Post - Awakening Views
"Post-Awakening" is kind of misnomer here - I'm still "awakening" - learning, discovering, growing. I used the "pre", "mid", and "post" prefixes to divide up my story in an order that seems to make some sense as I reflect on how my views on the end-times have formed and changed over the years. And I hoped you all would think I was clever using these prefixes that usually end up in these eschatalogical discussions.
Probably a better title for this section of my story would be "The Great Reversal". The major shift in my view in the end times has to with a "reversal" of where the earth ends up in the "end of time". Let me try to explain...
Even though I considered myself a Post-triber which viewed the "rapture" (the term is NOT in the Bible) as a welcoming party for Jesus return/second coming to earth I still had the impression that when Jesus came back the earth was doomed, done, over with - destroyed. OK - maybe we got to live here for a 1,ooo years but still - the earth was eventually going to be caput.
But I'm starting to see that God's plan has always been for heaven to come to earth. Hey, yeah, duh - Jesus even taught us to pray this way - Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
I'm starting to see that the beginning of time ties in COMPLETELY with the end of time. Genesis and Revelation go together. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end - the first (you can think of Creator and creation here) and the last (you can think of Consummation, the summing up, the pulling together of all things here). What He had planned in the beginning for creation -even before creation - is going to be fulfilled.
The book of Revelation ends with heaven coming to earth and with God dwelling among His people. Amazing! This God - always coming to us! I always thought it was the other way - someday I would be dwelling where God was in heaven out there some place. And that's true EXCEPT - the way Revelation shows it - God comes to us. God does take me to live with Him and he chooses to make His dwelling among men, on earth. He brings heaven to earth. His kingdom comes, His will is done on earth.
I've also come to see that God's "plan of salvation" isn't just the saving of souls for heaven. His salvation, his redemption is for the whole WORLD which includes the earth, as well as its people and creatures - ALL of creation.
I'm also coming to see that the book of Revelation doesn't chart things out like this...
My thinking in these "post-awakening" time has been helped in a large part through reading Brian McClaren's "A New Kind of Christian" trilogy - particularly "The Story We Find Ourselves In" (which is one of the very few books I have ever read more than once) and "The Last Word - And the Word After That". Rob Bell has also been very helpful in tying in Revelation with Genesis.
I'm looking forward to getting into this study with my friends Paul and Ben.
5 comments:
Dave,
Thank you for sharing your journey with us. I am really looking forward to what God has for us next.
Paul
Greetings; Id like to make a comment on the Revelation articles if I may;
What we have here is another person abandoning the return of Christ anytime in the foreseen future. This wave of abandonment seems to be growing among Christians just because a few mortal men of our time jumped the gun and made predictions and or interpretations that were a little off. We now have in our time a large majority of Christians over stepping too far the other way on the subject of the End Times. Some eyes need opened here...
Revelation is a revealing over time. Let me get you up to date on where we are in accordance with this revealing;
Hal Lindsey and The Christian media largely said that when Israel became a nation in 1948 that the generation clock of 40 years started ticking... Therefore Christ would return soon.
This was a pre-mature prediction based on Matthew 24 made by man, not God . Some time has passed and more revealing has come.....
If you carefully look at Revelation 6 and
Matthew 24 they do indeed go hand and hand and in order. (kjv recommended). So what Christ was actually saying in Matthew 24 was that the generation that sees seal #1 of Rev 6 broken (The Antichrist, which has not happenned as of yet) is the generation that will certainly live to see all these things come to pass ! Christ made a ''certainly '' reference to the particular generation that sees Antichrist rise because it all happens in 7 biblical 360 day years. He made it clear that all the events of the end would happen WELL inside of a 40 year generation, and indeed they will. The Bible confirms the bible ! Hal lindsey was wrong ... so what, he's mortal. God is right. I encourage everyone to do a study of the parallels of Matthew 24 and Revelation 6. It is amazing. The generation clock did not start with Israel becoming a nation in 1948 or with the capture of Jerusalem in 1967. The scriptures do not confirm this. These events are just setting up the return of Christ.
Welcome to enlightenment 101. I hope you enjoy.
Thanks... and dig in to the prophetic scriptures!
oy ve!
thejag - thanks for commenting. I need to comment on your comments though...
These are not "articles on Revelation" - at least at this point. It is ONLY my story, my journey. At this point in the forum it would be good to view it as that and LISTEN. Comments are welcome but there is nothing up for "correction" here as what we have relayed so far is our own stories.
I haven't abondoned The Blessed Hope of Jesus return. The "forseen future" - what's that?
I am a little surprised this conversation hasn't brought more comments from outside the "usual circle" of blog readers. I like the couple comments (agree or disagree) that have been left here and I long to see more.
That said, good rebuttal Dave. I've enjoyed your story and hearing your heart through your words.
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