Does God Want His Kingdom to Succeed?

"The Late Great Planet Earth," a book published in the 70's stating essentially, "The End is Near!" Many Christians believe that the end is near, and that things will get worse before the end. Is that a biblical view of the future? Such a viewpoint could determine whether people even attempt to improve life in our society from a Christian perspective. It needs to be examined.

We as Christians all believe that God's kingdom succeeds, but the question is when. Some of us say, "I know who wins; I've read the end of the book." What about the rest of the book? What about before Christ's second coming? What happens during that period of time? I submit that His kingdom will not only succeed but win in history, and that such success need not wait until Christ's actual second return. His first coming was what the earth needed, and it is all we need to continue the process he started. But will he find faith in us to do so?

I heard an interesting news item a few years ago that was very telling. An organization called "The Long Now" was building a 10,000 year clock on the border of New Mexico and Texas. Such a construction is an unusual thing, and I used to live on the border of New Mexico and Texas, so it got my attention quickly. The clock was intended to show people how to have a long-term perspective on time. The radio interviewer asked the representative of the organization why he had even conceived of the project.

The fellow told a story that he had heard about New College in England. New College is not new; it's about 900 years old. It's a part of Oxford University. New College's main building was built using huge, 50-foot long beams of oak as cross beams for the ceiling. But something had happened to these beams. I forget whether a bug had gotten to them or if they had simply rotted with age, but they needed to be replaced. The administration of New College asked each other: "Where are we going to get huge, 50-foot long oak beams in 20th century England?"

Someone told them to talk to the College Forester. They responded with: "We didn't even know there was a College Forester." They asked the College Forester if he could fix the problem. He said, "Oh sure, that's no problem. I'll get right on it." The New College admin people were surprised and asked how he intended to find the beams. He said, "Well, you see, the folks who founded this College and had the building built knew that one day the beams would need replacing, and they planted a forest for that very purpose. . . . 900 years ago. So we'll just go cut down the trees we need and have them cut for the building."

That's a long-term perspective on the future. Do we have that kind of perspective in our modern world? Some do. Do Christians? Are they preparing for a long future? Or are they preparing for the alleged, "soon-to-occur rapture?" Or are they preparing for things to just get worse and worse, no matter when "The End" arrives? These are important questions, and they could explain why Christians face a society which often considers them irrelevant to the conversation about the future and how best to arrive there.

If you're like many Christians, you have been taught just one way to look at the future biblically. And it is: "Things go downhill and get worse and worse, then the end comes when Jesus returns." If that's all you know, how will you plan for the long-term future as a member of God's kingdom? Did you know that the scripture teaches something entirely different? Did you know that perspective on the future can make a huge difference in your outlook on life, how you view your children, and how you view your calling, career and life? Stick around for future posts on this topic, and you'll be edified and hopefully encouraged, "knowing your labor is not in vain in the Lord." I Corinthians 15:58.

You can learn more about the bible's view of eschatology from my blog called "The Last Days of the Old Covenant," which can be found at https://thelastdaysoftheoldcovenant.blogspot.com/ My future posts on "Biblical Judicial System" will apply that eschatology, that is, an eschatology of victory, to the judicial system.