Introduction
This is the word of the Lord,
Matthew 24:32–35 ESV
32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Let us pray!
Conviction! Such a fascinating word!
The conviction of the mind is the heart of faith. The author of Hebrews tells us that faith is the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
Now, these convictions can change for the better or the worse.
When the Bible says in Luke 6:45
Luke 6:45 ESV
45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
this abundance is a revelation of one’s true convictions. This is also why Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:16 that You will recognize them by their fruits.
These convictions grow roots like oaks and the deeper they grow, the more they shape your faith, what you believe, and how you live.
And the question is not whether but which – it is not whether you have convictions but which convictions are shaping you now? All hearts were created by God to have an abundance, and if Christ and his word will not fill your heart and your mind, something else will.
This is why theology and doctrine are so vitally important to the Christian, because Romans 10:17
Romans 10:17 ESV
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
And, John 16:8
John 16:8 ESV
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
Therefore, as we look at these passages in the Gospel of Matthew regarding the prophecies of the last things, remember that your convictions will shape you.
Although the subject of Eschatology is a tertiary doctrine, one that faithful Christians have disagreed on for centuries, do not therefore presume that it is less important.
Remember that Christ taught you in Matthew 6:19-21
Matthew 6:19–21 ESV
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
and he taught you to Colossians 3:2
Colossians 3:2 ESV
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
He taught you to love his appearing in 2 Timothy 4:8
2 Timothy 4:8 ESV
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
We are told that 1 Corinthians 15:19
1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
So, the matters of eschatology matter more than you might assume because it informs your convictions on matters of heaven, of the things that are above.
And if you decide that eschatology does not matter, remember that it is not whether but which. It will not be a question of whether you will have convictions regarding heaven and the things to come but which convictions will you have. If the Bible will not be your source, then politics will be. Or culture, or fantasy, or conspiracy theories, name it.
There is a deep yearning in our Christian souls to leave and be with God for that is far better (Philippians 1:23). We cannot escape these things that are hoped for, because faith is both the conviction of things not seen and the substance of the things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1).
Eschatology is more important than you might assume because being heavenly minded is to hope for the eternal life.
Brothers and sisters, the age of the church, this present age is the millennial age of the rule of Christ. It is not some future age. Many of you have lived your lives thinking that we lose down here, that this world will plummet into a desecrated darkness that Christ will return to rescue us from.
This is not true for he has already done that in his first coming. You are already rescued by the blood of the Lamb who has no sin. You have already died to sin and have been raised to the newness of life in redemptive work of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Isaiah 60:1–3 ESV
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
Now you, are alive. The chains have been broken. And you now stand unbreakable, immovable, the city in whom God dwells. And you have been sent to rescue this world from darkness and greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Arise, shine, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
You who had no hope, have been given hope so that you might carry that hope to the ends of the world. You had no glory, have been given glory that you might make the earth his glory.
We do not lose down here because, Psalm 110:1
Psalm 110:1 ESV
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Because 1 Corinthians 15:25-26
1 Corinthians 15:25–26 ESV
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
There is no Gospel without eschatology because, 1 Corinthians 15:19
1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
We are reminded of this every week in partaking of the Lord’s table. 1 Corinthians 11:26
1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Jesus himself does not drink of this cup. Matthew 26:29
Matthew 26:29 ESV
29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Beloved, eschatology is not a tertiary doctrine that is far divorced from the Gospel. The word ‘eschaton’ from which you get ‘eschatology’ is a word means ‘end point’, not ‘end times’. In that sense, an ‘eschaton’ is deeply rooted in our very conversion because that was the eschaton of our old lives for the old has passed away and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Eschatology is the subject that deals with the hope of the Gospel. John 3:16
John 3:16 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Eschatology deals with that phrase of ‘having eternal life’.
Given the manner in which we’ve covered the portions of Matthew 24 so far, much has been said about the postmillennial understanding, which I am convinced is far more biblically faithful than any of the other positions on the end times. All things considered, I find it far more literally, historically and exegetically faithful than any of the other positions.
