If you surf the web at all, you've probably seen one of these counters.
They appear in various newspapers, too.
I'm talking about the Y2K counters -
count-down clocks telling us how long we have until the new millennium:
4 months, 2 weeks, 2 days and about 14 hours as of right now.

You've heard all the hype -
- some getting downright hysterical and suggesting that we stock up huge supplies of food.
- a few shrugging their shoulders and acting as though it means absolutely nothing.
- perhaps a lot of people using this as an occasion to think about time - the big picture of time.
human history
and our place in it.

Particularly - when might it end.... and how will that come?

Hence, as we complete a three-part series considering the end times, where we've already talked about:

• our resurrection bodies
• the nature of eternal life

How does God see history?
And what does His word tell us about our place in it?

Let's consider this matter together.
Beginning with........
A basic biblical timeline: The bible reveals time not as some circle that goes round and round; and not as some meandering, fate driven unknown; but rather as a simple and very straight line;
a line with a beginning, a focal point, and an end.

The beginning is creation -- when all things came to be.
The focal point is the cross.
The end is the second coming of Christ.
History moves in a determined path, guided by God, across that line.
Creation...... to cross..... to Christ's return.

In the beginning of time God created a perfect world over which he was undisputed ruler. God was King. The earth was His realm. Humanity were his subjects. It was Paradise -- the Kingdom of God on earth.
Then, through some tragic process that scripture doesn't reveal, sin was conceived, Satan fell from heaven and became the enemy - the foe - of the King, setting up his own rebellious kingdom, the kingdom of Evil. In his rebellion he invaded earth, becoming an occupying force, much as for many years Russian troops were the occupying force in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They took control.

All that is contained right here at the beginning of the timeline. Creation and Fall. It is the story in the beginning of the Bible - Genesis 1-3.

And it is there, in Genesis 3, in a sense that the story of Scripture really begins to unfold. Those first three chapters are preamble to all the rest. They set the stage.
In Genesis 3 we get the first hints of hope, of future.
We get a promise. God promises to send a son through Adam & Eve, a descendent to crush the Kingdom of Evil:
the seed of the woman shall crush the head of the seed of the serpent

From that point on the Bible gives us the story of God's working to destroy the kingdom of Satan and totally re-establish his Kingdom.

The main event in that struggle, in that story, is the coming and work of Jesus Christ.
His life on earth, then, is not only the focus of the Bible, but also the focus of human history.
Everything before is a movement towards that point.
Everything afterwards is a result of that event.
The Bible's truth statement is that at the centre,
the very centre of human history
stands the cross.

- It is there that Christ fulfilled the promise.
-- It is there that he bore the whole wrath of God.
-- It was then that the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom; and the dead raised;
-- it was there that Satan received his death blow.
-- It was there that the final outcome of history was decided with absolute certainty.
The kingdom of God was on the move.
No stopping now.
VICTORY was assured!!

Creation to Cross to Return.
Along the way much work needed to be done. Work that God did not do alone.
He has his servants here on earth -- his body, His kingdom warriors.
In the Old Testament it was the people of Israel. They were to be a "light to the nations." (Is 49.6; 60.3) At which they failed, committing the sin of exclusivism, saying "God cares about us and no need to worry about the others."

And Israel failed to live their life as a nation in a way that clearly showed what God's plan for creation was all about. They were just as corrupt and unjust and ignorant of God as the heathen nations around them.
Yet -- and here we see the marvel of God's grace --
He used this people to bring his Messiah to this earth.

That Messiah, Jesus, was the great Servant of the Lord.
He recapitulated -- lived again -- in his life the life of the people of Israel. He walked the path along which God had called them, and on which they had faltered. He walked it with perfection.
He stands at the centre of history as the great Kingdom Servant.

You know, it is amazing when one looks at the gospels with an eye to the Old Testament how much there is in the life of Jesus that mirrors the great events of the Old Testament people, showing Him as the New Israel.
Let me give you 4 small examples. Perhaps you can think of more:

EXAMPLE 1:
When Jesus was baptized he went into the Jordan before beginning his public ministry as the beloved son of God in whom he was well pleased (Luke 3.22). Israel crossed over the Jordan river to enter the Promised Land as the people of God.

EXAMPLE 2:
After being freed from Egypt, the people of Israel went into the desert for 40 years of wandering and testing, where they were moulded and prepared for service in the land of Canaan. Scripture documents how often they failed the tests. Jesus went into the desert for 40 days where as the perfect servant he withstood every assault of the devil -- His time of testing before he went through the land of Canaan on his ministry (Luke 4.1-13).

EXAMPLE 3:
The main anointed figure in Israel's history is their king David. He was anointed at the beginning, enthroned in the middle and then reigns in his kingdom. In between his anointing and enthronement he wandered around with a motley band causing trouble and trying to stay out of trouble.

And Jesus: He was anointed at the beginning of his ministry by the Holy Spirit (Mark 1.10-11), enthroned in heaven at the end of his earthly ministry and when he began his heavenly kingdom rule (Matt 28.18). In between he wandered around with a motley band causing trouble and trying to stay out of trouble.

