End Times, Heaven

From the day we started planning this class, I have looked forward to this session. The reason for that is simple — it's the end of the story, and it's a good one.

Often, the focus of the End Times and end times theology is the signs and wonders, the judgments, the anti-Christ, and the Tribulation. It is good to know about that, it is important to study Revelation, and it is good to be prepared. It also helps you to sift through what's said about the end times and to sort fact from fiction.

But all too often — both in the secular world and in our own Christian contributions to End Times thinking — we end with the judgment and Tribulation. We end with the chaos and the destruction. We end with despair and hopelessness. But that's not how John ends Revelation.

Sure, the final chapters contain the final judgment, but they are about celebration. The celebration of our Lord, Jesus Christ, over all that which is dark, evil, and profane. The New Jerusalem, the Second Coming, and the Eternal Kingdom. That's the end of the story, and as I said, it's a good one.

Our focus in this life is supposed to be on eternity, on Heaven. I think one of the reasons we focus on the doom, gloom, and judgment is because we can understand it. We have seen suffering and the ravages of evil, but as the Bible notes, "no ear has heard and no eye has seen" the wonders our Savior has in store for us.

I hope tonight will be a discussion that is a celebration of God's promise, and a time when we can all share our ideas. It's good for us to keep our focus where it should be — on the end of the story.

If we do that, we won't be disappointed.