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How Christ’s Near Return Shapes Mission Today · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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It is good to have you with us today.
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Good to be here. We're opening up a topic that,
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well, it sometimes feels like it belongs in 2 completely
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different rooms of the church. That's a good way to put it.
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In one room you've got the missions committee.
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They're the practical ones, you know, they're looking at maps,
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they're talking about unreached people groups.
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Budgets. Logistics visas.
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Right, all the hard on the groundwork of evangelism.
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They're the ones with the mud on their boots, so to speak.
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For sure. And then down the hall.
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Usually in the basement, let's be honest.
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Right down in the basement you have the Prophecy Conference.
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And that room is just filled with charts, these incredibly
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complicated charts, timeline stretching across three walls.
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You know, people debating the identity of the beast or or
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arguing about the specific temperature of the tribulation.
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And those two groups, they almost never talk to each other.
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Not at all. The missions people tend to
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think. The prophecy people are, you
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know, too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good.
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And the prophecy people think the missions folks are ignoring
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the clear signs of the times. But today we're looking at a set
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of sources that make a really bold argument.
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They argue that these two rooms, they shouldn't just be
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connected. They should be the same room.
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Exactly. It's a fascinating premise.
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It really is. We're looking at the book
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Biblical Missions Principles, Priorities, and Practices, and
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specifically we're focusing on a chapter by Mark Tatlock and
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Chris Burnett. It's called Missions Today, in
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light of Christ's imminent return.
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And there's also a really critical insert in there by
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Michael Vlatch on what he calls the new creation model, which
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we'll get to. So the central argument here,
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and it's a big one, is that eschatology that's the study of
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last things isn't just a hobby for people who like solving
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biblical riddles, right? It's not a side issue.
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The authors argue it's actually the primary fuel for missiology,
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the study of missions, that if you take away a proper biblical
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doctrine of the end times, you essentially cut the fuel line to
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the missionary engine. That is a bold claim because for
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so many of us, I think the end times as a topic just breeds
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either fear or just endless speculation.
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Oh absolutely, people trying to pin the tail on the Antichrist
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or match headlines to Revelation.
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But these authors are saying if you view it that way, you're
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missing the entire point. You are.
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So the mission of this deep dive is to really analyze their
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argument that a solid belief in the imminent return of Christ
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isn't just a nice to have doctrine.
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No, it's the driver, It's the reason for our urgency, it's the
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motivation for holy living. It's not a side topic.
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It's it's the mainspring of the watch.
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OK, so let's get into the nuts and bolts of this.
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The authors start with what they call the doctrine of imminency,
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and they ground it primarily in Matthew chapters 24 and 25.
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Right now, I want to pause on this word imminent, because when
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we say something is imminent in, you know, a secular sense, we
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usually mean it's about to happen right now.
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Yeah, I see the storm clouds. So rain is imminent.
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There's a direct observable cause, and the effect is about
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to happen. But that's not the theological
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meaning they're using here, is it?
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Not at all. Tallac and Burnett define it in
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a way that explicitly excludes setting a date.
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In fact, that's the whole point. They point us to Matthew 24
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verse 3 where the disciples asked Jesus for a sign and a
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time frame for the end of the age.
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And Jesus, he doesn't give them a calendar invite, no.
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He gives them a warning. Instead, he focuses on these
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tribulation events that are for a future generation.
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But for his followers in this age, the core concept is what
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the authors call a signless sudden return.
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Signless. So let me just push on that for
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a second. If it's signless, why do we have
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whole books written about the signs of the times?
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What are we supposed to be looking for if there are no
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signs? That's the key distinction, and
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it's a bit of a paradox. We can look at the general
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season, what Jesus calls birth pains, you know, wars, famines,
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earthquakes. But for the specific event of
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Christ returning for his church, the authors argue, it is sudden
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and could happen at any moment. There is no prophetic hurdle
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that absolutely must be cleared before Christ can return for us,
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and this creates a very specific psychological and spiritual
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environment. The source calls it a tension.
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Yes, and I like that word cause tension can be uncomfortable but
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it can also be very productive. You know like the tension in a
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guitar string. If it's not tight, it doesn't
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make any music. That's a perfect analogy.