If anything has happened to me since the beginning of our journey through this subject, it is that I have become more postmillennial than I was when we started. Many things that I was not sure about within this view, I am sure of today.
And these convictions play a pivotal role in my understanding of the world that we are in and how I am to minister and prioritise my ministry endeavours.
Isaiah 11:9 ESV
9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
It was the puritan ‘Thomas Goodwin’ who said, “The promise is that the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea; that is, not in a little creek or two, as now it is, but as the waters cover the sea from the one end of the earth to the other.”
Exegesis
Having given the warnings and the signs surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem which was to signify the end of the Jewish age, Jesus now begins to issue a series of parables – 4 of them to be precise.
This is an interesting shift in the Olivet discourse because we know that Jesus speaks in parables to puzzle the unbelievers. Matthew 13:13-15
Matthew 13:13–15 ESV
13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
Parables were given to confuse the ungodly and to teach the righteous.
Therefore, this is a significant shift in the discourse because what was plainly spoken so far is now being given in parables. This tells us that Jesus expects his hearers to weigh the matter of the parables seriously and carefully.
The first of the parables as we saw briefly last week was that of the fig tree. Matthew 24:32-35
Matthew 24:32–35 ESV
32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
The Bible often uses the fig tree to symbolize Israel and its spiritual state. For example, in Jeremiah 24, the Israelites are compared to the good fruits and bad fruits of the fig tree. Jeremiah 24:4-10
Jeremiah 24:4–10 ESV
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me:
5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
6 I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
8 “But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.
9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.
10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”
Or, Hosea 9:10 (ESV)
10 Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers…
Or, Joel 1:7
Joel 1:7 ESV
7 It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.
Earlier, in Matthew 21, we read about Jesus cursing the fig tree and it withering. This was to be a sign of God’s divine judgment on Israel.
For she was to be the fig that bore fruit at the coming of her King but she was found to be spiritually barren. The elders and rulers of the Jews rejected the promised Messiah, the Son of God.
But notice the contrast in the depiction of the fig tree in this parable that is not withered but is tender, putting out it’s leaves, at the brink of bearing fruit. It is ready to depart the cruel cold of the winter and to summon the warmth of sun in the summer season.
If the former was a depiction of destruction, the latter is a depiction of something new. If the persecution of the saints as described in Matthew 24 is but the birth pains, then that suggests that something is being birthed.
It is by no means a stretch to ascertain that the birth pains at the end of an age symbolises giving birth to a new age.
So also, the depiction of the fig here is hopeful, a fig tree that is ready for the new season.
How can this be? How can there be a new season if the former fig tree withers? Because the fig tree here is no longer Israel. The withering of the first tree is the curse of disobedient Israel, it is the withering of an Old Covenant.
The preceding verse is our context here. Matthew 24:31
Matthew 24:31 ESV
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
This then is the new fig tree, the gathering of the elect.
The symbolism of the fig tree doesn’t end there. For Adam and Eve when they sinned, Genesis 3:7
Genesis 3:7 ESV
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
and hid themselves among the trees in the garden (v8).
They covered themselves with the leaves of the garden and hid themselves among the trees of the garden.
If the Garden of Eden was the first sanctuary where God would meet with humanity, then what Adam and Eve did was to use the garments of the sanctuary to hide and find refuge in the sanctuary.
This is the sin of presumption, for the sanctuary of God is not the place for the sinners to hide in their sin.
So, God cast them out.
This sin of presumption is the sin of the Pharisees and Scribes who in their time clothed themselves like Adam and Eve with the garments of the sanctuary and presumed the temple to be their refuge. They used the garments of the sanctuary to hide and find refuge in the sanctuary.
So, Christ enters Jerusalem, cleanses the temple, curses the Pharisees and Scribes, curses the fig tree, proclaims desolation upon Jerusalem and prophesies the destruction of the temple.
Now, running parallel to this theme of destruction, is that of hope and a new season.
Christ’s counsel to the elect is to prepare themselves, to flee from the great desolation so that they might endure to the end. So that they might see the summer in full bloom.
