We have so far considered the unravelling of the Kingdom of God throughout the Bible and the various covenants through which God deals with His people. It is now time to consider the ultimate end and purpose of these things. Philosophers often use the term telos to refer to the fulfilment, completion, goal or aim of something. Since God created the present cosmic order, it goes without saying that He has purposed for it, an ultimate end. The created order finds its beginnings in God, who is its first cause. Similarly, the created order will find its end in God, for whom all things were created (Col 1:16).
Since we began this book with the creation of the material order we ought to begin our conclusion with its end. God created a material world that was good. Its purpose was for man to image God and reflect His cosmic rule in space and time as a priest-king in the material order. Man failed to keep God’s commandments and his kingdom was subjugated by Satan. God then placed the whole material order under a curse, awaiting ultimate destruction on a day that God has ordained. We have seen how throughout history there are intrusions of that day in space and time. We have also seen how these intrusions are typological warnings of what is to come.
Of all the intrusions of the Day of the Lord into space and time, the flood in Noah’s day was the greatest. As we have already seen, this was a judgement on a global scale that resulted in the death of all living things, save for Noah, his family and a pair of every animal to repopulate the world. Not only were the humans of the first world killed, all their works, their cities and everything they built and stored up were destroyed in the deluge. In other words, the works of civilization did not survive the destruction of the first world. After this destruction, we have seen how God established a general covenant with all of Noah’s descendants, promising to preserve the world and its natural order – day and night, summer and winter, cold and heat, springtime and harvest. Yet, this promise was given under the backdrop of the ultimate destruction of the order – for the covenant was made as long as the earth remaineth (Gen 8:22), indicating that there would be a time when it would no longer remain. Though there was a promise that the world would not be destroyed in water, the ultimate end of the second world has always loomed on its horizon.
The New Testament speaks of the Day of the Lord as coinciding with the promised return of Jesus Christ and the physical resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:22-24, 1 Thess 4:13-18, 5:1-3, 2 Pet 3:3-5). This aligns with what we have already learnt about Christ’s resurrection and His defeat of the kingdom of Satan. Christ has already ushered in the final judgement of this present world in the heavenly realm on His ascension. We just await that judgement to be manifested in space-time. Thus, we are indeed living on the brink of eternity in the very last age of this present world.
The apostle Peter gives us the clearest account of this ultimate Day of the Lord in 2 Peter 3. He warns that in the last days many will scoff at the faithful for believing in an imminent return of Christ (v3). These scoffers will emphasise how the world has been functioning in the same manner since the beginning of creation and thus will continue forever (v4). Peter calls out the willful ignorance of this thinking and explains how the first world was brought under judgement and completely destroyed in water (v5-6). Peter explains that the present world is reserved for judgement by the same word (v6). This same word is both a reference to creation when God created the heavens and the earth by His Word and the Great Flood where God destroyed the first world by His Word. Comparing the judgement of the first world and the present one, Peter declares that the present world is reserved unto fire against the day of judgement (v6). Note that according to Peter, the fate of the present world is not to be transformed but to be destroyed. The only difference will be that the first world was baptised or cleansed in water while the present world will be purged in fire.
The End of the Material Order
This Day of the Lord will come at a time unexpected and will be greatly cataclysmic. The destruction wrought by it will be so complete that the very elements that form the substance of the created order will melt in fervent heat and heavenly bodies will be dissolved (v10,12). Thus the destruction of the present order will be complete and cataclysmic. Peter contrasts this dissolution of the present world with the Christian hope of the new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (v13).
Christ Himself teaches that the day of His return will be like the days of Noah (Matt 24:37). Some of the Preterist persuasion have sought to peg this passage as finding fulfilment in the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem (rather than merely typologically being fulfilled in AD 70) by stating that the resemblance to the days of Noah is merely in the fact that people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. However, people have done those things throughout all of human history and still are. In fact Christ explicitly connects the days of Noah analogy to the destruction wrought by the flood and ties it in with His coming (Matt 24:39). In other words, Christ is saying that the Great Flood of Noah’s day was a foretaste of the second coming of Christ and the Day of the Lord.
