The Last Days, Part One

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the

night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let

his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man

is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:42-44, ESV)

When is Jesus returning? This is an age-old question that has stumped men and

women since Jesus returned to heaven almost 2000 years ago. Tons of books,

literally speaking (no pun intended), have been written on the Second Coming

of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It seems that every age reckons that their

time or era is the last days. Are they? That's something I would like to discuss

in this blog in the next one as well. It is extremely important for Christians to understand what Jesus means when He talks of the coming of the Son of Man and when Paul discusses the Last Days. Are the two synonymous? Is Jesus returning, staying around for a while and then coming back with the final disposition of our respective cases? It causes people to wonder. Remember the almost panic in some quarters at the turn of the millennium? Many people were afraid that it was the end of time. Computer glitches would bring the world crashing down. When 9/11 happened the following year, many people really believed that it was the beginning of the end of the world. If you are a student of history you would know that at the turn of the first millennium, A.D., around the year 999 in fact, many people were filled with dread and fear because of the approaching number 1000. Jesus would return in that year, or so many believed.

I have discussed before some of the attitudes Christians have towards the book

of Revelation, believing it to be a blueprint for the return of Christ, the setting

up of a kingdom on this earth, the literal reign of Christ from Jerusalem for one

thousand years. Indeed, many Christian writers, some of whom are trained in

the Bible, have written fictional works based on those beliefs.

Rather than brushing those beliefs off as pure fantasy or wrongheadedness

concerning the message of the Bible, I would rather look at some other

scriptures that I believe will shed some light on the subject and help believers

draw their own conclusions.

In this part, I would like to examine what Jesus said concerning the Coming of

the Son of Man. Remember that Jesus used the term, Son of Man, as a title for

himself more than any other term used to describe our Savior, about 95% of the

time. What significance does that hold for you and me?

In the book of Daniel, which many theologians and Bible scholars have tried to

denigrate as a canonical work or a real book of prophecy, this term shows up in

a very interesting way. Daniel is seeing a vision and is alarmed by what he sees.

Let's examine the scriptures.

"As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

"I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.

As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

"As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me.” (Daniel 7:9-15, ESV)

Who is this Son of Man? It must be the Messiah, the Son of God, or else He

would not be given a Kingdom from all nations and languages and His

dominion would not last forever. Kingdoms that men have built rise and fall

as surely as the tides of the sea. Notice that the beasts, who represented men or

kingdoms soon after the time of Daniel, were destroyed or had their dominion

taken away. Clearly, the Son of Man and the others are not to be construed as

similar in nature.

Another thing we need to consider is this: when Jesus speaks of the Coming of

the Son of Man, does that mean salvation? Does it mean the end of the world?

Just what exactly does it mean? In Daniel, the Son of Man is to receive a

Kingdom. It Matthew, it sounds like He has a Kingdom and is exercising His

power. Daniel cannot be a prophecy of Jesus' final return to earth, but rather His

first coming and the establishment of His Kingdom, the church.

In the text in Matthew, it would seem that Jesus is talking of the destruction of

Jerusalem which happened under Titus, the Roman general who later became

emperor of Rome. It is interesting to note that tradition says that the Christians

of that time understood what Jesus meant and fled the city just in time so that

they were not caught up in the siege and following destruction.

But it would also seem that Jesus is giving warning for all people to be aware of

their own lives because most people have no idea that they are about to die up

until the event happens. Even people with terminal illnesses don't usually know

the final hour or minute of their lives. Death comes at the most inconvenient

time for most people. How many people have their affairs in order, just in case

they might not see another day?

Jesus says, “stay awake.” It is easy for us to slip into “cruise control” in our lives

and forget to be on guard, to be aware of the assault that the Evil One makes on

the people of God. Remember the Lord's model prayer? “Lead us not into

temptation, but deliver us from (the) evil (one).” Satan is out to get whatever he

can, to try to destroy the victory that Christ has over evil.

Of course, you need to believe that it is possible to fall away from Christ. No,

He will never leave you nor abandon you. But last I checked, it is very possible

to abandon Him. More on that next time.

Conclusion: the coming of the Son of Man for most of us is an individual

affair, the final event in our lives here on this earth. We should live our lives so

covered by the blood of the Lamb that the evil one cannot sow seeds of doubt

in our minds, rob us of the great reward we have in Jesus by getting us to deny

the One who died for us on Calvary. We need to live our lives incarnadine,

the color of the blood that Christ shed for you and me.