“Christ was indeed a king, but no such king as the world had ever seen, and such as no man expected; He was a priest, but the only priest that ever lived of whose priesthood He was himself the victim; He did establish a kingdom, but it was not of this world” (Hoekema,132).

The study of the end times has so much to do with what Jesus has already done in the past. Jesus came proclaiming “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). By Jesus coming to earth, the kingdom of God was inaugurated. Jesus preached the gospel to the poor, healed the sick, and set the captives free. One of the many prophecies of the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled.

I’m afraid that many believers don’t fully understand what it means to be living in between the two comings of Christ. This is what the prophets and early church were eager to see. The restoration of Israel. Judging will take place for all wickedness and corruption. The dead in Christ will rise first and those alive will meet Christ in the air.

Though we do not know the day or the hour we are to live alarmed and prepared. Our lives should be motivated by the signs of the times to live as Paul says “making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16) and to “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).