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33. FREE FROM THE LAW
34. EXPECTATIONS
35. THE END OF THE AGE
36. IN CONCLUSION
33. FREE FROM THE LAW
COPYRIGHT: This book and all excerpts are the sole copyright of author Grant Bowater. No reproductions for any purpose may be made without the prior permission of the author obtained in writing.Having grasped a better understanding of how living in accordance with God's laws can significantly improve our quality of life, it becomes necessary to examine how God's purpose is for man to be free from the law. This apparent contradiction will become evident but it is a foundational truth in the Christian experience.
If you are told someone is "outside the law", you generally understand that to mean that the law does not apply to that particular person. This of course is most unusual because laws are meant for everyone, so this term is typically used in a rhetorical question like, "What are you then, outside the law?" Obviously the answer is no, and we usually address this type of question to someone who thinks they can break laws with impunity.
All people learn to live by laws, and from childhood we are taught right from wrong in accordance with our culture and our society's norms. Most of us are very comfortable with laws and know what it means to live by laws. We accept that laws are good and necessary and are fundamental to a safe and responsible society. We expect to live by laws, and we expect others to live by them also.
In a religious context then, it is only understandable that God would have laws that He wants people to follow or keep. So whether God's laws or man's laws, we all recognize that living under law is a natural and appropriate thing to do.
This common understanding is what makes it so hard to appreciate the Christian concept of living "apart from the law (God's law)". Scripture uses terms like "free from the law", "delivered from the law", "not under the law", and "Christ the end of the law", but what do these mean? Is Christianity lawlessness? Can Christians do what they want with impunity? Clearly the answer to these last two questions is no. But there exists the truth that Christians are indeed free from God's law.
This concept is difficult enough for Christians to grasp let alone unbelievers. The place and application of God's law is probably the most misunderstood facet of Christianity through the ages. To begin to comprehend such a challenging concept, it is helpful to start by looking at the purpose of laws.
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35. THE END OF THE AGE
COPYRIGHT: This book and all excerpts are the sole copyright of author Grant Bowater. No reproductions for any purpose may be made without the prior permission of the author obtained in writing.To wrap up the purpose and meaning of life in the appropriate context, it is necessary to give some indication of how it all works out at the end. Many a zealous advocate of 'the end of the age' has proclaimed a particular time for the return of Christ, and we are still waiting. In fact scripture says scoffers in the last days will mock Christians by saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?" While God deliberately conceals from us the timing of Christ's return, He does expect us to recognize the circumstances leading up to His return and to be ready. Therefore, any inference of the time of His return is pure conjecture but the event of His return is certain.
I have surmised that God's plan and purpose with man is finite. He created man some six thousand years ago and we expect Him to wrap it up in about another thousand years from now. While this time frame is not explicit in scripture, there are a number of passages that tend to indicate this. Irrespective of just how long God gives man on earth, what is evident is that Jesus Christ will return to earth at the end of this age to set up His kingdom here on earth, where He will rule and reign for one thousand years.
The major problem with relating this event is that it requires interpretation of prophecy. In outlining a possible scenario it is quite probable that I may err and suggest some particular event or outcome or timing that fails to come to pass or alternatively comes to pass but by another means. I am reluctant to provide ammunition for someone after the event, to disparage the contents of this book, based on the fact that I may have interpreted some particular aspect about the end of the age that isn't 100% factual. I will take the risk though, because the end of the age is a significant event in understanding the meaning and purpose of life.
I make no claim to being a prophet (a prophet of God being someone whose prophesies must be 100% accurate - by God's requirement, to retain any credibility) and consequently add nothing here that cannot be found in scripture and interpreted independently. I must point out that variances exist with any number of notable Christian scholars of far more prestigious learning and qualification than I. These men, with public ministries of considerable following, have also interpreted the end of the age, and their research has led them to reach a variety of differing conclusions. It would be fair to say that by the most stringent of biblical standards, it is unreasonable for anyone to state with any certainty just how the end of the age will unfold. Most interpretations have much in common and it is generally the timing or chronology of particular events that is the issue of debate.
Therefore, the only way anyone will know whether what I write in this chapter is true or not is to wait until it comes to pass, or to search it out for themselves. In the final analysis, I present a scenario and you take it or leave it - since the detail of it is not fundamental to understanding the meaning and purpose of life.
The first advent or coming of Jesus Christ some two thousand years ago can be regarded as the fulcrum of history. His coming was cloaked in ordinariness. So unremarkable was it that most people missed it, even those who were looking for it expectantly. The Jews particularly were waiting for the Messiah to come and restore their nation to international prominence. They expected the Messiah to establish His kingdom and reign in power with them over all the earth.
Tragically the religious leaders of the day knew not their scriptures or the way of God, so instead of hailing their king they crucified Him. God of course knew this outcome would happen all along, and Jesus Christ's sacrifice, having been planned before the foundation of the world was laid, provides the focal point of God's redemptive master plan for man. Jesus Christ is God's provision for man, both Jew and gentile (non-Jew) to be reconciled to Him and enter into eternal life - the ultimate purpose and meaning of life.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven in full public view after His resurrection, He told His disciples that He would be coming back, and that at His return every eye would see Him. So while His first advent was unremarkable, His second advent will be spectacular.
My intention in this chapter is to relate from scripture what I see as being the more likely scenario of this event and the circumstances leading up to it. Forgive me if I get some of it wrong. It is not all that clear as yet, but much of it is relatively straightforward. If it were all together in one place in the bible we would do much better in figuring out how it will happen. Unfortunately the information we need is spread across a fair range of passages and books of the bible, requiring much more careful analysis and interpretation. Certainly the last book in the bible (Revelation) contains the most scripture relating to the end of the age, although much of it is allegorical. Consequently, the clarity of the event is less defined. ………