Heart of the Matter: The Fulfillment of Biblical Eschatology
Live from the Mecca of Mormonism, this is Heart of the Matter, where we are re-learning how to live in the age of fulfillment. And I’m your host Shawn McCraney.
Show 1A: The Fallout from Bad Eschatology
Taped December 31st 2019. Aired January 6th 2020.
Tonight is the first show of the year – airing on Monday night January 6th 2020. Tomorrow night we will follow-up with your comments and calls at 8PM Mountain time so be sure to comment below or call in.
Last Monday night, when we were still in 2019, we aired a show about the end of Satan, hell, and the Second death (or lake of fire). If you have trouble believing this watch that program on our YouTube Channel, Heart of the Matter with Shawn McCraney.
Tonight, I want to set the stage for our general approach to all the shows of 2020. You all know that I believe that the Bible narrative has been fulfilled while many of my contemporaries believe that we are still waiting for a lot of things to happen. I pointed out last year a number of things that should still be in place if the Bible has not been fulfilled.
These things include the fact that the bride of Christ (His Church) should be without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish, as Ephesians 5 clearly describes it. It means, from what I can tell that we would still have apostles that have witnessed the risen Lord directing the Church/Bride, and it means church discipline should still be in place strongly, and that all of the descriptions given in the New Testament of His Bride should be in place.
The Era of Fulfillment
And we have made clear that IF this is the case then the church today is failing miserably – utterly, and there ought to be to total reform back to holiness, separateness from the world entirely, and the rest. However, I am convinced that everything from that former age has been fulfilled, Jesus has returned to His own as promised taking His spotless bride then, Satan and hell and the Second Death have been defeated, God has been reconciled to the world, and we now live in an age where God is the God of those who are His by the Spirit through faith, and freedom and liberty in this subjective faith ought to reign.
This imagery is not created out of nothing by my warped brain. It is the model presented in scripture: There was a first Adam who took the world down, there was a second Adam (Jesus) who saved it, redeemed it, and introduced the final fulfilled age where all of us through Him have the chance to live in relationship with God directly, like they did in the Garden of Eden – except now it is all spiritually based and predicated on internal laws.
The New Covenant
Those who don’t care about God don’t have to care about God, and those who do will. The economy is free and open, with Jesus taking care of all of the particulars – so we don’t have to. No longer is Satan winning or stealing souls from God. Jesus has had the victory. And now all people, because of Him, are free to live as they seek and choose.
See, when Jesus introduced the restored Garden of Eden to the hearts of those who are His by the Spirit (through God writing His laws upon our hearts and minds) he LITERALLY fulfilled Himself as being the Prince of Peace – because all who are His ought to live in peace with all people! Christians should not be at war with the world, or against Muslims, or abortion, or drugs or sin. Jesus has had that victory, and Christians are in the business of sharing that victory through love, which causes hearts to change.
Do you get it?
Freedom in Faith
This is the New Covenant, the New Testament all believers by the Spirit ought to walk in. Not the spirit of religion and religious men. In total and complete subjective liberty. See, we all have freedom. You can take me and put me in a straightjacket and throw me in a dungeon but you cannot strip my innate freedom to transcend that mistreatment by the Spirit. You can kill our bodies but nobody on earth can remove Jesus from your heart – nobody – unless you let them.
But we are surrounded by elements in this world that seek to strip us of our Christian liberties – which by the way and spiritually driven not materially based. Freedom is internal.
Christian Liberty and the Role of Eschatology
Christian liberties are external – they are how you express and live YOUR life as a Christian in this life that you have been gifted by God. Our year is going to be focused on how to take our internal freedoms as Christians, which cannot be touched by anyone and how to live lives of Christian liberty. This subject is directly tied to our eschatological views. Did you know that? It’s why I am so ardent and relentless in pushing the view out there because it is really essential to living an actual human life of liberty. Let me explain by going to the white board.
THERE IS A NEED FOR BRICK AND MORTAR CHURCH ESCHATOLOGY BECAUSE JESUS IS COMING BACK! THERE IS NO NEED FOR ANY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AT ALL ESCHATOLOGY
Institutions: Catholics, Mormons, Protestants, Calvary Chapels!
The Role of Fear in Eschatology
Individuals
RESULTS
RESULTS
FEAR
• A child who fears that his father is coming home and is really angry?
• Fear is a manipulation used by others to get people to conform to their wishes. In the case of the institutions, it is used to fill the seats on Sundays, to fill the coffers (Joseph Smith taught that those who paid tithes would not be burned at his coming!)