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This tension is meant to produce a constant state of expectancy.
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Because we don't know the when, we are forced to always be ready
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for the now. So the uncertainty is a feature,
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not a bug. It's the central feature.
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The text argues that this expectancy functions as a
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safeguard against spiritual laziness.
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Think about it this way. If your boss told you he was
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leaving on a business trip and would be back in exactly 10
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years, what would happen? You'd.
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Probably slack off for 9 1/2 years and then frantically try
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to get everything in order right before he got back.
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Precisely. You'd cram for the final exam,
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but Jesus removes that option entirely, and the authors
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connect this to passages like Mark 13, which is all about
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watching, and 1st Corinthians 16, which calls us to stand firm
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and be strong. The uncertainty of the timing
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creates a certainty of duty. Which brings us right to those
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parables of responsibility in Matthew.
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Jesus immediately follows up his warnings with these stories.
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He does, and they're all about this very dynamic.
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You have the servant in Matthew 24 who says my master is delayed
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and what does he do? He starts beating his fellow
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servants and getting drunk. He abuses his position.
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That's the danger, the source highlights.
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As soon as you lose that sense of imminency, that feeling that
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the master could walk through the door at any second, you open
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the door to what the text calls folly and peril.
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And Jesus connects the return of the King directly to the
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behavior of the servants. It's a direct call to holy
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living and prioritizing servanthood.
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It is, I think the parable of the talents in chapter 25 is
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often taught as you know, just a general stewardship lesson.
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Manage your money well, that sort of thing.
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That's how I've usually heard it.
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But in this context, it's an intensely eschatological
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parable. The whole framework is
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eschatological. The master gives the talents, he
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leaves, and the expectation is that when he returns suddenly
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and unannounced, there would be a return on his investment.
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It's all about accountability at the moment of his return.
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So eschatology isn't about, as you said, standing in a field
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looking at the sky. No, it's about responsible labor
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while the master is away. It's about being found faithful
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in your work when he shows up. So for a missionary, or really
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any believer involved in the Great Commission, this has a
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massive application. You can't just separate the 2.
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You can't. The authors argue that
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missionaries absolutely need to teach this to new disciples on
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the field. It's not just Jesus saves you
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from your past sins. It's Jesus is coming back very
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soon. So get to work.
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The text uses pretty strong language here, doesn't it?
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It says a failure to appreciate this it leads to problems.
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It says that a failure to appreciate the suddenness of the
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return opens the door to folly in peril.
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Think about that. If a missionary goes into a new
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context, establishes a church, but doesn't teach the imminency
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of Christ, they're potentially setting that young church up for
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spiritual failure. Because they'll think they have
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all the time in the world. Exactly.
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They might think they have generations to get their act
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together when the reality is the king is at the door.
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OK, that leads us perfectly into the next section of the source,
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because if Matthew covers the timing, or rather the lack of a
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specific time, First Corinthians 15 covers the logic.
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Yes, the logical necessity of it all.
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The authors take us to Paul's great defense of the
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resurrection. Right, First Corinthians 15.
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I mean, this is the heavyweight championship fight of theology.
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Paul is dealing with people in the Corinthian church who are
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actually denying the reality of a future bodily resurrection.
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Which seems incredible for a church to deny.
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Well, you have to remember the Greek mindset.
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The body was seen as a prison for the soul.
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The goal was to escape the physical, so the idea of getting
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a body back seemed like a step backward to them.
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And the source material here highlights what it calls the
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logic of martyrdom. Yes, Paul's argument in verse 19
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is just devastatingly logical. He says, if we have hoped in
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Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
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I have always found that verse so striking.
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He doesn't say we are slightly misguided or we've made a
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philosophical error. No, he says, we are most to be
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pitied. Why?
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Why is the pity so deep there? Because if there is no future
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hope, no physical resurrection to look forward to, then the
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sacrifices of the Christian life, and especially the
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missionary life are clinically insane.
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Insane. Think about what Paul himself
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went through. Beatings, shipwreck, starvation,
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imprisonment. Why would any rational person go
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to a hostile nation, risk disease, persecution, even a
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violent death, if this life is all there is?
