{"id":4349,"date":"2019-02-27T14:23:54","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T20:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nafwb.org\/?p=4349"},"modified":"2019-02-27T14:23:54","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T20:23:54","slug":"the-first-word-on-last-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/the-first-word-on-last-things\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Word on Last Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Randy Corn<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Mr. Corn, l just don’t understand why we have to study this stuff.\u201d That was\u00a0the objection of a student at Free Will Baptist Bible College where I served\u00a0as adjunct Bible instructor. The “stuff” was an introductory overview to\u00a0eschatology, the doctrine of the last things, before our class did\u00a0a survey of First and Second Thessalonians.<\/p>\n

Why indeed?\u00a0My first thought was this was the typical college student objection to studying anything. I recalled the remark\u00a0of one of the longest tenured teachers at my alma mater that a\u00a0college student was “someone who paid for something and then hoped he didn\u2019t get it!”<\/p>\n

But this young man was not the class sloth; he would end up with a solid B at the end of the semester.\u00a0 Why did he object to spending a day discussing such things as the Second Coming of Christ, the differences between Amillennialism and Premillennialism, and the differences within Premillennialism about the Rapture?<\/p>\n

Why Study Eschatology? <\/strong><\/p>\n

When the question was asked my immediate response was\u00a0because this was a biblical subject and we were in a Bible\u00a0class. I was convinced that if the students could put First and\u00a0Second Thessalonians in an eschatological framework it would\u00a0give the, a deeper understanding of what the Apostle Paul was\u00a0driving at in these epistles.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m afraid it came across to my questioner as, “I’m the teacher;\u00a0you are the student, and I get to decide what we will study.\u201d<\/p>\n

The question and the inadequacy of my answer stuck with me until I was back in my church office that afternoon. I wondered\u00a0if this was one of those subjects I found fascinating but\u00a0the next generation could dismiss with a yawn? Was the problem\u00a0in my presentation? Had I unnecessarily complicated it\u00a0with a number of double-jointed theological terms?<\/p>\n

Maybe the issue was application. Perhaps that questioning\u00a0student was voicing the complaint many feel when preachers\u00a0and Bible teachers fail to show how a biblical subject touches\u00a0their lives. There was probably some truth in all my ponderings. I decided l what I needed to do was convince my class that\u00a0eschatology really was an important Bible doctrine, one that\u00a0should impact their daily lives. I would present them with an\u00a0apologetic for eschatology.<\/p>\n

Frequent Bible References <\/strong><\/p>\n

The next class period I met the students at the door with a\u00a0single sheet of paper which gave my reasons for studying\u00a0eschatology. \u00a0The first was that the Bible gives a great deal of\u00a0attention to the subject. Christians should be interested in anything\u00a0God chooses to reveal in His Word.<\/p>\n

Scholars have counted as many as 1,845 references to the\u00a0Second Coming of Christ in the Old Testament and 318 in the\u00a0New In fact,23 of the 27 New Testament books speak of the\u00a0Second Coming in one way or another.<\/p>\n

Basic Element of Faith <\/strong><\/p>\n

My second reason for studying eschatology is that the Bible\u00a0speaks of it as one of the elementary things of the Christian\u00a0faith. This is born out by such passages as Hebrews 6:1-2:\u00a0“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let\u00a0us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of\u00a0repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the\u00a0doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection\u00a0of the dead, and of eternal judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Note that the last two items mentioned in verse 2, \u201cresurrection\u00a0of the dead, and of eternal judgment” are listed in what the\u00a0writer of Hebrews calls “the principles of the doctrine of\u00a0Christ That word “principles” is literally “of the beginning.\u201d\u00a0Some translations even render this “the elementary principles.\u201d\u00a0Obviously then, eschatology is one of the foundational things\u00a0Christians should learn.<\/p>\n

