One of the more frustrating questions I get asked by friends who are alarmed by seemingly cataclysmic events in the news is, “are we in the end times?” I’m sympathetic to their concerns, but my answer is always, “I don’t know, and neither does anyone else!”. It’s my version of “remain calm and carry on”. History, as we experience it, can often seem like little more than a succession of crises. Nations contend with nations. Political leaders come and go. Technology races ahead, but human nature appears stubbornly unchanged. It is easy to look at the news and wonder whether anyone is really in control.
However, the Christian answer is not that history is moving toward some vague ideal of human progress. Nor is it that the world will eventually solve its own deepest problems. The Bible presents a far more certain reality: history has a Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord of history.
This does not mean that every event is good, or that evil is somehow an illusion. It means that evil has limits. God has not surrendered His creation to the forces of darkness, human pride, or random circumstance. Jesus reigns now, even when His reign is not acknowledged by the world around us. He holds the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story in His hands.
Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13, NLT). That is not merely a beautiful phrase. It is a declaration of authority. Jesus was present at creation, and He will bring creation to its appointed fulfillment. Man is not the creator. We are created beings, accountable to the One who made us and who sustains us.
The great hope of the Christian faith is the return of Jesus Christ. Paul describes it as “the wonderful event when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed” (Titus 2:13, NLT). Christ will return visibly and triumphantly. The One who was despised and rejected will be seen for who He truly is: the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords.
When will this happen? We do not know. Jesus was perfectly clear: “Only the Father knows” (Matthew 24:36, NLT). That should settle the endless attempts to predict dates and read every headline as a final timetable. We are not called to calculate the day of His return. We are called to live faithfully in the light of it.
What, then, should we be doing until He comes? He told us: “The Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14, NLT). We should be proclaiming that there is good news which is not intended for a favored people or a privileged nation. Christ gave His life so that people from every part of the earth might hear, believe, and be saved. That’s the gospel truth!
This is also why we should not lose heart. We have a message for a hurting world. We are not proclaiming a religious self-improvement program. We are informing others about Jesus Christ, who died for sinners, rose from the dead, and offers forgiveness to all who come to Him in faith.
We must not forget, though, that there is another aspect to the return of Christ. He will come as Judge. God’s righteousness demands that evil be dealt with. The wrongs done in secret will not remain hidden forever. The proud will not escape merely because they are powerful. “Each of us will give a personal account to God” (Romans 14:12, NLT).
As forgiven believers this should not make us smug. We have not been saved because we have earned a better standing than someone else. We stand only by the grace of God. Every believer knows that, apart from Christ, he or she is as needy as anyone else. Judgment is real, but so is mercy. The cross tells us that God takes sin seriously; it also tells us that He has made a way for sinners to be forgiven.
The final chapter of history will not be darkness. Revelation gives us a glorious picture of the redeemed gathered around the throne of God. They sing to Christ, “You were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9, NLT). Heaven will be filled with people who are there because Jesus purchased them by His precious blood.
What will that future be like? John writes, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4, NLT). That is the answer to the brokenness we see now. God will not simply patch up a damaged world. He will make everything new under the reign of His Son.
One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11, NLT). History will end where it has always been heading: at the feet of Jesus.
Personally, I am on the winning side, not because I have done anything worthy of that place, but because I belong to the Lamb who was slain. It’s my prayer that you too know Him, trust Him, and live with confidence in the One who is truly the Lord of history. We may or may not be in the “end times”, but let’s live as if we are!
Blessings on you and yours,
Jim Black
P.S. if you’d like to read previous ruminations of mine they can be found at https://blog.salvationarmyconcordca.org
Appendix: Scripture References (all from NLT)
Revelation 22:13 — Jesus Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Titus 2:13 — The believer’s blessed hope is the glorious appearing of “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Matthew 24:36 — Only the Father knows the day and hour of Christ’s return. Matthew 24:14 — The Good News of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the world before the end comes. Romans 14:12 — Each person will give a personal account to God. Revelation 5:9 — Christ’s blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation. Revelation 21:4 — God will wipe away every tear, and death, sorrow, crying, and pain will be no more. Philippians 2:11 — Every tongue will declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.