posted by steve | on Miscellaneous
Yes, we are.
The debates some people have about the end times are just silly. They think they have to identify when Jesus is coming back, and they think they need to know when the last days will begin. But the Bible tells us clearly and repeatedly that the last days have already begun.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter said that the prophet Joel’s words were being fulfilled on that very day. “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’” (Acts 2:16-17) Peter tells the people he is talking to in the first century, “We are living in the last days.”
The writer of Hebrews makes clear that Jesus has already ushered in the last days. “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)
John writes, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18) John was saying in the first century that the last hour (or times) had already begun.
Paul said that he was living during the end of the ages. “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.“ (1 Corinthians 10:11)
Peter says that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the last times had begun: “. . .but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.” (1 Peter 1:19-20)
The beginning of the last days has nothing to do with events that are currently happening, or will happen in the future, in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. The period the Bible calls “the last days” began when Jesus came to this earth as a man, and will continue until he returns.
Does any of this matter? If you would like to know what practical relevance this has for your life, please see my comments regarding 2 Peter 3:11-13 (click here).
