What Time Is It? part 2

Let's notice some of the ways the time we are living in is different than the time to come.Matthew 13:47fff,“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”One of the ways the age to come is different than this present age is that in the age to come, evil and righteous people won’t be mixed. They will be separated and evil people will be judged in a place of painful torment.Another difference is found in 1 Corinthians 15:20ff.“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of all those who have fallen asleep. For by as a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.” Paul is saying that because Christ rose from the dead, we know that every single believer who has ever died will rise from the dead when he returns. “But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end…” End of what? This age. “When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”Which tells us that in the age to come, God’s enemies like Satan and his demons are going to be visibly defeated, it’s going to be obvious to everyone that Satan has been crushed and also one of Satan’s greatest tools, death. In the age to come, death will be destroyed.The book of Revelation gives us a picture into where all things are going.Look with me at Revelation 20:10ff.“And the devil who had deceived the people…was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and his false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”That passage shows us a lot of differences between the present age and the age to come. The devil is judged, evil people are judged, there’s a new creation, God is present with his people in a very obvious way, He’s going to wipe away tears, there is no death, there’s no sadness, there’s no pain. And we could go on and on and on with the differences the Bible describes between this time and the time to come after Jesus returns and judges the world.Maybe just one more, back to Romans 8. Verse 16.“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. “What’s this present time characterized by? Suffering for believers. The next? Glory. And it is a glory that is so big you can’t compare it to the suffering of this time.Paul goes on to describe how big. Verse 19.“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”If we look back at our line which describes the history of the world and of the future, we see that there is a beginning, there were things God was doing in the Old Testament with the people of Israel, there is all the stuff that is happening after the coming of Jesus in the New Testament and now, and that’s not all there’s this time to come which is going to be glory, glory, glory after Jesus returns and exercises judgment. It’s all going to be huge what is coming but the question I am asking you to consider is what time is it now? What time are you living in?You are not living in the Old Testament. You are not living before Christ. And you are not living in the time to come. You and I, we at this moment are living in this present evil age.At the end of the ages.