26 Feb THE APOCALYPTIC GOSPEL
The Bible brings us a message that has been streaming to us for thousands of years. Its ancient Semitic beginnings have produced a literature, whose meaning is not readily grasped by the modern Western mind. Even those who believe the Bible is the word of God tend to open the text thinking that whatever it means to them is what it means, unaware of the striking themes being communicated throughout. The apocalyptic gospel has an eschatological (1) thrust with the power to make disciples and impart endurance. (2) But over time, if that thrust is lost, the message loses its power, devolving into an academic, or even worse, an anemic message: “Jesus loves you, and he wants to bless you with a wonderful life. “
When Jesus and the apostles step onto the stage of history preaching “the kingdom of God is at hand,” and “the day of the Lord is near” they speak as those belonging to the first century Jewish culture that is at home with those terms, deeply familiar with them. First century Jews carried a precious revelation in common: God was determined to have a people who would belong to Him. “I will be their God and they will be my people, and I will dwell in their midst forever.” (3) They were that people. They shared an apocalyptic gospel, handed down to them by the prophets, explaining that all of history was hurtling toward the Day of the Lord, which separated this age from the age to come. The apocalyptic gospel describes God coming in judgment, separating His people from the wicked, creating a new heaven and a new earth, raising the dead and bringing His people into eternal life. The Day of the Lord will bring the time when God’s Anointed One, their Messiah, will take his place on the throne of David, to rule the earth from Jerusalem.
The events of Jesus’ death and resurrection and his identification of himself as “the son of man coming on the clouds” (4) caused the apocalyptic gospel to burst into new life with living color, exploding with vibrant relevancy for his followers. The apocalyptic gospel was what drove, motivated and inspired the apostles. Its apocalyptic contention that earth’s history is going to one day be radically interrupted infused their message with passion..
And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming (1John 2:28)
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God (2 Peter 3: 11, 12)
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
The foundation of the apocalyptic gospel has not been laid in our generation. It has been coopted and redefined. Few of us believe what the first century Jews believed. Not many see our great hope through the eyes of the apostles anymore. And in the dimming, many question the idea of God having a people. As a symptom of our malaise, the internet is a regurgitation of wild eschatologies and unhinged prophets eager to tell us what’s to come.
I’ve been guilty of bouncing from one teaching to the next, trusting my inner Geiger counter (the Holy Spirit) to show me the difference between truth and error. I’ve camped among conspiracies, breathing the same air, but knowing that something was not quite right. When I reached a personal crisis, I cried out to God to help me understand. He heard my cry. That was when I found a podcast: The Apicalyptic Gospel. It has been laying the eschatological foundation in me, that I have longed for, upon which the Holy Spirit can build an expectation of history that I can trust. As you develop a coherent foundation, Scripture explains Scripture, There is no need to explain things away, to redefine terms to fit with what you believe, or to “spiritualize” the meaning of what is written. The Spirit flashes a word or a picture upon me from time to time, explaining what I would not understand otherwise. Those flashes of insight come together with clarity, shedding light on what has come before. I’ve never been more grounded or more hopeful. There’s much I’m eager to share with you.
Isaiah 46:9,10
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me.
I declare the end from the beginning,
and ancient times from what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
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(1) Eschatological means things pertaining to the end of the age
(2) Episode 1 of The Apocalyptic Gospel, https://www.apocalypticgospel.com/2020/07/01/e1-why-apocalyptic-gospel/
(3) Genesis 17:7; Exodus 29:45;Jeremiah 11:4; Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 11:20; Ezekiel 14:11; Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel
37:23,27; Zechariah 8:8; Hebrews 8:10; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Titus 2:14; Revelation 21:3
(4) Daniel 7:13; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 25:31; Matthew 26:64;