Jesus and the End-Time

The Church and the End-Time
 The Reward of the Church

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us, who by God's power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9
The Church is the people of the end-time. It alone understands the meaning of the present age as the end-time. This goes deeper than current popular religion, which sees salvation more as present blessing than as future event; we will have to let popular religion accommodate itself the best it can. The Church is the people of the end-time because it looks for its reward in the future, at the close of the age, when Jesus returns to fulfill his Kingdom.

Only in these terms can you understand Peter's introduction to his first epistle. The faith of the first Christians was essentially an end-time faith; they looked for little comfort and no reward in this life, and they received according to their expectations. But encouraged by the apostles, they did look forward. When the guiding principle of your life is faith in an unseen God whose promises await fulfillment at some future but unspecified date, you need all the encouragement you can get.

Modern Christians in a free society find it difficult to grasp their radical commitment to future salvation-a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." We emphasize the present blessing rather than the future event because our society cooperates in blessing us-we are not only free but also wealthy. We are threatened by very few real and imminent dangers, and even these are cushioned by Medicare and term insurance. Life is comfortable; we should not be too shocked if the only reward many of us seek is to enjoy a comfortable old age, surrounded by people who love us, and then to die without excessive pain or trouble. It is the only reward our society has trained us to seek.

But if you lived in the world of the first-century Church, you might find it more realistic to look toward heaven for salvation than to expect much from this life. It was not safe to be a Christian then; added to the ordinary risks in that time when death came early and daily life was difficult was the threat of being persecuted for Christ. But when they suffered for Christ they remembered that they had "an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading," kept in heaven for them. Cynics have called this "pie in the sky when you die," but when you get right down to it, the cynics have nothing better to offer. They can refuse to believe it, but they cannot replace it.

Did the early Christians have it right? Is the reward of the Church beyond the end-time, at the close of the age, or is it within the end-time? When the appearance of the Kingdom was delayed, was the Church right in making its peace with the Roman Empire, even, for a time, becoming the dominant influence in the politics of Europe?

There is room for interpretation as to which is the principal theme of the New Testament-finding blessing in the security of a renewed society or finding blessing primarily in a hope of heaven. But I vote for the latter, for two reasons. First, earthly prosperity is an Old Testament hope. The prophets could see nothing better than a good life into a ripe old age, in a time of peace and prosperity.
"They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war no more; but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken" (Micah 4:3-4).
The New Testament people were too radically committed to the imminent return of Jesus to see value in building little earthly kingdoms for themselves in the present age. Because the Messiah had come, such a limited vision for them was no longer possible. Second, earthly blessings in the New Testament were bestowed for the purpose of stewardship and service; the Christians had no long-term use for such things. "Give, and it will be given you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back"(Luke 6:38).

I believe these assumptions were basic to early Christian hope. Moving from them, the apostles assured the Church of her future reward. Let us look at Peter's assurances.

The reward of the Church is grounded in the atonement of Christ. The salvation is "ready to be revealed" because Jesus has already done all that is necessary for our salvation. On the basis of his death and resurrection the Church has been "born anew to a living hope."

Though Peter wrote to these people because they were suffering for Christ, he did not leap headlong into a discussion of "how to suffer like a Christian." He began with the reality of salvation. For if you begin with the fact of your suffering, you may never get beyond that; but if you begin with the fact of your salvation, you can see your suffering in the context of salvation. Why suffer with patience? Because you know that suffering does not have the last word; because you have a living hope in your heart, placed there by the risen Christ.

The reward of the church awaits the return of Christ. Three times in the passage he says it: "a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (in this passage a reference to the close of the age, as in the following verse); "the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ"; as the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of you souls."

A to the content of this future salvation Peter was not specific. It is an inheritance that no one and no thing can destroy, he said, and he also said that those who are faithful will be praised for it. But as to the details we must trust God. On the other hand we are mistaken if we see the reward of the Church entirely in individual terms; though a personal heaven is important, the return of Christ and the fulfillment of the Kingdom is the larger event of which our personal inclusion will be a small part.

Peter's third assurance is that the reward of the Church is anticipated in the midst of her own suffering. "In this you rejoice though now you may have to suffer various trials…" Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy."

Anticipation is the enjoyment of a thing in advance. The symbol of anticipation in modern society is Christmas gift-wrap. We belong to an organization which practices the custom of exchanging one-dollar gifts. At the Christmas party the gifts are beautifully wrapped, full of promise. The anticipation is most of the fun, because at a one-dollar ceiling you are not going to receive much unless the giver is a very ingenious shopper indeed.

Our circumstances are reversed as we wait for the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The wrapping paper is unpretty and unpromising. It consists of suffering and duty, even sacrifice. But we rejoice, not in the wrapping so much as in the promises of the Giver. God is a very ingenious shopper indeed, and the contents of his salvation, when revealed, will prove our anticipation worthwhile.

We can anticipate our salvation because we know that the suffering is only for "a little while." For the Christian it is always temporary. Suffering is measured in time, while salvation is measured in eternity.

Anticipation is the very opposite of worry. When we worry we say "if" and "whether." Worry is always conditional. That is what makes it so worrisome. But anticipation is unconditional; when we anticipate we do not say "if" and "whether." We say "when." When Jesus comes again the Church will receive her reward.

Christian realism demands that we see the present age as the end-time. For the Church it is a time not for self-seeking, but for suffering, for service, for stewardship, for sacrifice. In the present we are servants of the future, not because our human institutions will abide forever but because we belong to the Kingdom that will make its appearance at the close of the age. The Church in the end-time is confident in its present duty and its future hope when it understands its dependence upon what Jesus has done and will do.

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