KMWellum - The Church as an Eschatological Community - Academia

Page 1 of 5 The Church as an Eschatological Community The New Testament contains numerous descriptions of the Christian church. The reason for this diverse witness is not difficult to discern: the church is a multi-faceted entity that plays a critical role in what God is doing in the world until Jesus returns at the end of the age. Therefore, it is not surprising that one way to think of the church is as an eschatological community. This does not mean that the exact term, “eschatological community” is used, but that the concept captures an important aspect of the nature of the church and consequently is important when it comes to understanding purpose of the church in the plan of God, and the role of Christian believers within it. The word “eschatology” is a compound word composed of “eschatos” which means “last,” and “logos” which means “word,” or can be extrapolated to mean “doctrine” or “teaching.” Eschatology is a branch of theological study which focuses attention on what the Bible says about last or final things. Caution, however, is required, because to understand last things we must start at the beginning of the biblical narrative. In this way, the biblical narrative is like other narratives. If, for example, a reader starts at the end of The Chronicles of Narnia, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it will be impossible to understand the story and the roles of the remaining characters. So, it is with the biblical story. If we are to make sense of the concluding parts of the narrative, we must start in Genesis and work our way through the biblical text until we get to the book of Revelation. In the history of the church, there have been differences of opinion over aspects of eschatology. Details like the identity of the antichrist, the timing of the Lord’s return, and the meaning of the 1000-year millennium spoken about in Revelation 20 have been debated and written about since the beginning of the Christian era. These interpretive differences and the intense feelings they can arouse can make people reluctant to talk about eschatology. Much like politics, sometimes peace seems more important than squabbles that rarely resolve anything. This lack of progress is unfortunate because eschatology is linked to the rest of the biblical story especially, though not exclusively, to ecclesiology, or the doctrine of the church. And the church, contrary to public sentiment today, is important in the plan and purpose of God. Two texts from the apostle Paul’s letter to Christians in Ephesus highlight the strategic importance of the church. In Ephesians 1:22-23 Paul writes that “God placed all things under his [Christ’s] feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” In Ephesians 3:9-11, Paul talks about the administration of a mystery which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things, but who now intends “through the church” to make known his manifold wisdom to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus. A straightforward reading of these verses links ecclesiology and eschatology in a way that has implications for our lives in these last days. The ascended Lord has been appointed head over everything for the church, and the church is a vehicle through which God displays his wisdom to angels! But how can we understand what is important in terms of the church as an eschatological community and our lives in this world without getting into the controversies that surround the end of all things? One productive solution is to focus on an eschatological truth that many Christians believe and understand. This is the truth that the kingdom of God, or the saving reign of God in the Messiah, that was promised in the Old Testament has come in a preliminary way in Jesus the Christ. To be sure there is ©Kirk M. Wellum (2022) – The Church as an Eschatological Community – Summer 2022 Page 2 of 5 more, much more, to come, but that does not change the fact that 2000 years ago God broke into human history in Jesus and by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, he secured the salvation of all who put their faith in him as their Savior and obey him as their Lord. What remains between now and the end of all things as we know it, is for God to fulfill his purposes for humanity, which involves the rescue of people from all the nations and their incorporation into his church. To illustrate the idea that God has begun to reign in his Son and that he will continue to do so until he has put all his enemies beneath his feet, some have used a historical example from World War II having to do with the difference between D-Day and VE-Day. D-day, June 6, 1944, saw the largest seaborne invasion in history when British, American, and Canadian troops stormed the beaches of Normandy and from there proceeded to fight their way across Europe. It was a turning point in the war that marked the beginning of the end of the Third Reich. On VE-Day, May 8, 1945, the Allies formally accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces, ending World War II in Europe. When we look at New Testament eschatology using the analogy of D-Day and VE-Day, we can see that we are currently living between the inauguration of the kingdom of God and its consummation. Or to use the language of biblical theology, we are living in the “already and the not yet.” Already the kingdom has come in a preliminary way, but it has not yet come in its fullness. The church, as a new covenant community of God’s people, is caught up in this eschatological tension. This is where we live. The present existence of the kingdom in the person of Jesus can be seen in the way he connects his power to exorcise demons to the work of the Holy Spirit and the arrival of the kingdom of God and not to Beelzebub as his opponents charged (Mt.12:28). When Paul