We’ve seen and heard it all before, and we will see and hear it again …”Prepare to meet your Maker, the world will end tomorrow!” For some reason, certain individuals believe they possess special insight into Scripture or that God has revealed to them the specific date of his return. The phenomenon has occurred for centuries, bringing great harm to their followers and to the Church universal.
We witnessed such an incident recently, and the results were the same as on previous occasions; a prophet proclaimed a date of the “rapture of believers,” and followers spent their life savings or maxed out their credit cards because they wouldn’t have to pay the bills. The event didn’t take place as predicted, and people were highly disillusioned and hurt. What a tragedy! It is, however, not uncommon for people to place their hopes and dreams in an event rather than the person of Jesus Christ.
In contrast we have witnessed the Commissioning and Ordination of the Ambassadors of Holiness, the new lieutenants of the USA Southern Territory. Their name reflects their commitment to live, serve and proclaim the message of Jesus. It is a message that is very simple … If you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and live a life that is pleasing to him, you will have eternal life. It is a message of hope and transformation, forgiveness and redemption, love and grace. It has no timeline or deadline, no conditions or policies, it was available yesterday, is available today and will be available until there are no more tomorrows on this planet.
So what about this “pan-millennial” theology? It is a reflection of my own belief of the “end times.”
There is “pre-millennial” theology that says Christ’s return will be followed by his reign for 1,000 years prior to the final judgment day.
Then there’s “post-millennial” theology that anticipates 1,000 years of peace and pre-eminence of Christian values before Christ returns.
The “pan-millennial” theologian believes that the message of Scripture is to live a life that is pleasing to God and be prepared at all times for whatever ending he has planned. In other words, everything will “pan out” in the end as he determines.
Listen to the words of Jesus as he speaks this parable:
Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him … You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Luke 12:35; 40)
From my perspective it’s not about how our lives will end, but rather how well we live our lives so that the end doesn’t matter.
Jesus was asked the question of the ages by a trained theologian: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And the answer for all of us seems too easy:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:25-27)
You can worry about the end if you want to, but I believe God is more interested in how we live than how we die. But it’s your choice. Oh, by the way … something big is supposed to happen on October 21st!
By: Colonel Terry Griffin