The Apostle Paul certainly thought so. He speaks often of\u00a0the Second Coming in First and Second Thessalonians and\u00a0seems to do so building upon the knowledge that the\u00a0Thessalonian church already had of those doctrines. When we\u00a0go back to Acts 17, we find that the Apostle only spent three\u00a0sabbaths there before being run out of town.<\/p>\n

The only conclusion we can draw is that Paul had some\u00a0basic teaching about eschatology in what we might refer to as\u00a0his new convert course. If Paul the great church planter\u00a0thought it was so foundationally important, eschatology certainly\u00a0ought to be studied by Christians today<\/p>\n

Guidepost for Tomorrow <\/strong><\/p>\n

A third reason I gave the class for studying eschatology is\u00a0that it gives us insight into what to expect. Now some obviously\u00a0make too much of this, going to the extreme of setting dates\u00a0for the return of Christ. Still, it can be a reassurance to us that\u00a0the very things which will shock the world are prophesied in\u00a0the Bible.<\/p>\n

An analogy I shared with the class was my experience a few\u00a0years ago while attending a Flames (FWBBC) basketball game.\u00a0I ended up sitting next to my good friend Wayne Bess whose\u00a0son Matthew was on the team. Now l like to play basketball, but\u00a0to be really honest a lot of the strategy is beyond me.<\/p>\n

Wayne, on the other hand, has forgotten more about basketball\u00a0than I will ever know. After a few questions, I got a running\u00a0commentary from him on why the action on the floor was\u00a0turning out the way it did. I really felt like I knew what was going\u00a0on and why Eschatology can be like that running commentary.<\/p>\n

On the Test<\/strong><\/p>\n

I shared a few more reasons with the class, and then a hand\u00a0went up.”Mr. Corn, is this going to be on the test?” I had only\u00a0taught two semesters but I knew if I said no, the students with\u00a0rare exception would toss my notes in the waste can almost as\u00a0quickly as they would dismiss my lecture from their memories.<\/p>\n

“Probably\u201d was my reply I know that kind of answer frustrates\u00a0students, but my hope was that in putting my reasons for\u00a0studying eschatology into their short-term memory a few might\u00a0seep into their long-term memory as well.<\/p>\n

Eschatology is important. The same reasons I gave my class\u00a0for studying it should compel preachers to make it part of their\u00a0pulpit plan. As long as we avoid being either too technical or\u00a0too abstract, the insights of eschatology can be of real benefit\u00a0to every believer. After all, if we take seriously the admonition\u00a0to preach the whole counsel of God, then what excuse can we\u00a0give for failing to instruct those under our care?<\/p>\n

As we have pointed out, eschatology is one of the “elementary\u00a0principles” with which all Christians should be familiar.\u00a0Our church members may not be facing an exam over the sermons\u00a0we preach or the lessons we teach, but a healthy dose of\u00a0eschatology can help them pass the test of day-to-day life.<\/p>\n

Article adapted from\u00a0Contact\u00a0<\/em>magazine, February 2004.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Randy Corn “Mr. Corn, l just don’t understand why we have to study this stuff.\u201d That was\u00a0the objection of a student at Free Will Baptist Bible College where I served\u00a0as adjunct Bible instructor. The “stuff” was an introductory overview to\u00a0eschatology, the doctrine of the last things, before our class did\u00a0a survey of First and Second Thessalonians. Why indeed?\u00a0My first thought was this was the typical college student objection to studying anything. I recalled the remark\u00a0of one of the longest tenured teachers at my alma mater that a\u00a0college student was “someone who paid for something and then hoped he didn\u2019t get it!” But this young man was not the class sloth; he would end up with a solid B at the end of the semester.\u00a0 Why did he object to spending a day discussing such things as the Second Coming of Christ, the differences between Amillennialism and Premillennialism, and the differences within Premillennialism about the Rapture? Why Study Eschatology? When the question was asked my immediate response was\u00a0because this was a biblical subject and we were in a Bible\u00a0class. I was convinced that if the students could put First and\u00a0Second Thessalonians in an eschatological framework it would\u00a0give the, a deeper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4350,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349\/revisions\/4350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}