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It makes no sense. If you're a secular humanist,
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you do good works to prove the here and now, because this is
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all you've got. Right, but a missionary often
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sacrifices the comforts and safety of the here and now for
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what? Paul's answer is for the glory
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of the resurrection. The doctrine of the
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Resurrection, as the authors put it, buttresses the Church
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against false teaching and against secularism because it
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raises the stakes to an eternal level.
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The authors use that agricultural term from the text
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First Fruits to explain this. Can we unpack that for a second?
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Sure, it's a powerful metaphor. In the Agricultural Society of
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the Old Testament, the first fruits were the initial part of
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the harvest that you brought to the temple.
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It was a sample. And that sample did two things
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right, Yes. First, it acknowledged that the
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whole harvest belonged to God, but second, it was the guarantee
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that the rest of the crop was coming.
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It was the physical proof of the full harvest to come.
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So when Paul calls Christ the first fruits.
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He's saying Christ's resurrection isn't a one off
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anomaly. It's not just a neat miracle
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that happened to one person. It is the prototype.
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It is the guarantee that our resurrection is coming to.
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The argument in the text is inescapable.
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If Christ is not raised, there is no redemption.
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If death still holds authority over Jesus, it still holds
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authority over us. And if that's true, there's
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absolutely no motivation to suffer for the gospel.
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Zero. Why would you?
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It changes the entire confidence level of the ministry.
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The source mentions Philippians 2 where Paul talks about living
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as lights in a crooked generation.
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If I believe, I mean really believe in my bones, that I am
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going to be raised physically from the dead, I can live above
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the evils of this world. It allows you to hold this life
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much more loosely. Correct.
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And the authors make a converse warning here that is really
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sharp. They say a missionary who
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sidelines this topic, maybe because they think it's too
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controversial or too confusing for new believers.
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Right, they want to keep it simple.
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They think they're being wise, But the authors say that
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missionary leaves the young church exposed to worldliness.
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They actually call it theological ignorance, don't
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they? They do.
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It's very strong language. They argue that avoiding the
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topic isn't being cautious. It is leaving your flock
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defenseless. Because if you don't give people
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a clear, robust, tangible vision of the next World, they will
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inevitably pour all their energy and all their hope into this
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one. And this one is a sinking ship.
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It is that idea of the bridge between the two worlds.
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That's really what Titus 2 is all about.
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This is our third section, the bridge between grace and glory.
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Titus 2 is such a beautiful, compact passage because it links
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what the authors call the two appearings of Christ.
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OK, what are the 2 appearings? Well, you have the first coming.
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That's in verse 11. For the grace of God has
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appeared, bringing salvation to all men.
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That's the incarnation, the cross, the empty tomb.
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Grace showed up in person. That's the foundation, that's
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the past event that our faith rests on.
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Right. But then Paul immediately pivots
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to the future in verse 13, looking for the blessed hope in
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the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ
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Jesus. That's the second coming.
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And the author's really zero in on the ethics of the in between.
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We live in that gap, that space between those two appearings.
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And that gap is not a vacuum. It's not just a waiting room.
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The text explicitly links the two poles.
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Paul says. The anticipation of the second
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appearing provides the fuel for the renunciation of sin in the
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present. He says grace teaches us to live
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sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.
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And why? Why do we do that?
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The very next phrase tells us. Because we are looking for that
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blessed hope. The future hope regulates the
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present behavior. The phrase used in our source is
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the looming shadow of Christ's appearing.
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I think that's such a vivid image.
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It is. And it's not a scary shadow like
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a monster in the closet. It's more like if you're a kid
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doing something you're not supposed to be doing and you see
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the shadow of your parent coming around the corner.
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That's a perfect way to put it. It immediately changes what
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you're doing in the living room. It changes your behavior
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instantly. That's the idea.
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It regulates behavior, but it also emboldens evangelism.
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The authors argue that our gospel proclamation is
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incomplete if it just stops at redemption.
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If we only say Jesus died for your sins and then stop there,
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we haven't told the whole story. We've given the beginning, but
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not the end. Exactly.
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We have to point to the final redemption, the restoration of
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all things. That forward-looking gaze is
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what emboldens us. The source references Second
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Corinthians 3, where Paul talks about the glory of the new
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covenant being so much greater than the old.
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Our confidence comes from the destination we're headed toward.
