When Are We?

Hebrews 1:1–3 (NIV)

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

CONSIDER THIS

Some questions seem obvious to ask—like who am I, and even where am I? It is not so obvious to ask what may be the most important question of all, which I suggest is, “When am I?” 

Note the first three words: In the past

We tend to think of time as past, present, and future. And really all our energy goes into the constantly moving razors edge dimension of time known as right now. It never stops. The present is the thing that translates the future into the past. It’s why people are generally taking the following three basic approaches to the present. 1. We are trying to engage or escape the pain of our past. 2. We are trying to create stability and security for our future. 3. We are trying to make meaning through a combination of living in present peace (which requires a real reconciliation with both the past and the future) and doing the kinds of things which create meaningful memories and hope-filled imagination. (You may need to reread that last paragraph a few times as it is packed with implications.) There is actually an infinitely more profound way to conceive of and live in the present to which we will turn next. 

Beyond past, present, and future, we need to understand how the Bible envisages time. Scripture sees time in two primary phases: 1. The present evil age and 2. The glorious age to come. 

The present evil age includes the past all the way back to the fated fall of the human race as told by Genesis 3 and up to the present moment. Now, here’s where it gets mind-blowingly interesting. 

Note the next phrase in verse 1 concerning time: but in these last days.

Is the writer talking about the past few weeks or months on their calendar? No. Here is where original language comes in super handy. The word for “in these last days” is eschatos. Eschatos or eschaton means last things. It means last days. The inspired writer is telling us something has happened that has inaugurated the last days of the present evil age. It means something from the future has happened in the present which has changed everything—even the past.

It is not “last days,” as in apocalyptical anxiety, as in the end of the world. It is last days, in the sense of the lyrics from the famous eighties rock band: “It’s the end of the world as we know it.” 

Translation: Jesus happened. The conception, life, death, and most notably the resurrection and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, happened. With the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the curse of sin and death were decisively broken, ushering in the age of the Spirit and the in-breaking kingdom of heaven on earth. Things that were exceptional before have now become normative. The things of heaven have become possible on earth. The reason we don’t experience this is because we remain asleep to the true state of reality. We will turn there tomorrow.

We can know who we are and even where we are but if we don’t know when we are, we can miss the whole point. 

For now, I want you to draw two circles side by side and cause them to overlap each other by about half. In the left circle write, “Present Age,” and in the right circle write, “Age to Come.” Now, in the overlap write the words, “Here” and “Now.” 

When are we? We are in the overlap, gloriously alive, empowered by the Spirit, participating by our own personality in the very personhood of Jesus, doing impossible things by faith in love. 

THE PRAYER

Father, thank you for this wake-up call. Open the perception of my mind and the eyes of my heart to grasp the incredible shape and dimension of the realities of the time in which we are living. I confess I hardly grasp it. I need to be more deeply awakened to the things of you, Jesus, to the reality of the Spirit, to the realism of the kingdom of heaven. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen. 

THE QUESTION

What insights do you draw from the diagram you just drew on the paper? 

For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt

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