ChristoCentric

 

Eschatology

(Doctrine of Last Things)

 

 

Eschatology Doctrinal Statement

 

DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS:

            I believe in the rapture of the Church, the great tribulation, the millennial reign of Christ, the resurrection and judgment of all mankind, and that the eternal destiny of the wicked will be in Hell while the righteous will live in Heaven, forever in the presence of God.

 

INDIVIDUAL ESCHATOLOGY

            I believe that physical death is the separation of the material and immaterial parts of man (James 2:26; Matt. 10:28), the spirit of the righteous entering immediately into heaven, into the very presence of the Lord (Luke 23:42-43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23-24) while the spirit of the unrighteous enters hades, a place of confinement and torment (Luke 16:19-31, 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 20:13-14). This intermediate state is a conscious existence for all who die as they await their bodily resurrection, the righteous unto imperishable, glorified bodies (Rom. 8:10-11; 1 Cor. 15:24-54; Rev. 20:6), while the unrighteous will be resurrected unto eternal disgrace and corruption (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29). The righteous will be judged at the Bema seat of Christ and will receive the rewards due them according to the works done while on earth (1 Cor. 3:12-15; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:9-10); while the unrighteous, upon their resurrection, will stand condemned at the Great White Throne and be cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment and separation from God (2 Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15).

 

GENERAL ESCHATOLOGY

            I believe that the next event in God's prophetic plan is the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His saints to Himself in the air (John 14:3; 2 Thess. 2:1; Rev. 3:10-11). Those who have died in Christ will be instantly resurrected, and those still alive will be caught up together with them and be transformed with glorious new bodies (1 Cor. 15:51-53; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). At this time they will receive the rewards for their works on earth (1 Cor. 4:5; 1 Pet. S:4). Though there are signs of His coming, no one knows the day or the hour (Matt. 24:32-44; Luke 12:40; 1 Thess. 5:l-6).           

            I believe that once the righteous have been taken from the world, this event will usher in the seventieth week of Daniel (Dan. 9:24-27), a seven-year period of intense tribulation wherein God will pour out His wrath in righteous judgment upon an unbelieving world (Jer 30:7; Matt. 24:4-21; Rev. 6-19). This will be a time in which Satan will persecute Israel with fierce destruction, and deceive the nations with great effect (Dan. 12:1-3; 2 Thess 2:3-12).

            I believe that at the end of this tribulation period Jesus Christ will physically return (Acts 1:11) to the earth with triumph and glory (Rev. 19:11-16), in the company of the hosts of heaven (Zech 14:3-5; Jude 14-15; Rev. 19:14) to defeat the wicked (Rev. 19:17-21), to judge the living (Joel 3:1-2; Matt. 25:31-46), to bind Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3), and to establish His kingdom on the earth (Rev. 20:4). These thousand years, known as the millennium, will be a time of peace, prosperity, blessing and righteousness (Isa. 11:6-10; 65:20-25), fulfilling God's covenant promises to Israel (Is 9:6-7; Ezek. 37:21-28) as Christ rules the whole earth from His throne in Jerusalem (Isa. 2:2-4; 1 l: l-5), together with the righteous (Dan. 7:21-22; Rev. 20:4). This golden era will be brought to an end with the final, brief release of Satan (Rev. 20:7).

            I believe that Satan will once more deceive the nations of the earth, gathering together the wicked in battle against Christ and His saints at Jerusalem (Rev. 20:7-9). Christ will destroy them, first casting Satan into the lake of fire, and then bodily resurrecting the wicked, judging them at the Great White Throne, and then casting them also into Hell - the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10-15) to suffer eternal, conscious punishment and separation from God (Matt. 13:42; 25:41-46).

            I believe that God will then replace the old created order (2 Pet. 3:10) with a new heaven and a new earth where the redeemed of the Lord will live in the golorious presence of God forever (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21: 1-22:21). 

