We used lots of verses…and made lots of points. I thought you might find it helpful to have a list with both:
- We’ve been living in the last days since the arrival of Jesus: Hebrews 12:1-2, I Peter 1:20
- Jesus’ crucifixion was judgment day happening in advance of the final judgment day: John 12:31
- Jesus’ death was an ‘end of the world’ event that brought the powers of the Kingdom of God: Matthew 27:45, 51-53 (the stuff about the veil being torn was based on Matthew 27:51, and Hebrews 9:9)
- Jesus’ resurrection was an ‘end of the world’ event that brought the powers of the Kingdom of God (and so was your salvation): Ephesians 2:5, John 11:24-25, I Corinthians 10:11, Hebrews 6:5
- Pentecost was an ‘end of the world’ event that brought the powers of the Kingdom of God. Joel 2:28-31, Acts 2:1-21
- We are already / not-yet people: (all from 2 Corinthians) already texts: 5:17, 2:14 –not-yet texts: 5:2-4, 4:11–already and not-yet texts: 4:8-9, 6:4-10
Fire away if you have questions about this week, previous weeks, or anything regarding the Kingdom!
June 27, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Aaron, you use the phrases “end of the world” and “last days”. Could you define what those mean?
Here’s my angle. “End of the world” is often mistranslated. Matt 13:39, 24:3; Heb 9:26 (for starters) use the Greek “aion”, meaning “a period of time, an age”, not “kosmos” which would refer to this planet.
So what age is Jesus and the Apostles’ talking about? What were the early Christians in the last days of? The Christian age? Then what’s after that? Besides, how could they be at the END of the Christian age when it was just beginning?
The age spoken of was the Old Covenant. The system of temples and sacrifices was coming to an end. Hebrews 8:13.
What’s your take?
June 27, 2008 at 2:11 pm
oops, forgot another proof text. Matt 21:43 “the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people producing its fruits” Basically, Jesus was saying that he would put an end to the Jewish role of subjects in the kingdom (including temple sacrifices) and transfer it to believers from all over the world.
I had to use “kingdom” at least once, hence this add-on.
July 1, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Rick,
GREAT QUESTIONS! You’re right about the common mistranslations. “End of the age” is almost always a better translation than “end of the world.” I mean to say ‘age’ more often than I do, actually.
I don’t believe that the apostles were living at the beginning of the ‘church age’–but rather that they were living at the beginning of the ‘age to come’ which was inaugurated (though not fully) with the arrival of Jesus. The Bible only speaks of two ages: the present age and the age to come. To divide history further is to take a step beyond scripture, and almost inevitably leads to dispensationalism and/or cessationism.
The shift away from the temple system was part of what happened when Jesus brought the Kingdom of God. The broken and imperfect system was replaced with the ultimate system of purification! My take is that this wasn’t the start of a new age in and of itself–it was instead one of the many far-reaching implications of the arrival of the Kingdom.
I’m not sure that I addressed your questions. If I missed it, feel free to restate and I’ll take another shot at it!