Matthew 24:33 ESV
33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
This is another example of how translators are often interpreters (though they shouldn’t be) because the subject ‘he’ in the phrase ‘he is near’ is not mentioned in the original Greek.
Instead the context of the passage is meant to suggest the subject that is to be used here.
So, the NIV and KJV translations for example render this phrase as “it is near” because the immediately preceding verse is talking about the summer season.
This is the more plausible intention of the text. This means that this signs of desolation are not only signs of the end of an age, but also signs of the dawn of another age. An age that is at the very gates.
‘All these things’ are a clear reference to all the signs that Jesus spoke about since the beginning of this discourse, and given the state of this New Covenant fig tree, ‘all these things’ were signs of both the end of an age, and the beginning of another.
And that generation was to see it all.
Matthew 24:34–35 ESV
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
These verses are a form of a literary device known as a chiasm, where a sequence of ideas are presented and then repeated in the reverse order.
Chiasms can highlight similarities and differences between the elements placed in parallel positions, enhancing the reader’s understanding.
This literary structure places the most important concept or idea in the middle of the chiasm, the structure draws attention to this central theme.
Here, you have a thing that will not pass away, followed by a thing that passes away, and then another that passes away followed by a thing that does not pass away.
• This generation will not pass away
• Heaven will pass away
• And then, earth will pass away
• My words will not pass away
The chiasm of this text symbolises what happens at the destruction of Jerusalem, focussing on the things that were to pass away.
These are God’s decisive decrees of what ‘will’ and ‘will not’ happen!
This Generation will not pass away
The word generation has been used several times in the Gospel of Matthew and it has always referred to the disbelieving, disobedient and evil generation to which Jesus was sent.
Matthew 11:16 ESV
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
Matthew 12:39 ESV
39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Matthew 12:41–42 ESV
41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Matthew 12:45 ESV
45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
Matthew 16:4 ESV
4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
Matthew 17:17 ESV
17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
Matthew 23:36 ESV
36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
And now here, in Matthew 24:34
Matthew 24:34 ESV
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
There is no question that this generation that is being addressed here is the evil generation that rejects the Messiah that is sent to them.
And that evil generation was not to pass away until all these things took place. They would watch the end of their age and watch the faithful fig put out its leaves in preparation for the new age.
In order to sustain the notion that all of this is to happen in our future, theologian have to stretch the meaning of ‘this generation’ to include our generation and further on. Some theologians suggest that the word ‘generation’ is in reference to the future generation in which these things were to take place.
But that would be a needless and obvious statement since whichever generation in which these things take place will see these things take place.
No, what is in view is the evil generation at that time that Jesus was speaking to.
Heaven will pass away
Now, this must draw our attention back to the previous verses that talk about, Matthew 24:29
Matthew 24:29 ESV
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Here you have a depiction of the undoing of heaven.
As we saw last week, this decreational language of the cosmos has always in Scripture been used to symbolise the destruction of a kingdom.
There is a reason for this imagery.
Genesis 1:14–15 ESV
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,
15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
What is light but the depiction of pure glory? 1 John 1:5
1 John 1:5 ESV
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
John 8:12 ESV
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
1 Timothy 6:15–16 ESV
15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Light is the depiction of pure glory.
Isaiah 60:1–3 ESV
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
Genesis 1:16 ESV
16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
The Sun was to rule the day and the moon was to rule the night and the stars along with them would be for signs and for season, for days and for years. This is how humanity determines the time and the seasons. This is the purpose for these celestial lights of the cosmos.
So, as you can already tell, these lights serve as great metaphors for kings and rulers of the earth. Just as the sun rules the day and the moon rules the night, so the kings of this world rule over their people.
I assure you that in light of such obvious and prevalent biblical language, the assumption that the sun will emit dankness and the moon invisible, and giant balls of burning flame fall on this planet is a thing of fantasy that has no exegetical foundations.
If that were the case, there will be no earth or people to rapture.
So this disintegrating heaven is not the physical cosmos but the political cosmos. This is the disintegration of a kingdom.
