Condensed Theology

A Primer in Systematic Theology

Eschatology
What does the Bible teach about last things?

Review
The Structure of Eschatology

Review: The Structure of Eschatology

The Bible understands history to unfold in two successive ages:

This present age And the age to come

Review: The Structure of Eschatology

This present age is characterized by

The temporal and transient (marriage and being given in marriage), Evil, and therefore an age to which Christians must not conform, Impotent ignorance of spiritual truth, The implicit worship of the devil, And spiritual and physical death.

Review: The Structure of Eschatology

And this present age is characterized by

The rule of Jesus Christ, Spiritual and temporal blessings for those who embrace the gospel, And the presence of Christ with believers to the end of the age.

Review and Embellishment: The Structure of Eschatology

The age to come is characterized on the one hand by the opposite of this present age; it is characterized by
The eternal and permanent Righteousness, and therefore an age to which Christians must conform themselves, Real knowledge and all discernment of the truth, Worship of the true and living triune God, And spiritual and physical life.

Review and Embellishment: The Structure of Eschatology

On the other hand, the age to come shares at least three characteristics of this present age:
The rule of Jesus Christ, Spiritual and eternal blessings for those who embrace the gospel, And the presence of Christ with believers forever.

Review
The End of the Age

Review: The End of the Age

Since history is understood to unfold in this fashion, it follows that in order for the age to come to arrive, this present age must end. That this age will end is clearly taught in the Bible Indeed, it will end with the following events:

Review: The End of the Age

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ (the bodily return of Jesus to the earth). The resurrection of the just and unjust The judgment of the just and unjust The restoration of creation (the restoration of all thingsthe regeneration).

Review: The End of the Age

The issue of the resurrection of the just and unjust, As well as the issue of the judgment of the just and unjust at the end of the age Leads us to the area of eschatology called personal, or individual eschatology. Personal eschatology asks, What will happen to me at the end of the age?

Personal Eschatology
Death

Death

Death is the consequence and judgment for sin; it is everyones destiny unless the Lord intervenes to prevent it. Gen 2:17: but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. Rom 5:12: Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. 1 Cor 15:22: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

Death

Death results in different things for different people depending upon their relationship to Christ.

Death
For Christians

Death: For Christians

Death cannot separate Christians from the love of God in Christ Rom 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death: For Christians

Death is no longer fearsome

Heb 2:14-15: Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. John 11:25-26: Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

Death: For Christians

Death is a better state than the present one; for it means deeper communion with the risen Christ; This state is theologically referred to as the intermediate state since it is the state of existence for human beings following their deaths and prior to their resurrection from the dead at the Last Day.

Phil 1:21-23: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better. 2 Cor 5:8: we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Luke 23:43: And [Jesus] said to him, Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise. Heb 12:23: to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

Death
For Non-Christians

Death: For Non-Christians

Death is the termination of the possibility for a non-Christian to experience the mercy of God in Christ; There are no second chances to trust in Christ after death.

2 Cor 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Rom 2:5-10: But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Death: For Non-Christians

Death is a worse state than the present one; for it means an immediate experience of the judgment of God; This state is theologically referred to as the intermediate state since it is the state of existence for human beings following their deaths and prior to their resurrection from the dead at the Last Day.

Luke 16:24-25: And [the rich man] cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 2 Pet 2:9: The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.

The Intermediate State

The Intermediate State

This phrase (the intermediate state) has reference to the condition of human beings after their deaths and prior to their resurrection from the dead. The souls of human beings are separated from their bodies until the Last Day when they are reunited with their bodies to face either everlasting life or everlasting contempt.

The Intermediate State

Dan 12:2: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. John 5:28-29: Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. Acts 24:15: having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. Matt 25:46: These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

The Intermediate State

Believers, as we have seen in our lecture on glorification, will have their bodies transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 15:50-53: Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. Phil 3:21: who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

The Intermediate State

The nature of unbelievers transformed bodies is not described in Scripture; What we can say is simply that they will be fitted for an eternity of torment in body and soul in hell.

Matt 10:28: Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

The Final Judgment

The Final Judgment

The Judgment of Believers

The Final Judgment: Believers

Believers will be justly judged

2 Cor 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Romans 14:10 For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD." So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

The Final Judgment: Believers

The judgment of believers is a judgment at which time they will be rewarded for their good works; The reward they will receive, however, is not salvation:

John 5:24: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Rom 8:1: Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The Final Judgment: Believers

The judgment of believers is a judgment at which time they will be rewarded for their good works. Believers works are the fruit of genuine saving faith:

Jas 2:14: What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

The Final Judgment: Believers

The judgment of believers is a judgment at which time they will be rewarded for their good works.

1 Cor 3:12-15: Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1 Cor 4:5: Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.

The Final Judgment

The Judgment of Unbelievers

The Final Judgment: Unbelievers

Unbelievers will be justly judged

Rom 2:5-6, 8: But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.8to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. Matt 11:21-22: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

The Final Judgment: Unbelievers

The just judgment of the unbelieving is an eternity of conscious punishment in the torment of hell.

Dan 12:1-2: Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Matt 25:46: These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. 2 Thess 1:9: These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

The Final Judgment: Unbelievers

The just judgment of the unbelieving is an eternity of conscious punishment in the torment of hell.

Rev 14:9-11: Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. Rev 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Final Judgment: Unbelievers

The just judgment of the unbelieving is an eternity of conscious punishment in the torment of hell. The justice of hell has frequently been assailed. Consider the quotation from writer, Clark Pinnock, on the following slide:

The Final Judgment: Unbelievers

Let me say at the outset that I consider the concept of hell as endless torment in body and mind an outrageous doctrine, a theological and moral enormity, a bad doctrine of the tradition which needs to be changed. How can Christians possibly project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness whose ways include inflicting everlasting torture upon his creatures, however sinful they may have been? Surely a God who would do such a thing is more nearly like Satan than like God, at least by any ordinary moral standards, and by the gospel itself.Does the one who told us to love our enemies intend to wreak vengeance on his own enemies for all eternity? [Clark Pinnock, The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent, Criswell Theological Review, 4 (1990), 24647, 253 quoted in Cornelis P Venema, The Promise of the Future (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2000), 427].

The Final Judgment: Unbelievers

The objections marshaled against the biblical doctrine of eternal punishment fail to take into account three critical elements of theology:
The character of God: God is infinitely holy. The nature of sin: Sin is measured against the will and character of God. The nature of grace: Grace is undeserved.

The Final Judgment

The final judgment is included both in the area of personal eschatology as well as general eschatology; For it is at the bodily return of Jesus Christ that believers and unbelievers, following their resurrection, will be judged.