When considering the current political climate or some contemporary event, it doesn’t take long for a vocal Christian to blurt out, “We’re in the last days!” Whether in private conversation or online comment threads, many Christians believe we’re living in the last days. It can’t be denied that we are bombarded with negative news from all sides of the spectrum, and for many, the “doom and gloom” news cycle points to the fact that our present circumstances are dire and indicate that we are living in the last days which precipitates dooms day. Is this true? Are we in the last days? What does the Bible say about that?
The “Last Days” in Scripture
The language of the “last days” can be found in several passages of Scripture. In Acts 2 as Peter preaches at Pentecost, he explains that the gift of tongues was not a sign of drunkenness, as some supposed, but a sign of the “last days” predicted by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:17). In Hebrews, the letter opens by saying, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Heb 1:1–2). In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul applies lessons from the Old Testament to the church, “on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor 10:11). From these passages we see that the apostles believed they were living in the last days.
What did the apostles mean when they said they were living in the last days? Rather than the contemporary view that the “last days” should be understood as dark times signaling the impending end of the world, I believe it best to understand “last days” as referring to the times of fulfillment. That is, what Peter, Paul, and the author of Hebrews are saying is that the apostles are living in the days when the prophecies concerning Christ, his church, and the outpouring of the Spirit, are all coming to pass.
In this way, the “last days” signal the change due to Christ’s first coming to die for sinners and inaugurate his kingdom. The salvation in which the prophets and angels longed to understand was now revealed in these last days or days of fulfillment (1 Peter 1:10–12). In Acts 3:24, Peter states, “All the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.” Likewise, in 1 Peter 1:20, he claims that Christ’s first coming (not his second) indicates that the last times or times of fulfillment had come: “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you…” Likewise, in Hebrews the first coming and sacrificial death of Jesus was a sign of the end of the ages. “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb 9:26). From these passages, it is best to understand the last days to refer to the days of fulfillment when Christ entered his creation, gave himself as the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, birthed the church through the gift of the Spirit, and inaugurated the new covenant, a new age from the old covenant which was vanishing away (Heb 8:13).
This understanding also makes sense with 2,000 years of church history. If the apostles lived in the last days—as they said they did—and if the last days refer to the immanence of Christ’s return, then why didn’t Jesus’ return to defeat sin and death and establish his perfect kingdom in their lifetime? Were they wrong to say they were in the last days when it has been 2,000 years and counting since then? This conundrum goes away when we consider that the apostles used the phrase “last days” to refer to the age of fulfillment or the new covenant age which had come through the ministry of Christ.
Yes, but…
But aren’t there passages which speak about the last days being a time of great darkness and rebellion? Yes, there are. Second Timothy 3:1–5 says, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
What does this passage say? It tells us that in the “last days” (i.e., the days of fulfillment or new covenant age) there will be opposition, wickedness, and persecution of believers. Paul did not mean for this passage only to be applied to those living immediately before the second coming of Christ for he says to his contemporary Timothy, “Avoid such people” (2 Tim 3:5). This text was for his generation. What he means is that in the new covenant age, the age of the Spirit, there will still be evil actors and there will be persecution. In fact, he continues and says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed…” (2 Tim 3:12–14). The days of fulfillment when the Spirit is outpoured and the church advances through the preaching of the gospel will not be all roses and red carpets, blood and guts will be spilt, and opposition will be fierce, but take heart and remain faithful.
This contemporary view of “last days” is also mishandled in another way: thinking we live in an age of decline where things are going from bad to worse until Christ returns. As we’ve seen, 2 Timothy 3:13 says, “evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse…” Some interpret this verse to say that society will grow worse leading up to the very last days. However, the text says that evil people, not societies, will go from bad to worse. That is, the people that Paul warned Timothy to avoid will continue to get worse as they age, growing in their opposition to Christ and to the truth. This passage says nothing about the condition of the world before the return of Christ, but rather what will always be true of the world in this new covenant age—there will be evil people persecuting the faithful.
John, likewise, says, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). John is not predicting the end of the world in his lifetime, rather, he testifies that he is living in the days of fulfillment since opposition is present. While some try to identify the antichrist and signal that the end of the world is here, John says that many antichrists have already come and so we know we are in the days of Christ’s salvation. Was there not an increase of demonic activity in Jesus’ day? This was not a sign of the end of the world, but demonic opposition was a sign of Christ’s salvation coming to earth.
We are in the last days, not because our society is getting worse but because we live in the new covenant age where the promises of Christ’s salvation and his advancing kingdom is coming to pass.
Why This Is Important
I fear that an obsession with current events predicting a coming doomsday undermines Christian hope and leads many to inaction. If someone is convinced that things are getting worse, why bother trying to change anything? So many are trying to hold onto what they have rather than build something new. Maybe we can slow the decline, but we can’t reverse it. They are not hopeful for the future and so do not work for the future, whether their children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren.
However, if we understand the “last days” not as a time of doom and gloom but of fulfillment of Christ’s salvation, we will be hopeful and work, striving to see Christ’s kingdom advance in its breadth and depth around us.
The kingdom of Christ advances just as Christ promised (Matt 16:18). The powers of hell, evil people, and antichrists will come at believers in full force in response to the age of salvation in Christ. Let us remember that this is sign, not of our defeat, but of our salvation and their destruction (Phil 1:28). We live in the age of the Spirit, the new covenant age, where Christ’s salvation is reaching the ends of the earth. Let us labor in hope and when the Lord returns, let him find us faithfully building for his name’s sake.
Take heart, my brothers and sisters. We are in the last days, the days of fulfillment and hope, and these are exciting days through which Christ will reign supreme.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20