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So we have the doctrine of imminency preventing laziness,
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we have the resurrection providing the logic for
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suffering, and now we have the second Coming acting as a
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regulator for our present day ethics.
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It's all interconnected. Now I want to move to something
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that I found genuinely surprising in the text.
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This is our fourth section regarding the Thessalonians.
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Yes, one and Two Thessalonians. A fascinating case study.
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It is because if you go to a new believers class in a church
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today, you typically start with the basics, right?
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Prayer, reading your Bible, maybe the Trinity, the person
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of. Christ, the foundations, Yeah.
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You don't usually start week one with the Rapture or the
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Antichrist. We treat those as advanced
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topics for mature believers who can handle the complexity.
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Or, you know, for the weird uncle at Thanksgiving who has
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too many conspiracy theories. Right, we kind of silo it away,
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but the authors point out something incredible.
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Paul taught complex, detailed end times theology to brand new
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converts immediately. It's right there in First
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Thessalonians 1, verses 9 and 10.
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He says the report of their conversion was that they turned
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to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait
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for his Son from heaven. The waiting was part of the
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initial conversion package. It was Paul didn't see
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eschatology as an elective course for graduate students.
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He saw it as part of the core curriculum for kindergarten.
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Think about where these people were coming from.
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They were pagans. They were worshipping lifeless
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stone idols. So Paul had to give them a
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completely new framework for reality.
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He had to tell them, your idols are dead, but Jesus is alive,
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and not only is he alive, he is coming back to fix this entire
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broken mess. The result was that the
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Thessalonians had a faith that was robust enough to handle
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intense persecution almost immediately.
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They weren't just converted to a new morality, they were
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converted to a new timeline. But then a problem came up in
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Thessalonica, and it's a very human, very pastoral problem.
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They were grieving. Yes, 1st Thessalonians 4 deals
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with this head on. Some of the believers in their
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church had died and the ones who are still alive were grieving
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deeply because they were worried that their loved ones had missed
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out. They missed the bus, so to
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speak. They thought the Lord would
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return and their friends and family who had died wouldn't be
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part of it. And Paul's solution to their
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emotional grief was not just there, there it'll be OK.
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His solution was hard nosed doctrine.
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That's a key insight from our source, isn't it?
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We often treat theology as purely academic and counseling
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is purely emotional. But Paul treats theology as the
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medicine for the emotion. He doesn't just comfort them.
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He corrects their misunderstanding.
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He gives them the detailed teaching on the rapture and the
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bodily resurrection as a form of pastoral care.
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He tells them, Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed.
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And then he explains the order of events.
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The dead in Christ will rise first.
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Yes, that was new information to them and it changed everything.
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The concept of death as sleep comes up here.
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What's the significance of that metaphor?
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Well, sleep implies an inevitable awakening.
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If death is just sleep, then the resurrection is the morning
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alarm clock. It completely reframes the
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experience of loss. It's not a final goodbye, it's
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just good night. Then in Ted Thessalonians, the
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emotion shifts from grief to fear.
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Right. The persecution they were facing
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had gotten so bad that someone, perhaps a false teacher with a
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forged letter from Paul, had convinced them that they were
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already in the day of the Lord. Which is a terrifying thought.
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Terrifying. If you're a believer and you
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think God is actively pouring out his wrath on you, it would
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destroy your assurance of salvation.
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You'd be filled with anxiety and confusion.
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So again, Paul has to correct them.
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And how does he do it? With more doctrine, with the
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timeline, he says no, you're not in the day of the Lord, don't be
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shaken. Why?
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Because specific events must happen first.
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The great rebellion, the falling away, has to occur.
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The man of lawlessness has to be revealed.
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So the value of a correct eschatological framework here is
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that it prevents this debilitating anxiety.
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It does. It clarifies for them that their
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suffering was persecution from the world, not wrath from God.
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That is a world of difference. And it also clarified God's
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future justice against the wicked, which brings comfort to
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the suffering. St.
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They needed to know that God saw their suffering and that He
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would one day settle the score. It's just amazing how practical
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this all is. It's not about drawing charts
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for the sake of it. It's about keeping people sane
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and hopeful in the middle of real world tragedy.
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Absolutely. Doctrine for life.
