gracEmail
Edward Fudge

THE END HAS COME --
'ALREADY' BUT 'NOT YET' (1)
I recently noted that, in the person of Jesus Christ, the End of the world has come to us in advance, and that those who finally will be saved were both judged and acquitted in Jesus their representative. Bible scholars sometimes call this "realized eschatology." A Texas brother inquires whether I agree with the notion held by some, that Jesus' Second Coming occurred in its fullness in A.D. 70, so that nothing remains for the future. He asks the question because proponents of that doctrine also call it "realized eschatology."

* * *
The interpretation to which you refer was popularized by Max King and Ed Stevens, who originally preached for Churches of Christ. I see it as an extreme over-reaction to the futuristic prophetic speculations which fill the airwaves of radio and television, and which fill the pockets of certain imaginative authors. This so-called "preterist" view has now spread among people of many denominations.

The British scholar C.H. Dodd used the term "realized eschatology" many years ago, to describe certain aspects of the teaching of Jesus in John's Gospel. Oscar Cullmann, a Swiss-French theologian, developed the theme of Jesus as the bearer of the End-Time in his brilliant book titled Christ and Time: the Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History, but Cullmann was looking at the life-death-resurrection of Jesus Christ, not primarily at the events of A.D. 69-70.

What happened to Jesus surprised the Jews, Cullmann explained, because they looked for Messiah at the End of the present age. When Messiah comes, they thought, Resurrection will occur, God will judge his enemies, the Spirit will be poured out on a new creation and God's people will enjoy salvation forever. But instead of coming at the End in that sense, Messiah (Jesus) comes in the midst of time and history. So the End begins with him, for he is raised from the dead! And on Pentecost shortly afterward, God pours out his Spirit and announces salvation to all who will repent and be baptized in Jesus' name. Equally clearly, however, the world continues.

When Jesus returns, he will bring to its consummation what he has already accomplished. We live between the advents -- between Jesus' first coming and his second coming. With his first coming, Jesus ushered in the beginning of the End. When he returns in glory, he will usher in the consummation of all that he has already accomplished.


gracEmail
Edward Fudge

THE END HAS COME --
'ALREADY' BUT 'NOT YET' (2)
When God raised Jesus from the dead, it was as if he called out "Number One" and the Resurrection began. Then he paused -- for a length of time no one knows but God alone. One day he will announce, "Number Two!" and Resurrection will continue. That will mark the End of the world, and Judgment Day will follow. Yet because of Jesus' resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit, we see that the End has begun -- although the world still goes on.

Jesus' apostles and earliest disciples grasped both these truths as paradox. The End has come, they proclaimed -- and the End is still coming. The present age is passing, and the age to come has begun -- but it has not come in its fullness. Messiah came, and he will come again. Cullmann compared this two-part End to the end of World War II with its D-Day and V-Day. The decisive turning-point occurred at D-Day when the Nazis were soundly defeated, but "mopping-up operations" continued until the formal end at V-Day.

In a similar fashion, Jesus defeated Satan and accomplished the atonement for sin in his first coming. These accomplishments are not yet visible but are enjoyed by faith. What Jesus accomplished before will become universally evident at his return. Then the Resurrection (which started with Jesus himself) will continue. All the dead will rise and be judged, the present age will totally end, and the age to come will arrive in its fullness forever.

We live "between the times" and so we are pulled in both directions. That is the source of conflict between Flesh and Spirit, between the "already" and the "not yet." We have life in Christ, but we will die if Jesus does not return first. We are forgiven but we still struggle against sin. God heals some people but not others. God works miracles some days and places but not others. The Kingdom of God has come, but it is yet invisible and often hard to find.

With all the varieties of teaching flying about us, how are we to find and maintain biblical balance? As always, by focusing on Jesus -- who is the core and center of redemptive history. Unlike the futuristic prophetic speculators, I urge that we fasten our eyes on Jesus who has come already. And, unlike the A.D. 70 folks, I urge that we fasten our eyes on Jesus, who will surely come again.

For more on living in the end-time, click here.