Some would now bring up the accusation of gnosticism against those who teach that the present order of material things must be destroyed. However, this is a slanderous accusation. Not only does it fail to understand what Gnosticism was, it intentionally misrepresents this Biblical teaching. The destruction of the present world does not mean that matter is intrinsically evil in the same way that the Great Flood didn’t change the reality that when God made the earth, it was very good. However, the present created order is under a curse and God in His infinite wisdom has chosen to dissolve it, redeem His own people and build a new heavens and a new earth. This new earth will also be a physical material reality and it will be very good. Thus, matter isn’t intrinsically evil, it is the curse that pervades every aspect of the present world that makes it evil.
The destruction of the material order is a culmination of the curse that was placed upon it at the Fall. Everything that came under the curse was consigned to bear God’s wrath and be ultimately destroyed. Yet God mercifully chose to redeem a people for Himself from the curse, taking the curse upon Himself (Gal 3:13). Thus, the people of God are redeemed but the world and its works are still under a curse. On account of this curse they will face destruction in fire on the Day of the Lord.
The End of Human Civilization
Not only will the elements of the heavens and earth be destroyed but the earth itself and all its works will be burnt up (2 Pet 3:10). These works are a reference to the cultural works of human civilization. Unlike what some have posited that these works will be purified and then transferred into the world to come, Peter indicates that they will be utterly destroyed. This is in agreement with what we see throughout the New Testament. Paul affirms in his injunction toward Christian contentment that we brought nothing into this world and will take nothing out of it (1 Tim 6:7), plainly teaching that the works of this present world will be destroyed with the present world and therefore we ought not to seek them or be consumed by them. Similarly, he plainly states that visible things are temporary while the invisible spiritual things are permanent (2 Cor 4:18). Likewise the author of Hebrews makes it plain that God will shake not just the earth but also the heavens so that the things that are shaken will be removed and those that cannot be shaken will remain (Heb 12:26-27). He specifically points out that the things that cannot be shaken is a reference to the kingdom of God (Heb 12:28). He closes the section with a reminder that God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29), a reminder of the manner in which the things of this present world will be shaken on the last day.
We also see this utter destruction of the works of civilization in Rev 18. At the final judgement we see the fate of Babylon the Great. Babylon is simply a representation of the empires and nations of this present world. As revealed in Rev 17, this Babylon often emerges as an alliance between political power and apostates who abandon the kingdom of God for worldly power and wealth. The analogy of Babylon was familiar to the Jews who had lived as strangers and exiles in that empire. Many a Jew abandoned his heritage to gain the riches and power of Babylon. Babylon today is whatever empire or nation in which we as citizens of the heavenly kingdom live as strangers and pilgrims.
Babylon is a world of rulers, merchants, riches and many delicacies (v3). She is a centre of great trade (v11). One can find in her all kinds of precious things, for she is a fountain of wealth. She produces great cultural works – luxury clothes, luxury furniture and luxury vessels. Her prosperous farmers and herders grow wheat, grapes, spices, olives and raise cattle. Her manufactories build great tools of warfare (v13). She is a patron of the arts and commissions various musicians and craftsmen (v22). Her wealth and power have brought peace which enables people to live in prosperity, increasing their wealth through trade and providing opportunities for worldly greatness (v23a). She mesmerises the nations and deceives them with sorceries (v23b). Sorceries here aren’t referring to the use of magic but all kinds of sophistries employed by empires to deceive nations and bring them on their agenda. In other words, Babylon is simply a representation of the various prosperous nations and empires that dominate this present world, which are under the sway of Satan and part of his kingdom. Note, how John emphasises that these world empires are places of great cultural activity. At the final judgement, these cultural activities will come to an end because Babylon came in remembrance before God (Rev 16:19). Therefore, she will be destroyed (Rev 18:2).