writes to encourage Christian believers in Colossae, he reminds them that they have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom they also have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (1:1314). The letter to the Hebrews speaks of the contrast between “the past” and “these last days” in which they were living; times delineated by the speaking of the Son, who has been appointed heir of all things (1:1-2) and who gives to his people a “kingdom which cannot be shaken” (12:28). But there is still more to come as we await the consummation of the kingdom. Jesus told us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt.6:10). This is a petition that God might reign through Christ and soon bring the day promised in the prophetic scriptures when heaven and earth are one. In Rom.8:18ff., Paul says that he does not “consider our present sufferings worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed, for the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” John writes to first century Christians, “now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known, but when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 Jn. 3:2). The expectation of Christ’s coming is also how the book of Revelation, and the biblical canon ends. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (22:20). Implications for ecclesiology and for our lives as Christians living in this world. To understand the nature of the church we must understand that it is a community that exists in its earthly manifestation situated between the ages – that is, between the last days and the introduction of the new heavens and earth. It exists in the tension between the already and the not yet. This is what we mean when we say it is an eschatological community. ©Kirk M. Wellum (2022) – The Church as an Eschatological Community – Summer 2022 Page 3 of 5 To put it another way, the church is a manifestation of the age to come that exists in the present age in advance of the parousia, or the return of Christ, that brings this age to an end. The church is a community of the new heavens and earth that exists in the present: it is what Edmund Clowney calls, “an outpost of heaven.” This means that the church is tied to the future while also existing in the present, and this dual reality explains many of the struggles that individual Christians and Christian communities wrestle with. We are required to balance living in two worlds, to avoid being “so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good” while simultaneously not forgetting that this world is not our home because we are on our way to a better country—a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:16). The implications of the eschatological nature of the church for ecclesiology are many. For instance, it means that to understand the nature of the church we must understand the running tension between the “already and the not yet” in which the church participates. Grasping the implications of the tension is more difficult than it sounds and the confusion that exists among Christians as to the nature and function of the church is evidence of this difficulty. Today the church often oscillates between what is going on in the surrounding culture and biblical teaching. We currently see this in the politicisation of the church. Some Christians do not realize how much they are influenced by the surrounding culture and often go looking for historical or biblical justification for their activities. Sadly, their actions frequently betray their lack of theological awareness and reveal how much they are influenced by the spirit of the age. Some, in full panic mode at the waning of Christian cultural influence, try to “re-Christianize” society. But a kind of Christian whitewash will not fix the current problem and runs the risk of distorting the gospel message and multiplying false converts who make the novice but deadly mistake of confusing political zeal with the new birth brought about by the life-giving power of Holy Spirit. Instead, the church must live, act, and carry out her very specific mission. God calls it to do what no one else can do. If we do not display to the watching world the reality of the world to come, they will not learn about it another way. God does not call us to “Christianize” the culture and its institutions but to speak with clarity about the coming wrath of God while living as “salt and light” in the world (Mt.5:1316). We are not a social club. We are not a visible, external, religious institution. We are not a school, or hospital, or soup kitchen. There is a place for all these and Christians living and working in the world can minister God’s common grace in many ways. But we must testify to the fact that God’s new creation has already dawned, and one day soon it will come in its fullness with the salvation of all who put their faith in Jesus, and the final judgment of those who do not, no matter what their political loyalties or love of freedom. This is the unpopular gospel message that people do not want to hear today. Politics on the left and right has gone from being “no-go zones” a few years ago to being considered trendy at the present time. Those who “preach” their politics, especially with a defiant, self-righteous edge, gather a crowd. Everything has been politicized, from food to football, and if people are not out protesting in the streets, they are dispensing their brand of truth on social media. But the resultant noisy crowd that inevitably gathers should not be simplistically mistaken for the blessing of God. It is rather more likely a sad inadvertent testimony to a profound lack of confidence in the biblical gospel and proof that few today know what it means to see God move in saving power. Politics is the flavor of the day but unfortunately it is a cheap substitute at the present time for the real thing. Like