The Mind of Christ

But God has already reduced the number of days, had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however,God will reduce the days.

This passage in Matthew is called the The Olivet Discourse. simply this is a prophetic speech given by Jesus Christ to His disciples on the Mount of Olives, focusing on the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the signs of the end of the age. There has been a lot of ink spilled on whether this speech was about the coming of the end times or the end of the religious Mosaic rituals or perhaps it could be both. I tend to lean towards the both side, but that is neither here nor there. I think the point is that no matter what the future holds we need to understand that we are resting in the finished work of Christ. We can often miss the main idea when we try and derive our own meanings. For example we were in Matthew 25 this week at Bible study going over 3 different parables, the first was the parable of the ten virgins, second was the parable of the ten talents and finally of the final judgement. We could have spent weeks if not months in these parables dissecting them…however if you boil them down to core we learned that we need to be prepared, that we have been given gifts to give others, and that in all things be compassionate towards one another.

Therefore when we look at this verse we know there is main idea and I would say three main points Jesus is making to Gods Elect! That is we have promise of eternal life and communion, we are preserved from eternal condemnation, and we have the assurance of eternal sonship and inheritance.

First, we have the promise of eternal life and communion with our Lord and Saviour. Revelation 2:7 says The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’ We are promised to not only have eternal life but more importantly to be in the presence of God. Our eternal joy is this, to be in His presence. What a promise!!!! This is exactly what Biblical Hope is, a hope that is not of this world but looks outside of this world to a future dwelling with Christ.

The second promise to God’s Elect is that we are preserved from eternal condemnation. We read in Revelation 13:8 All who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slaughtered. I love this verse because Satan is always lurking trying to sway us away from the Truth. However we are promised that the elect who are in the book of life will not be deceived by Satan. We have the promise of John 3:16 that those who believe will have eternal life. This isn’t an imperative it is declarative. We who are in Christ Jesus will have eternity with him. What happens at the end of days doesn’t change that, the end of days have already been declared.

Finally we have an inheritance, Revelation 21:7 says the one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. Our inheritance is secure, or said another way our future is secure. This promise highlights a definitive act of God’s grace where the elect are bought permanently into the divine family. The enduring ability to conquer is itself the the evidence of this new birth and the unstoppable outworking of God’s sovereign plan for the believers.

Therefore you don’t have to have your eschatology perfect, or your understanding of the “already” and “not yet” What makes all the difference for the “now” is that you understand your future is secure in the the open arms of Christ and that one day you will meet him face to face and be in His eternal presence full of joy and awe!!! REST IN THAT!!!