John calls the children of God to Come out of her and to be not partakers of her sins so that they receive not of her plagues (v4). Those who invest themselves in Babylon and her cultural activities will inevitably be drawn to her. This is why the New Testament time after time again tells the Christian to not be consumed by the cares of this life. To be invested in her is to share in her plagues and destruction. The New Testament thus expects that Christians will to the best of their abilities attempt to disentangle themselves from Babylon and her culture. This doesn’t mean that Christians should isolate themselves and live as monks but it does mean that Christians ought to be harbingers of the world to come by showing the citizens of this present world of the better life in the kingdom of God by divesting themselves from the kingdom of Satan.
Implicit in this judgement on Babylon is a recognition that the overwhelming majority of Babylon’s cultural achievements were gained through wars and exploitations. They are not symbols of glory but of shame. Consider for example the glories of Western Civilization that many Christians are beholden to. They are not concerned with the reality of how many of those things were built. Western Civilization’s history is one of wars, conflicts, bloodshed, adulteries, fornications and exploitations. It was through these wars, exploitations and usurious systems that the West was able to build its great cultural works. John particularly notes that the blood of the prophets and saints were found in Babylon (Rev 18:24). One can ponder for a moment how many faithful Christians have been slain throughout history by the West and by other empires. Many Christians seem to want to whitewash this history of the West, which greatly persecuted the Proto-Protestants so that they can enjoy its temporal glories. The West is the best example of what Babylon represents in the Bible – an alliance of the apostate church with the powers of this present world. In the Middle Ages this manifested as the alliance of the Papacy with European rulers. In the age of the Reformation this manifested as the alliance of various Protestant churches with their magistrates. Today it manifests as the alliance of various Dominionist movements seeking power within the system. God will not forget the violence and seductions that these kingdoms wrought on God’s people. We can then be certain that the West, all of its cultural glories, and the cultural glories of all the nations and empires of the world will be destroyed on the last day, along with the complete destruction of the present created order in the fires of the coming of the Lord.
What are some practical implications of this reality? Peter reminds Christians that on account of the certainty with which we know the present order will be destroyed in fire we ought to display great holiness and godliness (2 Pet 3:11). This isn’t some abstract statement but a practical call to an outlook that is sober and recognizes how much our present life is merely a vapour. The Day of Judgement hangs over every human. It is imminent and has already been ushered in. Of all people, Christians ought to live recognizing the gravity of that truth. So many Christians are careless in their talk and how they spend their time. Their conversation is primarily guided by entertainment, shallow talk and worldly concerns. Seldom is there much conversation about the things of God, His Character, His Attributes, His works in history and His promises. Yet according to Peter, our conduct ought to be holy and upright in everything that we do. Moreover, on account of these truths and the promise of the New Heavens and New Earth, Peter implores the Christian to be diligent in the pursuit of holiness so that one may have peace and be found blameless before God.
Similarly, while Paul assumes that Christians will be marrying, weeping, rejoicing, buying and selling and using the things of this world, he expects that Christians will be doing those things with a plain understanding of their ephemeral nature, not being consumed by them (1 Cor 7:28-33). Many Christians just like the people of this world are often consumed by this life – whom they will marry, where they will live, what kind of house they will live in, weeping and rejoicing over worldly things, etc. While those activities are not intrinsically sinful they easily become idols that bind our hearts to the present world. Christians ought to examine themselves to see if they are truly living according to Paul’s instructions in 1 Cor 7:29-32. To become consumed by the cares of this life is to renounce one’s heavenly citizenship. It is also important to point here that participating in ordinary human activities like marriage and buying a home is not a blanket acceptance of participating in Babylon and becoming wealthy of its riches. Christians still ought to work towards divesting themselves from Babylon and her systems as much as they can.
The author of Hebrews derives the application of reverent fear in worshipping God (Heb 12:28-29). We have already looked into that in detail in the past but it’s a good reminder that these imminent realities ought to stir us up to holy living and holy worship. We ought not to be pompous or jolly like the people of the world but a people that recognize the gravity of the judgements that will befall the created order. Thus, we ought to be willing to joyfully sacrifice many worldly things for eternal reward because we know that every worldly thing is temporary.
Deo Vicit Mundum 