Pragmatic Eschatology

One of the most complicated, convoluted, and therefore uninteresting parts of Theology is Eschatology (the study of the End Times or better phrased "Last Things")

And I will not pretend to decipher the symbols, numbers, and meanings of the apocalyptic writings of Daniel or Revelation.

But just because the details are perplexing does not mean that Eschatology is unimportant or a subject matter we are unaffected by.

The aspects of Eschatology I am most interested in are the actual "Last Things," where everything is going, how the story ends. Because if we look at the broad picture we find some intriguing details. The story arc of the Bible is from Paradise to Paradise. And it is a story of redemption. God made Creation "good", we messed it us, and ever since Genesis chapter 3 God's work has been a work of making "all things new" (Rev 21:5).

Revelation ends with the New Heaven and New Earth (Rev 21:1). Not only that but we see Heaven fully invading Earth (Rev 21:2) which fits with the Eschatology of the Major and Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. God is making all things new. For a wonderful depiction I suggest the description of the "Old Narnia" and "Real Narnia" at the end of the chapter "Further Up and Further In" of The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis.

So we know how things end; God makes all things new and perfect.

Selah

And that makes all the difference. Because God's ultimate vision, how things finally end up, defines everything. What we implicitly believe about the "Last Things" dictates and influences how we live now. Understanding where we are going clarifies where we are now like a compass pointing North.

The temptation can be to live like our objective is to be "saved" enough to go to Heaven when we die, but without the need to engage the world around us while we are here. It has been described as "being too heavenly minded to be any earthly good", and that is a horrible and counter-Christ paradigm. Jesus did not come to draw us out and isolate "Christians" from the world, but He came to be Emmanuel, "God with us" (Mt 1:22-23), and to engage this world. We are called not to be elitists in the world, but "light of the world" (Mt 5:14-16). If we believe that God is redeeming Creation, making all things new, then we have been invited to be a part of that process of renewal (2 Cor 5:17-21). God came back for each of us, but that does not mean we can be content to let His redemption stop with us.

Instead of being "too Heavenly minded to be any earthly good" we have to be Heavenly minded (truly and Eschatologically Heavenly minded) to be any earthly good.

So may you be guided North by God's awesome work of redemption into the "Last Things"

How glorious it will be to finally go home.

Selah