray, all the while longing for and confessing, “He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead.” As it is written, Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen (Rv 1:7).
Therefore there is a definite meaning in all of world history and in your own story; a reason for the currents of time to ebb and flow as they do. Christ has declared, The Gospel must be preached to all people (Mt 24:14). The great net of the kingdom must be drawn through the sea of time, and at last the great catch of fish will be hauled up on the shore. And the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous (Mt 13:49).
But to say that the movement of history has meaning and purpose is not the same as to say that we can understand or discern that meaning. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord (Is 55:8). We are accustomed to believe that the world is moving forward and upward; that the great march of progress trudges forward. That little by little things are getting better and that it will become increasingly easier to live. We are guilty of applying this naive idealism to our own lives. “I can be a better person, a more fulfilled person tomorrow than I am today.”
The Word of Christ gives us a more realistic view. There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and foreboding. Man has been given dominion over nature, and with each passing generation gains greater mastery over the universe, yet fails to bridle his own tongue. The technology that propels us forward also catapults evil and wickedness to ever greater heights.
As time moves on, the battle of evil becomes more bitter against Christ and His kingdom, that is, against His Church, His Christians. Wars become more brutal; catastrophe’s of world history more destructive. The observations of our own generation teach us the truth of Scripture’s realistic view.
The Book of Revelation paints this kind of picture very vividly and also makes it very clear why things do not get better in spite of all warnings: men do not wish to repent! They continue in their former foolishness and sin. Because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold (Mt 24:12).
As the end draws near things will get worse, says Jesus, not only in the world, but in ourselves. Hence His admonition, Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this world, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. The only to way to watch oneself is by looking into a mirror. Remember the Law of My servant Moses. Gaze into the mirror of the Law, tilt is askance and see the mess around you; face it directly forward and behold the mess within your own life! Head the preaching of Elijah who is to come, that is St John the Baptizer, saying, Repent. Cry out with St Paul, Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rm 7:24).
Thanks be to God through our Jesus Christ our Lord! Indeed this future would look pretty hopeless if not for Christ. But even now this is woven into God’s good plans. For the wrath to be revealed has been visited upon Him on whom the end of all things has come.
Christ was swallowed up in the sea of the Father’s wrath, as He who is the power of the heavens was given up to death in the weakness of the Cross. By His death He has sprung the trap of death. He has given you the strength of His might, His power made perfect in weakness. For He has turned the Father’s heart to you, His children. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose (Rm 8:28).
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time [and those that await in the future] are not worthy comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Rm 8:18). They culminate in the victory of Christ and a new world where no sorrow or crying or tears shall be.
Therefore we need no sink in despair or resignation when these begin to come to pass. Instead, lift up your heads, your redemption draws nigh. Now the summer is approaching. Do not panic when things seem to be moving toward catastrophe. This alone does not mean that the end it at hand. But if it does, nothing more is occurring that you have already known would pass.
For heaven and earth may pass away, but never God’s Word, nor he who believes it and holds it fast. This is your future, dear ones: Christ. You have a future, an eternal future, in Him who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the telos of all things. You will go out leaping like calves from the stall. And your shall tread down the wicked, even as He has already crushed the Wicked One’s head for you, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the Day when He acts.
Even so. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“What the Bible Says About the Future”
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
In the fullness of time Christ came into our world; born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (Gal 4:4-5).
What had taken place beforehand pointed forward to this event. And all that has happened since finds significance and meaning in and through Christ. Even this moment in time has its goal, its telos, in Christ. All of history - past, present, and future - hinges upon the Man on whom all the Law and the Prophets hang.
Each Advent is pregnant with the anticipation of His coming. And every celebration of Christmas is also a bittersweet disappointment that the Day is not yet. And so you are given to remain, to wait a little longer, to stay awake, to keep your lamps burning, to watch and pray, all the while longing for and confessing, “He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead.” As it is written, Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen (Rv 1:7).
Therefore there is a definite meaning in all of world history and in your own story; a reason for the currents of time to ebb and flow as they do. Christ has declared, The Gospel must be preached to all people (Mt 24:14). The great net of the kingdom must be drawn through the sea of time, and at last the great catch of fish will be hauled up on the shore. And the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous (Mt 13:49).
But to say that the movement of history has meaning and purpose is not the same as to say that we can understand or discern that meaning. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord (Is 55:8). We are accustomed to believe that the world is moving forward and upward; that the great march of progress trudges forward. That little by little things are getting better and that it will become increasingly easier to live. We are guilty of applying this naive idealism to our own lives. “I can be a better person, a more fulfilled person tomorrow than I am today.”
The Word of Christ gives us a more realistic view. There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and foreboding. Man has been given dominion over nature, and with each passing generation gains greater mastery over the universe, yet fails to bridle his own tongue. The technology that propels us forward also catapults evil and wickedness to ever greater heights.
As time moves on, the battle of evil becomes more bitter against Christ and His kingdom, that is, against His Church, His Christians. Wars become more brutal; catastrophe’s of world history more destructive. The observations of our own generation teach us the truth of Scripture’s realistic view.
The Book of Revelation paints this kind of picture very vividly and also makes it very clear why things do not get better in spite of all warnings: men do not wish to repent! They continue in their former foolishness and sin. Because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold (Mt 24:12).
As the end draws near things will get worse, says Jesus, not only in the world, but in ourselves. Hence His admonition, Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this world, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. The only to way to watch oneself is by looking into a mirror. Remember the Law of My servant Moses. Gaze into the mirror of the Law, tilt is askance and see the mess around you; face it directly forward and behold the mess within your own life! Head the preaching of Elijah who is to come, that is St John the Baptizer, saying, Repent. Cry out with St Paul, Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rm 7:24).
Thanks be to God through our Jesus Christ our Lord! Indeed this future would look pretty hopeless if not for Christ. But even now this is woven into God’s good plans. For the wrath to be revealed has been visited upon Him on whom the end of all things has come.
Christ was swallowed up in the sea of the Father’s wrath, as He who is the power of the heavens was given up to death in the weakness of the Cross. By His death He has sprung the trap of death. He has given you the strength of His might, His power made perfect in weakness. For He has turned the Father’s heart to you, His children. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose (Rm 8:28).
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time [and those that await in the future] are not worthy comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Rm 8:18). They culminate in the victory of Christ and a new world where no sorrow or crying or tears shall be.
Therefore we need no sink in despair or resignation when these begin to come to pass. Instead, lift up your heads, your redemption draws nigh. Now the summer is approaching. Do not panic when things seem to be moving toward catastrophe. This alone does not mean that the end it at hand. But if it does, nothing more is occurring that you have already known would pass.
For heaven and earth may pass away, but never God’s Word, nor he who believes it and holds it fast. This is your future, dear ones: Christ. You have a future, an eternal future, in Him who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the telos of all things. You will go out leaping like calves from the stall. And your shall tread down the wicked, even as He has already crushed the Wicked One’s head for you, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the Day when He acts.
Even so. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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