Eschatology: why study the last things

🎯 Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

explain what eschatology is and which dimensions it includes;
recognise that Christian hope is a living hope, not a reason for fear;
avoid the most common mistakes: setting dates, chasing sensationalism or, at the opposite extreme, losing interest in the subject;
approach your study with the BereaWay Method, distinguishing what Scripture says clearly from what remains debated.

📖 Receive

Read Titus 2:11-14 and 1 Peter 1:3-5 slowly. Notice how both passages speak of the future and, in the same breath, of how to live in the present.

Then read these words of Jesus:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” — Matthew 24:36 (KJV)

Hold these two truths together: God has revealed enough for us to hope with certainty, but not everything our curiosity would like to know.

🔍 Examine

What eschatology is

The word comes from the Greek éschatos, “last”. Traditionally eschatology is the doctrine of the last things: death, resurrection, judgment, the return of Christ, eternal life. But reducing it to the destiny of the individual would be a mistake. The Bible shows us a much broader perspective, which we can divide into four dimensions:

personal: what happens to me when I die, and what eternal life means;
historical: how God brings his Kingdom to fulfilment in human history;
cosmic: the destiny of the whole creation, which awaits new heavens and a new earth (Romans 8:19-22; 2 Peter 3:13);
divine: the ultimate purpose of everything, which is the full glory of God, when he gathers together all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:10).

The map below summarises the four dimensions: they all start from God and converge towards the same fulfilment in Christ.

mindmap
  root(("The last things"))
    ("Personal")
      ("Death and eternal life")
    ("Historical")
      ("The Kingdom in history")
    ("Cosmic")
      ("New heavens and new earth")
    ("Divine")
      ("God all in all")

This protects us from two frequent distortions. The first is to think that God cares only about the “soul”, as if the body and the material world were destined to disappear because they are inferior. The second is to put humanity at the centre of everything. Scripture, instead, presents the work of Christ as a reconciliation that embraces all things (Colossians 1:19-20): human beings are at the heart of God’s love, but as stewards of creation, not as its masters.

A doctrine of hope

Biblical eschatology was not born to frighten. Peter blesses God because, through the resurrection of Jesus, he has given us new birth into a living hope and an inheritance that cannot perish (1 Peter 1:3-4). Paul describes believers as people who live soberly, righteously and godly today, looking for the appearing of Christ’s glory (Titus 2:12-13).

A clear view of the last things gives meaning to suffering, evil and death, because it reminds us that they will not have the last word. And it makes us urgent in proclaiming the Gospel: if history is heading towards a fulfilment, our life is not a matter of indifference.

📌 Eschatology and everyday life

Every time the New Testament speaks of the future, it links it to a practical question: how will you live today? Watchfulness, holiness, comfort, perseverance, mission. If a study of the last things does not change the way you live, it has missed its purpose.

Tensions or contradictions? The “already” and the “not yet”

Anyone who studies these themes soon notices that the Bible contains many tensions. Jesus tells the thief that today he will be with him in paradise (Luke 23:43), but Paul speaks of a resurrection that will take place at his coming (1 Corinthians 15:23). Peter describes the heavens dissolving (2 Peter 3:10-12), while Paul speaks of a creation that will be set free (Romans 8:21). Jesus promises to prepare a place for us and receive us to himself (John 14:2-3), but John sees the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Revelation 21:2).

These are not contradictions, but proof that the future reality is greater than our categories. The main key is the “already and not yet”: with the coming of Jesus the Kingdom of God has already entered history (Matthew 12:28), but it has not yet been fully revealed. We live in the in-between time, between the first and the second coming.

flowchart LR
  A["OT promises"] --> B["First coming of Christ"]
  B --> C["Age of the Church: already and not yet"]
  C --> D["Return of Christ"]
  D --> E["New creation"]

The diagram shows where we are: in the third box. The Kingdom is already present, because Christ defeated sin and death through the cross and the resurrection; but we are still waiting for the fourth and fifth boxes, when what has begun will be brought to completion.

An example from history helps. During the Second World War, the Normandy landings of 1944 effectively decided the outcome of the conflict in Europe, but the war ended only months later. Between the decisive day and victory day there were still battles and suffering, yet the result was already certain. In the same way, the cross and the resurrection are the decisive victory; the return of Christ will be the day of full victory. This explains why the believer lives with both struggle and certainty.

The interpreter’s task is not to eliminate the tensions by choosing the verses he or she prefers, but to let them stand side by side until Scripture itself helps us to bring them together.

The limits of our knowledge

Before ascending to heaven, Jesus tells the disciples that it is not for them to know the times and seasons the Father has set by his own authority (Acts 1:7). This is not an invitation to indifference, but to humility. God has told us what we need in order to hope and to live; he has not given us a detailed map of the afterlife or a calendar of the end.

Three mistakes to avoid

Setting dates. In the history of the Church many have announced the end for a specific year. All of them were wrong, and they often left disappointment and unbelief behind them. Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:36 are enough to settle the matter.
Sensationalism. Turning every war, earthquake or political news item into a “sign of the end” produces anxiety and curiosity, not holiness. Jesus himself warns that these things must happen, but the end is not yet (Matthew 24:6).
Indifference. At the opposite extreme are those who, tired of speculation, stop thinking about the future at all. But a Church that no longer waits for its Lord loses its hope and its urgency.

Eschatology and science

The sciences tell us a great deal about the universe, about time and about its possible development. Faith does not fear this conversation. Science answers questions about how the world works; revelation speaks to us about why and where to. When we speak of the new creation, we are not making predictions in physics, but affirming, on the basis of God’s promise, that history has a purpose and a goal.

How we will study

In this course we will apply the BereaWay Method:

Receive: we will place each text in its world, especially when it uses the symbolic language of apocalyptic;
Examine: we will read words, context and literary genre carefully;
Connect: we will compare each passage with the rest of Scripture, distinguishing the clear truths shared by all believers from the questions on which faithful Christians hold different views.

🔗 Connect

Genesis 3:15: the first promise of victory over evil opens a story that points towards its fulfilment.
Isaiah 65:17: the prophets already announce new heavens and a new earth.
Matthew 12:28: with Jesus the Kingdom of God has already come.
1 Corinthians 15:24-28: at the end Christ will deliver up the Kingdom to the Father, so that God may be all in all.
Revelation 22:20: the Bible closes with a promise and a prayer: “Surely I come quickly”, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”.

From the first page to the last, Scripture tells a story moving towards a goal. Eschatology is not an appendix to the faith: it is the direction of the whole history of salvation.

🙏 Apply

When you think about the “last things”, what do you feel most often: hope, fear, curiosity or indifference? Why?
Have you ever come across date predictions or sensationalist readings of the end? What effect did they have on you or on others?
How could the certainty that Christ will return change a concrete decision you make this week?
Pray, asking God for a living hope and a humble heart, ready to receive what his Word says and to stop where it is silent.

📚 Go Deeper

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 and notice how often Paul links the future to comfort and watchfulness.
Read 2 Peter 3:1-14: how does Peter answer those who mocked the promise of Christ’s return?
If you haven’t done so yet, the course How to Study the Bible will help you read the prophetic and apocalyptic genres, which feature heavily in this course.

In the next lesson we will ask what it means that God is eternal and that history has a beginning and an end.