 

Hermeneutics (Science of Interpretation)

 

Biblical Covenants

Abrahamic Covenant

Mosaic Covenant

Davidic Covenant

Palestinian Covenant

New Covenant

 

Theological Systems

Covenant Theology

New Covenant Theology

Dispensational Theology

Progressive Dispensationalism

Traditional Dispensationalism

Views of the Millennium

Premillennialism

Amillennialism

Postmillennialism

 

Views of the Rapture

Within premillennialism there are differing views concerning the Rapture of the Church. The five views are (1) the pre-wrath rapture; (2) the partial-rapture theory; (3) the midtribulation rapture; (4) the posttribulation rapture; and (5) the pretribulation rapture.

 

(1) Pre-Wrath Rapture. The pre-wrath view is that the tribulation of the church begins towards the latter part of the seven-year period, being Daniel's 70th week, when the Antichrist is revealed in the temple. The great Tribulation, according to this view, is of the Antichrist against the church at this time. The duration of this tribulation is unknown, except that it begins and ends during the second half of Daniel's 70th week.

(2) Partial-Rapture. In this view the issue is not the timing, but the subjects of the Rapture. Advocates of this view believe the Rapture of the believer will be based on reward for the individual's faithfulness.

(3) Midtribulation Rapture. The midtribulation rapture view seems to be a compromise between the pretribulation and the posttribulation views. According to this view the seven-year tribulation is divided into two halves; the first half described as the wrath of man, and the last half as the wrath of God. The Rapture of the Church will take place at the middle of the tribulation period three-and-one-half years prior to the Second Advent.
(4) Posttribulation Rapture. The majority of those holding this view believe the Church will enter the seven-year tribulation and just prior to the Second Advent be raptured and return immediately to the earth with the Lord. Some posttribulationists view the entire present age as the tribulation, although the majority accepts the literal interpretation of the tribulation period as a portrayal of actual events preceding the Second Advent.
(5) Pretribulation Rapture. According to the pretribulation view of the Rapture, the Church will be translated prior to the seventieth week of Daniel and return with the Lord to the earth at the Second Advent. Hand in hand with this view is the doctrine of imminency, which emphasizes that the Lord can return any moment without regard to signs. All signs are for Israel and therefore relate to the Revelation (Rev. 19:11-21), when He will come with the saints at the end of the tribulation period.

 

Pretribulational View

Posttribulational View

Midtribulational Rapture

Partial Rapture

Pre-Wrath Rapture

 

Interpretive Approaches to the Book of Revelation

Revelation's picturesque images, mysterious symbols, and apocalyptic language make it one of the most challenging books in Scripture to interpret. There are four main interpretative approaches to the book.

Futuristic Approach: This view sees in chapters 4-22 predictions of people and events yet to come in the future. Only this approach allows Revelation to be interpreted following the same literal, grammatical-historical hermeneutical method by which non-prophetic portions of Scripture are interpreted.

Idealist Approach: The book of Revelation was not designed as a historical document or future prophecy, but instead teaches timeless truths about good and evil, Satan and God, etc., by way of metaphor, allegory, and/or story.

Historicist Approach: Many of the great writers, thinkers and preachers of the historic Christian church favored historicism since the Reformation of the 16th century. While the earliest Reformers, like Martin Luther and John Calvin, did interpret prophecy according to a historicist framework, they retained the interpretation of "the thousand years" of Revelation 20, known today as, "Amillennialism," that was promoted at that time by the Roman Catholic Church. From the late 16th century until the 20th century, the historicist interpretation of prophecy, coupled with a "Premillennial" view of Revelation 20, was common among Bible-believing Protestants around the globe. That particular brand of end-times beliefs, called, "Premillennial Historicism".

Preterist Approach: The preterist views Revelation not as future, predictive prophecy, but as a historical record of events in the first-century Roman Empire. The preterist view thus ignores the book's own claims to be a prophecy (1:3; 22:7, 10, 18-19). Nor were all the events predicted and depicted in Revelation fulfilled in the first century. The Second Coming of Christ described in chapter 19 obviously is yet to occur. But the preterist view requires that one see the words about Christ's second coming as fulfilled in the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, even though He did not appear on that occasion. Nor is there any persecution in the first century that fits the description of the horrific events depicted in chapters 6-19.

 

The Kingdom of God

Comparing Eschatologies

 

Israel and the Church

Daniel's Seventieth Week (Tribulation Period)

 

The Olivet Discourse

 

The Binding of Satan

 

Typology

 

Prophecy

 

Miscellaneous

 

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