The Last days

The Last Days, the Age of Fulfillment, began with the death, resurrection, and exaltation of the Son of God.

When we hear the term “Last Days” we assume it refers to the final few years of history that will occur just before the return of Jesus “on the clouds of Heaven.” This is logical and natural. However, the New Testament presents the present age as the time of fulfillment, the period that began following the Death, Resurrection, and Enthronement of Jesus.

For example, the Letter to the Hebrews declares: “Upon the last of these days, God has spoken to us in His Son.” The Letter also states that Jesus “appeared once-for-all, upon the Conclusion of the Ages, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” - (Hebrews 1:1-3, 9:26).

[Photo by Martin Jernberg on Unsplash]

God spoke to the “fathers” under the old covenant, but only partially. His previous “words” were preparatory and promissory, yet incomplete. Now, however, He has spoken with fullness and finality in His “Son.” With the advent of Jesus in the first century, the time of fulfillment commenced.

This is emphasized in Hebrews by the term, “Conclusion of the Ages.” In the passage from Chapter 9, “ages” is plural, and the Greek term translated as “conclusion” or ‘sunteleia’ means “conclusion, consummation, completion, culmination.” Through His “Son,” God is summing up all the eras of history and the creation itself.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “The appointed time has been shortened… For the forms of this world are passing away.” The last verb or “passing away” represents the Greek term in the present tense, signifying ongoing action. The institutions and “forms” of this present age are in the process of passing away, and they have been since Christ’s victory over sin and death - (1 Corinthians 7:29).

Paul declared to the Corinthians that the Hebrew Scriptures were written for Christ’s followers “upon whom the Ends of the Ages have come.” Like the passage in the Letter to the Hebrews, the Greek term translated as “ages” is plural, and so is the Greek noun for “ends.” This emphasizes the summation of all things in what God has done for His people through His Son - (1 Corinthians 10:11).

The Apostle made a similar point in his Letter to the Galatians by declaring that God sent His Son to redeem us “when the Fullness of Time had come” - (Galatians 4:4).

THE SPIRIT

In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter changed the words of the passage from the Book of Joel cited by him from “afterward” to “last days” - “In the last days, says the Lord…” In this way, Peter linked the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost to the commencement of the “Last Days” - (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17).

With his exaltation to the “right hand of God,” Jesus received the “promise of the Father,” the Gift of the Spirit, which he then bestowed upon his people assembled in Jerusalem. The final era predicted by the Prophet Joel began with the arrival of the Spirit in the Church.

Peter wrote years later that Jesus was destined to be the Messiah “before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the End of the Times for your sake,” demonstrating once more that this final period began following the Death, Resurrection, and Enthronement of the Son of God - (1 Peter 1:20).

In his first epistle, the Apostle John warned: “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.”

The presence and activity of false teachers in the assemblies of Jesus not only fulfilled prophecies made by Christ but also provided undeniable evidence that the “Last Days” were underway in the first century - (Matthew 24:4-11, 1 John 2:18).

In the Hebrew Bible, the Messianic Age would dawn when the Messiah arrived, and two scriptural promises were key expectations of that coming period. First, the outpouring of the Spirit. Secondly, the resurrection of the dead - (Joel 2:28, Ezekiel 37:26-27).

Both predictions came to fruition because of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. God not only raised him from the dead, but He also seated him on His Throne where he now reigns and pours the Gift of the Spirit on his people. Therefore, the “Last Days” have arrived.

When God raised His Son from the dead, the future resurrection of the righteous dead became assured, therefore, the New Testament calls his past resurrection the “first fruits” of our coming resurrection, which we will experience when Jesus returns. Likewise, the Gift of the Spirit is the “first fruits” of the promised redemption of our bodies - (Genesis 1:1-2, Romans 8:23, 1 Corinthians 15:20).

The Spirit is also our “earnest,” the ‘arrabōn’ or “down payment” that guarantees the resurrection of the saints. The Father will most certainly complete what He started when He raised His son from the dead - (Romans 1:1-4, 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5, Ephesians 1:13-14).

The period known as the “Last Days” has been underway since the Resurrection and Exaltation of Jesus, and the outpouring of the Gift of the Spirit on his Church. Because of his victory over sin and death, history has entered its final phase, and the existing world order even now is undergoing its death throes.

This is not the time for Christ’s Church to be investing its resources and efforts into working for the “perishing meat” of this fallen age.

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SEE ALSO:

• Beginning of the Last Days - (The outpouring of the Spirit signaled the start of the Last Days, the Era of the Spirit, and the Time of Fulfillment)

• The Promise of the Father - (With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced)

• The Final Harvest - (The outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost fulfilled what the feast symbolized and marked the start of the Final Harvest)

• Salvation for All - (The Gospel of the Kingdom announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and life to men and women of every nation and people)

{Published originally on the Disciples Global website}