The Great Commission and The End Times

The Great Commission and The End Times - Is the completion of one the beginning of the other? When the Great Commission has been fulfilled, will The End Times begin?  Are we actually working to bring about the events in Revelation when we spread the Gospel?  In a sense, even without tying the two together, every second that passes by is bringing us one second closer to The End Times.  It's just a fact of time.  The question is one of whether there's a Biblical link between the two.

Let's look at some passages and find out.

But first, before everyone gets too freaked out over the end, let's look at the image I chose for this article.  It's an audience sitting in a theater.  Or a theatre, depending on where you live.  Anyway - from the image, it's impossible to tell if it's the beginning or the end of the performance. (OK - if you pay close attention, it is possible.  But let's say it's not.) 

The truth is, that's the way to look at the End Times as well.  It's an ending, to be sure.  But it's also a beginning.  A new beginning.  And we get to choose whether what comes after the new beginning is awesome or awful. 

The point is - if The Great Commission and The End Times are linked, then it's an ending and a beginning.  Very symmetric.

So, let's start off by looking at The Great Commission

The Greatest Commandment - Matthew

22:34-40 pp — Mk 12:28-31

Mt 22:34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Mt 22:37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Remember, this is after Jesus was crucified and after His resurrection.  Jesus has already experienced His ending (as a person) and is now in His new beginning (as a resurrected person).  Of course, in Jesus' case, it's different because throughout He was always fully God as well as fully human.  However, the point is that Jesus the person has just gone through his ending and beginning.  And then He asks His disciples to go out and make disciples of all the nations.

By "all the nations", Jesus was saying this:

1484 ἔθνος [ethnos /eth·nos/] n n. Probably from 1486; TDNT 2:364; TDNTA 201; GK 1620; 164 occurrences; AV translates as “Gentiles” 93 times, “nation” 64 times, “heathen” five times, and “people” twice. 1 a multitude (whether of men or of beasts) associated or living together. 1A a company, troop, swarm. 2 a multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus. 2A the human race. 3 a race, nation, people group. 4 in the OT, foreign nations not worshipping the true God, pagans, Gentiles. 5 Paul uses the term for Gentile Christians.  ¹Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

It's important for us to realize this. Jesus wasn't saying to make disciples of all the countries, as we might use the word "nations" today.  He was saying to make disciples of everyone who isn't already a disciple.  As we'll see later, that doesn't mean that literally everyone will become a disciple of Jesus.  It's up to the individual to accept the message they were / we are to deliver.  The point was for everyone to at least get the message.

Notice also that Jesus said I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  Let's take a look at "very end" and "age" to see more about what those words meant at the time, as opposed to how we would probably think of them today.

4930 συντέλεια [sunteleia /soon·tel·i·ah/] n f. From 4931; TDNT 8:64; TDNTA 1161; GK 5333; Six occurrences; AV translates as “end” six times. 1 completion, consummation, end.  ²Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

There wasn't any Greek word for "very".  The English word was added as a way to show the intent behind the Greek word that follows.

165 αἰών [aion /ahee·ohn/] n m. From the same as 104; TDNT 1:197; TDNTA 31; GK 172; 128 occurrences; AV translates as “ever” 71 times, “world” 38 times, “never + 3364 + 1519 + 3588” six times, “evermore” four times, “age” twice, “eternal” twice, and translated miscellaneously five times. 1 for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity. 2 the worlds, universe. 3 period of time, age.  ³Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

What we end up with then is Jesus saying that He will be with us until God's plans for His creation - this fallen creation - have been completed.  The End.  And the culmination of those plans will be to restore His creation to what is/was meant to be before the fall.  The New Beginning.

Why does this matter?

Sure, even the early church in the book of Acts thought The End Times was going to be in their lifetime.  But we have to ask, were all the prophecies about the end really attainable at that time?  That begs the question, are they now?  And - has everyone been reached?  Important questions, to be sure.

The preceding quote is from the introduction to The Essential Guide To Spiritual Warfare.  Here's the first two paragraphs, which led the authors to that conclusion.

We are seeing the greatest spiritual harvest this world has ever seen. Not since Pentecost have we seen such phenomenal growth of the church worldwide. Africa was less than 5 percent Christian at the beginning of the twentieth century. At the end of the second millennium, it was nearly 50 percent Christian. There were only about 5 million believers in China when the Communist regime took over. Now the estimates vary from 100 to as high as 150 million believers, and missiologists estimate that between 25,000 and 35,000 people are coming to Christ daily in China. Indonesia is the world’s most populated Muslim nation, but the percentage of Christians there has been increasing so rapidly that the government won’t release accurate figures.

Meanwhile, more than 2,500 Christian radio and television stations broadcast the gospel daily to an audience of 4.6 billion. I had the privilege of speaking to the staff of HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, at their annual meeting. I was impressed with their commitment and their technological expertise. The same holds for TransWorld Radio and Far Eastern Broadcasting, who are working together with HCJB to blanket this planet with the good news. They can now package a radio station in a suitcase and broadcast the gospel anywhere in the world. We are the first generation that can say without reservation, “We have the technology to actually fulfill the Great Commission in our generation.”

This is why it matters.  If we are hurtling to the time at which God's plans for His creation are being completed - with The Great Commission fulfilled, could that possibly be the beginning of The End, and therefore the beginning of The End Times? 

The Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer is known by all Christians. It may be known to Catholics as The Our Father. Either way, it's our example from Jesus to show us how to pray.

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If - I repeat If - it is, then we need to be prepared. 

A while back I did a full series on every phrase in The Lord's Prayer.  One of them, Your Kingdom Come … on earth …, looked at the time when God's Kingdom would truly come to earth - and asked if we are really aware that's what we are asking when we say The Lord's Prayer. 

I'm guessing - probably not. 

And yet, while Jesus did give signs of the end of this world, He also said that the time is unknown except to the Father - and He warned us about not being ready.

The Day and Hour Unknown - Matthew

Mt 24:36 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.