• Fear on how to live, how to see the world around us, how to love and receive others who are different than ourselves!
FEAR is the direct result of bad eschatology. And that leads us to it sister:
There is no fear. There is liberty. Of time, resources, activities. There is the freedom to live the sacred life God has given every individual. The freedom to give time, money and attention or not.
BONDAGE
• Which is exactly what Jesus came to abolish! Does it make ANY sense that Jesus came to set the captives free and yet this false eschatology is in place that has put billions of souls in jail over nearly 2000 years.
• Bondage to pay.
• Bondage to fear.
• Bondage to attend.
• Bondage to obey MEN and their demands!
• Bondage to signs of the times!
Breaking the Chains of Bondage
The whole system is bondage-based! My God and His son is far better than that! Far more capable. He took care of it all in and through those people then and His Son. Therefore there is emancipation! No pastors imposing themselves, or views, or their wants on the flock in Jesus name. No bondage to every new headline. No bondage to having to serve the church, or go to church, or pay the church.
HE HAS ALREADY COME BACK!
Let the spirit guide brother! Live as you wish! God is in you, writing in you, governing you by His Spirit! NO FEAR. NO BONDAGE. ALL FAITH. ALL TRUST. Whatever will be will be – God is in control. And he has given each of us life to live – with Him in us – teaching and leading us to love.
JUDGMENT of Others
• Bad eschatology teaches us to look around and to look down on those who are gonna get left behind.
• It makes us feel superior to them, and long for their comuppence!
• I’ve heard it come from the street preachers mouths when people reject their message of urgency! (Well youre going to hell! They cry, or less abrasive, You better get ready for the end because he’s coming!
• BAD ESCHATOLGY kills Christian love. And it always has.
AND This allows us to trust him in how He is leading others. The democrats the republicans, the liberals, the lost, the found – you name it. We can, you can, I can LOVE all. But you know what else it does – which is really unfortunate: It destroys drive and desires to accomplish things with our lives and time that God has given each of us. This is what religions what because it can keep people dedicated to them and them alone.
Its an all or nothing sort of mentality that says:
“I’m just gonna bide my time and wait for Jesus to come. I don’t need to accomplish anything with my life or time. Jesus is coming soon. Just listen to my pastor. So I’ll just hang out around the church and serve him and his wants. I’ll scrub his toilets and give all of my time to missional work because the end is near. That unfortunate attitude is the direct result of bad eschatology. It can exist in all Christians to some extent because our kingdom is not of this world, but is especially oppressive in the minds of people expecting His eminent return. Including you life. Not first and foremost
Understanding Eschatology
Christians love God and others first but this does not you cannot show God love for giving you the gift of life. Make the most of what he has made you to be – no matter what it is. There’s nothing wrong with this. Bad eschatology is counterintuitive to this. Sound eschatology is not. It endorses God’s plan for life and living.
And what is that anyway? We are going to address this beginning next week. Finally, bad eschatology is notoriously responsible for bad behavior toward God’s creation – in fact, Christianity generally is, but it is greatly enhanced by bad eschatology. I mean, if the world and universe is going to be totally destroyed, why worry about how we treat it? Therefore Christians sold out to bad eschatology often could care less about environmental issues, the treatment of animals, and sometimes the condition of their own homes or person.
The Christian Responsibility
BUT . . . when SOUND eschatology is in place and understood by spirit filled Christians . . . we have a different template at hand . . . (see above) Including the world – creation. Animals, humans, the planet. Mountains, seas, deserts, valleys. All a gift from God to us – liberally, freely – to enjoy and care for. Not to pollute or destroy, but to use responsibly and with care. Christians ought to be the most loving toward creation, not the least. I am not suggesting by any means we worship the creation, just only the creator. But to respect what He has given. See, sound eschatology says, like the Bible, that this world will never end. So that is something to consider too.
And that leaves us with our general topic for this year: How to live as Christians in the age of fulfillment? We will begin to get to this next week! But for now, call in tomorrow night or leave your comments with us below which we will cover tomorrow night – here on HOTM!
Living as Christians
The church's VIEW of Christ is this is your savior, you need to get to him where he is, and this is the goal – we understand it. Embrace it through the words and language you use, the music you listen to, the clothes you wear, the places you vacation, the conversations you have. To live with INTEGRITY, to live FREELY, to live PRODUCTIVITY, and to live HUMBLY Doing all the good you can for the sake of others and his entire creation.
