Eschatology

"Eschatology" is the study of "last things." John wrote,: "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." (1 John 2:18)
The word last is the Greek word eásxatov, eschatos. The Apostles understood they were living in "the last days" of the Old Covenant (Hebrews 1:2; 1 Peter 1:20), when the Messiah came to establish His Kingdom. This is when the Gospel began to be preached and the nations began streaming to the House of God in Micah's prophecy. Christians who settled the New World in the 1600's believed we should and could Christianize the world before the Second Coming.

Many Christians do not accept this view of eschatology. They believe the world is getting worse and worse, with the real king, Satan, calling the plays. Our only hope is for Jesus to come soon, to pick up His planetary football and go home. "This was the blessed hope of the early church," they say. A cult called "The Plymouth Brethren" made this view popular about 200 years ago, and it came to dominate evangelicalism by the 1970's, but after so many followers falsely predicted the Rapture in 1988 (40 years after the formation of the State of Israel in 1948), the view is rapidly losing its most passionate supporters.

NotComingSoon.net, .org: One of the most dangerous beliefs in the history of post-apostolic Christianity is the belief that "Jesus is coming soon." Nearly every page of the New Testament says that Christ's Second Coming was "near," and "at hand." Jesus said it would happen before that 1st-century generation died out:

Either this happened when Jesus said it would happen, or Jesus was a false prophet.
Jesus foretold very specifically when this would happen: at the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, when Israel was judged according to her works:

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luke 21:20-27

This is a serious issue. If you have never grappled with this question, you will have to sooner or later. Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote a book entitled, Why I Am Not A Christian, and he used this issue as an argument against the reliability of the Bible:

I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels . . . and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, He certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at the time. There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance, “Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come.” Then He says, “There are some standing here which shall not taste death till the Son of Man comes into His kingdom”; and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His second coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living. That was the belief of his earlier followers, and it was the basis of a good deal of his moral teaching.
Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not A Christian (New York: A Touchtone Book by Simon & Schuster, 1957), 16.

The answer is simple. The phrase found in the King James Version, "the end of the world," is more accurately translated "end of the age," that is, the Old Covenant Age, and the "coming" of Jesus spoken of so frequently in the New Testament was His coming in vengeance in A.D. 70 against those who resisted the change from the Old Covenant to the New, executed the Messiah, and persecuted His disciples (Matthew 23:34-36). The fact that Jesus is not "coming soon" opens up the future and changes everything.

Part of the belief that "Jesus is coming soon" is the prediction that evil is getting stronger and stronger, and things are getting "worse and worse" -- a self-fulfilling prophecy, if Christians stop working and start waiting for the Second Coming. Why would you choose to believe that the earth is being surrendered to Satan rather than conquered by Christ? The Bible is not the story of God losing out to Satan and being forced by Satan to destroy the entire planet in frustration. If you wish to believe the more optimistic view, you will find yourself supported by the Bible -- the whole Bible, from cover to cover. Here are places to begin:

Optimillennialism.com, .org: This once-popular pessimistic view has been called "pessimillennialism." The fastest growing view of the future, however, might be called "optimillennialism." This is the view that Christians will unite to create heaven on earth, as Jesus prayed: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." God did not make a mistake when He created Earth and placed human beings on it to "exercise dominion."
TheChristmasConspiracy.com: "Conspiracy theories" abound in our day. This website is calculated to attract people looking for conspiracies. Four thousand years after the First Adam appeared on earth, the Last Adam appeared (1 Corinthians 15:45,22), during the days of the Roman Empire (Galatians 4:4). When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, all these prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the Messianic age described by the prophets. One of these prophecies included the destruction of the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45). How is it a tiny Babe born in a feeding trough was able to to topple the mighty Roman Empire? TheChristmasConspiracy advances the idea that the Messiah came to earth to topple all empires -- including our own, an empire that has taken the place of a once Christian nation, The Last Adam has restored us to the fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings under Christ, our job is to pull off the greatest conspiracy in history, overthrowing the empire begun by the first Adam and building the New Jerusalem in its place.

Go to Eschatology Tools

Eschatology

NotComingSoon.org, .net: One of the most dangerous beliefs in the history of post-apostolic Christianity is the belief that "Jesus is coming soon." Nearly every page of the New Testament says that Christ's Second Coming was "near," and "at hand." Jesus said it would happen before that 1st-century generation died out:

Optimillennialism.com, .org: This once-popular pessimistic view has been called "pessimillennialism." The fastest growing view of the future, however, might be called "optimillennialism." This is the view that Christians will unite to create heaven on earth, as Jesus prayed: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Why would you choose to believe that the earth is being surrendered to Satan rather than conquered by Christ? The Bible is not the story of God losing out to Satan and being forced by Satan to destroy the entire planet in frustration. If you wish to believe the more optimistic view, you will find yourself supported by the Bible. The whole Bible, from cover to cover. Here are places to begin:

Preterism: "Preterism" comes from the Latin word for "past." It is the fastest-growing view of Biblical Prophecy in America. It holds that all Biblical prophecies were inaugurated or fulfilled in the past at Christ's First Coming. An example of "fulfilled": Matthew 24. An example of "inaugurated": the "New Heavens/New Earth" of Isaiah 65:17ff + 2 Peter 3: the "planting" and "building houses" in Isaiah 65 continues today. More to follow.
DominionPreterism.com, .org: One of the greatest obstacles to Christian dominion and the Christianization of the world is "futurism," which holds that no real lasting success in Christianizing the world can take place until Jesus comes back again. Dominion Preterism is the view that we should be taking dominion now, because Jesus already came. Because of the Last Adam, we have the same task today that the First Adam had: building the City of God.
TheChristmasConspiracy.com: When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, all these prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the Messianic age described by the prophets. The Last Adam has restored us to the fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings, our job is to clean up the mess left by the first Adam and build the New Jerusalem.
HeavenNow.org: This website continues where DominionPreterism.com leaves off. The Old Covenant has been replaced by the New Covenant. The Old Age has ended and the New Age in Christ has begun. The Old Heavens and Earth was destroyed by fire in the destruction in A.D. 70. We are now in the New Heavens and New Earth described in 1 Peter 3 and Isaiah 65. Our job is to create heaven on earth.
LivingInHeaven.org: Is “The New Heavens and the New Earth” the final state? Is the New Heavens and the New Earth perfect in the sense of “completely developed?” Does this mean there is no growth? Will there be any concept of progress in the New Heavens/New Earth? Will there be work to do in the New Heavens and the New Earth? If you had a choice, would you choose to be alive in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve before the Fall, or would you choose to be alive right now? What advantages do you have today that the first Adam did not have? What material or physical advantages did the first Adam have that you don’t have? What kind of spiritual fellowship did the first Adam have with God that the Last Adam has not restored? The New Testament claims that we enjoy the extraordinary benefits and blessings of restored fellowship with God.