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Now, shifting gears just slightly, we move to Second
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Peter 3. This is our fifth section.
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Eschatology as a weapon against falsehood.
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And this section deals with the scoffers.
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Yes, Peter issues this warning against those who will come in
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the last days, mocking and saying where is the promise of
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His coming forever. Since the Father's fell asleep,
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all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
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It's the argument from uniformity.
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Things have always been this way, so they'll always be this
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way. Exactly, and our source material
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calls this attitude feigned pan millennialism.
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Pan millennialism? That's the old joke, right?
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I'm a pan millennialist because I believe it'll all pan out in
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the end. Right.
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It's a joke, but it reflects a real attitude of apathy and the
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authors are very critical of that.
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They say this apathy is incredibly dangerous.
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Peter uses prophecy to sharpen our discernment.
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He says if you think everything just continues as it always has,
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you are deliberately overlooking 2 massive events, the creation
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and the flood. God has intervened dramatically
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before. He has and he will again.
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Peter is saying your premise is flawed.
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Things do not just continue as they always have.
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Peter also reframes the whole idea of the delay.
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The scoffers see the delay as proof that God is absent, or
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maybe impotent. How does Peter turn that on its
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head? He completely reframes the delay
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as salvation. He says the Lord is not slow to
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fulfill His promise as some count slowness.
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Instead, he is patient, not wishing that any should perish,
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but that all should reach repentance.
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So the open door of grace is the reason for the delay.
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Precisely. The implication is that the
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timing of the return is sovereignly determined by the
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completion of God's Steven work. The clock isn't ticking based on
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some mechanical, arbitrary schedule.
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It's ticking based on the salvation of the elect.
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Every day that passes is another day of mercy.
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And then, after talking about God's patience, Peter drops the
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hammer about the cosmic dissolution.
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The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and the heavens
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will pass away with a roar. And the new heavens and new
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earth of Seki Peters 3.13 and the logic he uses is just so
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powerful. Since all these things are to be
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destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in
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holy conduct and godliness? It's the ultimate.
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You can't take it with you argument.
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It is if the entire current world system and all its
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material structures are going to be dissolved by fire.
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Investing your life, your identity and your hope in them
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is just terrible portfolio choice.
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But the flip side of that is the promise of the new Earth and
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knowing that ending provides, as the text says, peace in the face
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of cosmic chaos. It gives you stability of heart
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because you know that after the fire, after the judgment comes
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the restoration that. Concept of the New Earth.
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The restoration is the perfect transition to the insert by
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Michael Vlach. This is Section 6, the
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philosophy of the future, and honestly, I think this is where
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the rubber really meets the road for a lot of us who are trying
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to figure out how to live as Christians in the world today.
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I agree this section is critical.
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Blotch presents 2 competing models of reality, two different
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visions of the future. He calls them the Spiritual
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Vision Model and the New Creation Model.
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Let's break those down. First, the spiritual vision
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model. This is what a lot of us
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probably grew up with, maybe without even realizing it.
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It's the default in a lot of Christian circles.
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It's an idea that's been heavily influenced by a Greek philosophy
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by Platonism. It elevates the spiritual over
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the physical. The body is bad, the material
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world is bad, and the goal is to escape it.
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So in this view, the final state is to escape the body, escape
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the earth, and go to some disembodied heaven where we, you
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know, float on clouds and play harps forever.
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Right, a purely spiritual, non physical existence.
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And our source points out that historically, figures like
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Augustine, influenced by this thinking and traditions like a
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millennialism, have tended to over spiritualize the Kingdom
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promises in the Old Testament. So they read promises about a
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physical Kingdom on Earth, interpret them as just spiritual
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realities in the church today. That's the assertion.
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If the ultimate goal is just a spiritual state, then the
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physical world, things like culture, nations, animals, our
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daily work, it doesn't really matter in the end.
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It's just a temporary stage, like it's completely burned down
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and forgotten. OK, so contrast that with Vox's
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new creation. Model Vox defines this as
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multidimensional. It is both spiritual and
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physical. It's based on passages like Acts
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3.21, which speaks of the restoration of all things, and
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Matthew 19.28 which talks about the regeneration when the Son of
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Man will sit on his glorious throne.