all such diversions, it will not accomplish the truly radical work that needs to be done. Christians and especially church leaders should know this, but regretfully in too many instances, they do not. ©Kirk M. Wellum (2022) – The Church as an Eschatological Community – Summer 2022 Page 4 of 5 Understanding the nature of the church as an eschatological community provides a way for Christians to work through vexing and often divisive questions revolving around church and state. The primary mission of the church is oriented toward the end and therefore, the preaching of the gospel is a nonnegotiable essential! We believe the ultimate solution to society’s problems is the return of King Jesus, not political action. We believe in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and without that nothing of eternal significance will be accomplished. This world will not be won by coming up with a better economic system, or education system, or climate friendly policies. Human beings must be transformed by the supernatural work of God in the deepest recesses of their beings, and unless they are, all social gospels, no matter where such gospels fall on the political spectrum, will prove abortive in the end. The church cannot be identified with the state – contra the notion of Christendom. The church is not another institution of this world along with countries, governments, economies, academia, healthcare enterprises, military complexes, mass media, and entertainment. The church and individual Christians are called to be salt and light in a rotting and dark world that is running out of time. Reforms are at best stop-gap measures and the final book of the biblical canon reveals that no matter how long God allows human beings to live on the earth, in the end there will be rich and poor, free and slaves, the powerful and the powerless, the religious and the non-religious, and people of every political persuasion who will lament the destruction of “Babylon” and its glories. We must not forget the visions of the end that have been shown to all Christians in advance of the end no matter where we live in redemptive history, so we do not lose sight of the bigger picture. As Christians we are called to bring new creation realities into the present and to live counter-cultural lives that proclaim the reality of God’s grace and the certainty of salvation and judgment to come. This is how Christian ethics is unpacked in the New Testament. Although Christians are not fully purged of our sins, and will not be till glory, we know the resurrection power of Christ and the new covenant ministry of the Holy Spirit who enables us to walk as we should as we submit ourselves to God’s work in our lives. The world cannot not live like this, and our lives should point beyond ourselves to the saving power of our Lord. Even though we may live in countries with a Judeo-Christian heritage, spiritually speaking we are strangers in a foreign land. Our earthly countries are not our homes, we are just travelers here. The world which persecuted our Lord will persecute us as his followers. While we strive to live such good lives that others might ask us to explain our hope, we know that this is not enough to bring people out of the kingdom of darkness, and into the kingdom of God’s Son. This means that we will never be able to bring the kingdom or reign of our Lord to this earth before the return of the Lord in any kind of universal or significant way. Thankfully, however, the Holy Spirit is active in the world, restraining its madness, and continually testifying about sin, righteousness, and judgment to come (John 16). Another by-product of a biblical link between eschatology and ecclesiology is that just as a proper understanding of biblical eschatology informs and clarifies our ecclesiology, so a proper ecclesiology guides our eschatological interpretations. Thus, it is not surprising the unwarranted politicisation of the church gives birth to a renaissance of dubious eschatological positions. This connection can be seen in varieties of postmillennialism which posit that Christ will return to earth after a millennial period where the gospel is fantastically successful, and the world has outwardly come under its sway. Similarly, another theory known as “full/consistent preterism” conflates the destruction of Jerusalem and the return of Christ at the end of the age, meaning that we are now living in the new heavens and earth. Theologically this opens the door for a politically oriented gospel that is separated from the exegetical context of the gospel in the New Testament. According to the preterist gospel “flee the wrath to come” ©Kirk M. Wellum (2022) – The Church as an Eschatological Community – Summer 2022 Page 5 of 5 is transformed into “extend the reign of King Jesus throughout society.” And so, we see that changes in one area of theology can have dangerous and far-reaching consequences in other areas even if they are unintended. Our discussion of the church as an eschatological community is not complete without turning to Hebrews 12:18-29. The writer gives us a glorious description of the church that not only contrasts it with the ancient assembly of Israel that gathered around Mt. Sinai, but also connects it to the believing people of God in all ages, not only on earth but now also in heaven. This sums it up beautifully and wondrously conveys the essential truth that the church is a community of the world to come who live in the world faithfully waiting for God to unveil his eternal kingdom which cannot be shaken. This truth has always been important when it comes to thinking accurately about the church, and it continues to be so today, and till Jesus comes again. Kirk M. Wellum June 23, 2022 Originally Published in the Gospel Witness – Summer 2022 ©Kirk M. Wellum (2022) – The Church as an Eschatological Community – Summer 2022