Have We Missed the End Times -- (At Least In One Regard)

A Gospel Tip from The Gospel Coach, Roger Himes.

I got an email this week and the person said, "You shouldn't call yourself The Gospel Coach. You're A Prophet of the Cross." I took that as a very big compliment. Mark Twain said, "I can live 90 days on one good compliment!"

My ministry focus is the personal reality of living daily life in the power of Christ's finished work. This makes me think about our spiritual expectancy and perception that is much too often different from this.

DANIEL CHAPTER 9 I realize scripture can at least be dualistic -- meaning it has more than one interpretation. Have you read Daniel 9 recently? ? WITHOUT an end time mindset? This is the infamous 70 weeks of Daniel, where we are told that we are still waiting -- TODAY -- for the 70th week to be fulfilled.

Daniel 9:24 says: "70 weeks are determined for you...

(1) to finish the transgression,

(2) to make an end of sins,

(3) to make reconciliation for iniquity,

(4) to bring in everlasting righteousness,

(5) to seal up vision and prophecy,

(6) to anoint the most holy."

What this passage says is that the 70 weeks will be fulfilled when these six things happen. Over 95% of the church today is WAITING for these things to be fulfilled in the future. End time gurus tell us we have only experienced 69 weeks to date -- and the 70th week is still future.

BUT, seen through gospel eyes, could ALL 70 weeks have occurred?

(1) Hebrews 9:15 says Jesus redeemed the transgressions under the first covenant (the Old Covenant law).

(2) Hebrews 9:26 says Jesus came to put away sin (which means to bury it), by the sacrifice of himself. II Corinthians 5:21 even say he became sin for us

(3) II Corinthians 5:18-19 says that Jesus came to reconcile the whole world to himself.

(4) The scriptures say Jesus brought in God's righteousness by his finished work (II Cor 5:21). I talk a lot about this in things I write.

(5) Isn't the Holy Spirit the great SEAL for us, and in Luke 24:27, 44-45, doesn't Jesus says ALL prophecy was fulfilled in him?

(6) In Luke 4:18, Jesus declares that HE is the anointed one.

DON'T MISS THIS! This has a profound impact on how we live daily life! If we only see all of this as future end times, we have NO benefits here and now. If we see it as having already happened on the cross, we are impacted with MANY benefits!

A UNIQUE END TIME VERSE

Hebrews 9:26 says, "Now once, IN THE END OF THE WORLD, Jesus appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (KJV).

There is only one time in the history of the world that this verse can be talking about: the cross of Christ. And what does it call the time-period of the cross? It refers to it as 'the end of the world.' As Hebrews fully describes, the cross brought an end to the OLD ways of God that had been in existence for the 4,000 years of the recorded history of man. It changed everything ? 'all things became new' (II Cor 5:17).

MY FOCUS IS NOT THE END TIMES

I can show you, verse by verse through Daniel 9 and 12, and most of the book of Revelation, how most things point to the CROSS, and not to what we call 'the future end times.' At least it can be read as 'dualistic' ? having more than one meaning. My goal is to show how we MISS so much of the power of God revealed by the gospel of the cross if we have a futuristic perception and expectation.

You can't look forward and backward at the same time! If you look forward (to the end times), you will miss what's behind us (the cross).

As The Gospel Coach (or what my friend called 'A prophet of the cross'), I look backwards to the cross, ? the finished work of Christ. This is what the gospel is about. It's not about the future.

It is the gospel that Jesus says must be preached in all the world BEFORE the end will come (Mat 24:14). We're even told that if we don't preach it adequately, then ANGELS will in the end times (Rev 14:6).

The New Testament focus on the gospel of the finished work of Christ on the cross is staggering. This is why I 'prophesy' about it constantly. It's the power of God in each of us (Rom 1:16).

If you are looking toward the future, you WON'T see the reality of what the gospel tells us about Daniel 9:24 that we just spent part of this teaching looking at. You can't look forward and backwards at the same time. Remember: the cross was future when Daniel wrote.

I DO BELIEVE IN END TIMES!

Acts 1:11 boldly says Jesus is coming back the same way he left. In my mind, there is no way to MIS-interpret what this means. Our Lord will return to this planet, and I don't think he's coming to inhabit some physical temple built with human hands. He did away with that 2,000 years ago, and even allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed in 70 A.D ? I think because of the continual sacrifices.

I believe in end times, but I DON'T believe all the 'religious Disneyland fantasy' that most end time gurus preach. What they preach often ROBS us of the reality of the FINISHED work of Jesus!

TWO THINGS STEAL REVELATION OF CHRIST'S FINISHED WORK

(1) Living in the past: in the Old Covenant law -- although today we call them living by precepts, principles, formulas and strategies, and

(2) Living in the future: in a mindset focused on end times.

The cross is not included in the past because it is ever-present, progressive reality. It physically occurred 2,000 years ago, but it is LIFE to us today. Jesus says, "ALL who ever came before me were thieves and robbers" (John 10:8). This is is the PAST ? those who lived and ministered before him, with particular focus on the law of the Old Covenant (John 1:17).

As we saw, the FUTURE can also rob us blind.

This is where most people I coach and counsel need a lot of help. If we are caught in a tug-of-war between living by the LAW, and wanting the return of Christ, how can we receive revelation of his CROSS? As is said, we become double-minded and unstable in all our ways.

LIVING IN KINGDOM REALITY AND POWER

We are given ALL things in the cross!

+ We have all favor, all blessing, all promises.

+ We have Christ's inheritance, and his authority and power.

+ We have prosperity and health ? plus healing if we need it.

+ We are given light, life and eternal, unconditional love.

+ We are given all of God's manifold grace.

+ We are given confidence, boldness, and a good conscience ? even if we sin.

+ We are given righteousness, perfection, and sanctification.

+ We are given the peace and joy of the Kingdom.

Why don't we live in the reality of all of this? It is due to being caught in a tug-of-war. The past and the future tugs on us so hard we can't experience the reality of present spiritual reality.

We will continue to discuss this more in upcoming weeks, in different ways. To truly live in Christ's power and presence, we must live by the cross. We must focus on what Hebrews 9:26 calls 'the end of the world' -- Jesus came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

God dying for mankind is a humling thought. At least in part, could this be 'the abomination of desolation' that Daniel saw? Don't forget that the cross was future when he wrote. The murder of God is an abomination.

But it's also the greatest gift God could give us. Crucifixion isn't something that was done TO God -- really, it was something God did FOR us. At least in my mind, Daniel, who is called the 'granddaddy' of end time prophecy, describes the CROSS in Daniel 9:24, not the future end times. The more the CROSS impacts your life, the more of God's presence and power you will experience. Don't let the past, or the future rob you. Jesus was crucified between two thieves. Often, we are too!