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So in this model, God isn't scrapping his original creation
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project and starting over with something totally different.
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No, He is restoring it. He is cleansing it of the curse
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of sin and bringing it to the glorious state He always
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intended for it. Black's list of what this
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includes is massive. It is, he says.
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It includes the Earth, the Promised Land for Israel,
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geopolitical nations, the church, animals, the inanimate
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creation, and even social, cultural and political
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realities. That's, well, that's basically
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everything. It says that nothing is excluded
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from God's redemptive plan except for sin and rebellion
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itself. Right, and this has massive game
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changing implications for our worldview.
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Let's walk through those implications.
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First, he talks about the scope of redemption.
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The scope is that God is not just saving disembodied souls
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for a spiritual heaven. He is reconciling, as Colossians
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1.20 says, all things to himself, other things on earth
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or things in heaven. That means the physical creation
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matters deeply to God. He made it, He called it good
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and he's going to fix it. The second implication is
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victory. In this model, believers are
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truly on the right side of history.
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It's not just a spiritual victory.
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Revelation 5 says that we will reign on the earth.
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Ruling the nation's is a tangible destiny.
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It's not a metaphor for being a nice person.
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It's a real administrative cultural authority in a
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perfectly redeemed world under Christ the King.
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OK, so if the scope is all things and the end result is
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tangible victory, the third implication is for our role now
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is salt and light. This is the answer to the why
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bother question. Yeah, why try to improve society
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if it's all going to burn? Well, in this model, it's not
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all just going to burn and be forgotten because the physical
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world will be restored, not abandoned.
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Our work in social, cultural and political realms actually
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matters. How so it?
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Validates the Christian worldview in every area of life.
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We're not just polishing brass in the Titanic.
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We are demonstrating in miniature what the coming
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Kingdom will look like. We are building for a Kingdom
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that is coming to this earth to stay.
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That is a fundamental shift in motivation for missions, then.
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It is. We are not laboring for some
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nebulous, mystical destiny beyond the universe.
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We are recruiting citizens for a concrete, populated, diverse and
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glorious Kingdom on a new Earth. And the urgency comes from.
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The urgency comes from the fact that people will spend eternity
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either as joyful citizens in this restored creation under
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King Jesus, or they will be in the Lake of Fire.
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There is no third option. The stakes are physical, eternal
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and real. OK, so this brings us to the
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author's conclusion. They wrap this all up with a
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specifically dispensational argument.
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Now, without getting too deep into the theological weeds of
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dispensationalism versus covenant theology, what's their
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main point here? Their main point is that what
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they called dispensational eschatology is the system that
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best safeguards these motivations we've been talking
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about primarily because it insists on a literal fulfillment
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of God's promises both to Israel and the church.
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And they summarize the convictions you gain from this
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perspective. Yes, three main convictions.
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First, a sure future. Knowing the specific literal
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details gives you stability in trials.
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Second, an urgency and evangelism because you're
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rescuing people from a very specific targeted wrath to come.
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And third, you see the value of the delay as God gracious
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opportunity for our sanctification and for more to
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be saved. So to summarize the entire
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argument of the book, Prophecy is intensely practical.
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That's it. It is not just about knowing the
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future, it is about how that knowledge radically changes how
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we live in the present. It's the very foundation of
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missionary endurance and holy living.
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If you take away the imminent return, you take away the
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urgency. If you take away the bodily
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resurrection, you take away the hope.
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And if you take away the new earth, you take away the
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ultimate value of our work in this world.
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It all hangs together. That is a lot to chew on, and as
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we always do, we want to leave you, our listener, with
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something to think about. We've talked about the theory,
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but let's try to make this personal, right?
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It has to be personal. So here's the question for you
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to consider. If you truly believed, without
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any reservation, that the King could return before this day
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ends, what specifically would change for you?
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Which of your current priorities would instantly become
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irrelevant? And conversely, which ignored
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tasks would suddenly become immediate, urgent necessities.
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That is a question that cuts right through the noise.
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It really does. Thank you for diving deep with
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us today on Reformed Thinking. We hope this challenges you to
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look at the end times not with fear or with idle speculation,
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but with a renewed and powerful sense of mission.
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Until next time. Keep thinking.