EXAMPLE 4:
Look also at the ones who anointed these two figures. David was anointed by Samuel, who is born to a barren disgraced woman - Hannah. God's representative announces that God will answer her request for a son. The son is born and is dedicated as a Nazarene to serve God (see 1 Samuel 1.11). He annoints David.
John the Baptist is born to a barren woman, Elizabeth, who is disgraced (Luke 1.25) God's representative announces his birth. The son is born and is a Nazarene dedicated to serving God (Luke 1.15). He annoints the Son of David, Jesus.

This is not coincidence.
Over and over again we read in the gospels,
"This happened so that it might be fulfilled...."
Christ -- His life, His death, His resurrection -
is the very centre of human history.
Everything that happens before that, in the Old Testament, focusses in on the first coming of Jesus.

After the cross, everything afterwards spreads out, carrying the affects far and wide. And everything in history moves towards the second coming of Jesus.

So it is that the scope of God's work begins to widen again.
Now it is not just concerned with a select group of servants in one geographical area but with Kingdom Servants throughout the world:
Jews.... AND Chinese, Polish, British, Dutch, Nigerian, Koreans - people from all over this globe who have surrendered their lives and fallen into line behind the perfect servant, their King Jesus, workers in the Kingdom of God.
This is where you stand in history, as a child of God, a believer in Jesus. This is where I stand..... where WE stand together as God's Kingdom warriors.
The Church - the light to the world, looking for the day of Jesus' return. Preparing for it. Praying and longing for it.

One central bible passage in this regard is Revelations 20.1-15.
Let's read that together:
 
 

Understand, please, that the book of Revelation is written to a church that is being harassed by the Roman government. In the face of all this persecution they are growing discouraged, and are beginning to wonder whether or not Christ has abandoned them when he ascended into heaven.
John writes down the visions he received from God to reassure the Church that Christ is in control and that they are not forgotten.

Please understand that Revelation is what we call apocalyptic literature. It was a commonly used type of literature in biblical times, a highly visual, imaging kind of poetic language. It was full of pictures and symbols and numerical meanings.
Including the reference in ch.20 to 1000 years.
Numbers, say those who have studied this type of literature in detail, are highly symbolic. 10, they tell us, is the number of completeness, and 1000 is 10X10X10. Revelation 20, then, is talking about a period of time that in God's eyes is complete.
It doesn't, as some want to say, mean a literal 1000 years. That is forcing 20th century newspaper-like meaning on 1st century apocalyptic literature. You simply can't do it.

Those who are beheaded are a representative picture of all those who have died in their faith, and who through their life have stood firm for their belief in the LORD. They will reign with Him during these 1000 years.
Question: When does that period of reigning begin?

Well - it seems to be when Satan is bound with chains. When is that? In Matthew 12 Jesus is accused of conspiring with Satan, sharing his power, and so healing some people by casting out demons. His reply is that Satan would not cast out his own demons. "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?...If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house." (vv26-28)
Now you tell me -- from Gospel evidence, when does it seem that Jesus seems to be beginning to ransack Satan's house?.... During his earthly ministry, right?

For a second clue as to when the binding of Satan with chains occurs look also at Luke 10.17-19. Jesus has sent out 72 followers to proclaim in the countryside the message that the Kingdom of God has arrived.
"The seventy two returned with joy and said, 'Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.'
He replied, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.'"

When is the Millennium?
When is it that Satan is held back from showing his full power, chained, unable to eradicate the Kingdom of God?
NOW!!
It is the interval between the first and second coming of Jesus Christ.

When he came and lived and died and rose again he broke the back of Satan's kingdom.
We confess that he won the final victory on that day. No longer can Satan exercise the same sort of control in the world that he once did.
He was a strong man, but now he is bound; he is chained. No longer can he deceive the nations - the gospel is going out throughout the entire world. That which was once his house is now being ransacked!
Those who are alive in heaven are reigning with Jesus Christ over the world and over his kingdom.
That is happening NOW!
And it will continue until Jesus returns in glory.

And Y2K?
The beginning of another earthly millennium serves as a handy reminder to us that according to the heavenly timetable for history we are in the middle of a special millennium.
The events of today, the stuff of the evening news with 4 months 2 weeks 2 days and 14 to go till Jan 1, 2000 -
- all that stuff is part of the inevitable movement towards Jesus' coming back.

Which He will.
Read with me, please -

The trumpet call.
The voice of the general angel.
Believers caught up to meet the Lord.
The Bible says that the Lord will come down from heaven with a loud command. The word "command" in Greek represents the call of a military leader to his underlings, encouraging and spurring them on.
It is, my friends, a picture of Christ's great army ready for the final assault and the total crushing of the enemy.
The trumpet announces that invasion.

We go up to meet Jesus.
And to meet with Him those of our loved ones who have died in faith and have been ruling with Him in glory.
We go there, though, not - as some suggest - to disappear into heaven. Rather, it is to come back with Jesus.
To come back to the new earth, under a new heaven.

The picture may seem strange, but it comes straight from Acts 28.15, where Christian brothers come as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet Paul and his entourage.
And THAT, brothers and sisters is the rapture; the last great event at the very end of time.
That coming back is the end of time..... We will be with the Lord forever.

For that day we long
and work
and pray.

Knowing that things are not at a standstill.
Things are not in some chaotic jumble.
They're moving forward.

And just as the first great promise of Genesis 3 was fulfilled, so we live under the banner of a second promise -- that of Christ's return.

The promise that He will make all things new.
The promise of victory.