So, you see, heaven was to pass away
Earth will pass away
If heaven is in reference to political kings and rulers, then the earth is in reference to the subjects under that rule, for just as heaven rules over the earth, so kings rule over their people.
In Jeremiah 4:23-31, the decreation of heavens and earth referred to the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah.
Isaiah 51:15–16 ESV
15 I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”
Therefore, when it comes to Israel such language also denotes the dissolution of the Covenant between God and his people.
The destruction of heavens and earth in Isaiah 34:4 refers to the judgment of Edom.
Isaiah 13:13 records the destruction of Babylon’s heavens and earth.
The destruction of Jerusalem then would be heaven and earth passing away, the end of the Jewish age.
2 Peter 3:7 ESV
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
The heavens and earth of Israel, the rulers and their subjects who killed the prophets that were sent to them, killed the Son of God. So, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, for destruction.
It is this destruction that Jesus prophesies in Matthew 23:38
Matthew 23:38 ESV
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
Peter goes on. 2 Peter 3:10-11
2 Peter 3:10–11 ESV
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
Here you have similar decreational language. And it is not speaking about the physical cosmos but the political cosmos of the Kingdom of Israel.
And then the author of Hebrews tells us again, Hebrews 12:26-28
Hebrews 12:26–28 ESV
26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”
27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
The author of Hebrews also speaks of things that shall be removed and things that shall remain. All these signs of the Olivet discourse point to things that are passing away and things that are not passing away.
Hebrews 8:13 ESV
13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 10:25 ESV
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
What encouragement do you give as the Day of Doom draws near? The encouragement of what is beyond.
Therefore, the heavens are the rulers of a nation and the earth is the people, and both were to pass away at the judgment.
The destruction of Jerusalem would mark the passing of the Old Covenant, of the old heavens and the old earth.
My Word will not pass away
The wicked of that generation perished only after seeing all of what Christ said come to fulfilment, but the righteous that heeded his warning and fled, endured to the end because his word endured. It did not pass away.
Therefore, the word of God endures but the old heaven and the old earth has passed away with the vanishing of the old covenant.
And in the age of the church were now introduced a new people, a new earth. 1 Peter 2:9
1 Peter 2:9 ESV
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
And to these people were given new rulers – Ephesians 4:11-12
Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
And to these people and rulers were now given a new King – Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 9:6 ESV
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Matthew 28:18–20 ESV
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Conclusions
And so, at the dawn of a new age, the fig tree of the New Covenant was tender and put forth its leaves in anticipation for the summer, a time that was at the very gates.
And with the destruction of Jerusalem the Old Covenant came to an end, the old heavens and earth passed away, and the New Covenant that was inaugurated in the Old had now come to its fulfilment. And with it was inaugurated the New Heavens and the New Earth in this Millennial Age of the Church.
Isaiah 65:17–25 ESV
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
In this time of the inaugurated New Heavens and New Earth, there is birth and death. This is not a description of the eternal state after the final end, for there is not birth or death in eternity.
This is the new heavens and new earth inaugurated but through the ministry of the church, the Kingdom of God is growing, Christ’s enemies are being subdued, and the final enemy to be defeated is death.
This new heavens and new earth inaugurated will one day come to its complete fulfilment just the New Covenant inaugurated in the Old came to its fulfilment in AD 70 at the destruction of Jerusalem.
This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or more specifically the hope of the Gospel or the fulfilment of the Gospel.
Christ is victorious.
Christ is King.
And we are his Church. He is the light of the world seated in the heavens and we are the light of the world that he kindles and sends out into the earth.
The New Covenant is a new administration of a new people.
In the words of a postmillennial theologian James Jordan, “We can fill out precisely what a ‘new heavens and a new earth’ entail if we look at the New Covenant. For one thing, there is now a human King in heaven, something that never was the case before.”
He goes on
“The Holy Spirit has come down to the earth in a full and final way, at the last Pentecost. Satan has been removed from access to the heavenly court and has been cast down to the earth. Thus, the old heaven and earth passed away in the first century and a new heaven and earth arrived.”
We don’t lose down here. We win. For Lord and glory, in Jesus Name! Amen!
