Living in the Last Days

In the Old Testament, through the prophet, Joel, God spoke to His people and said in Joel 2:28(NLT), “‘In the last days…I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” This prophecy was repeated by the Apostle Peter in the New Testament in Acts 2:17 as well. Believers living today have the distinct honor and privilege of experiencing the fulfillment of this prophecy, because there is an outpouring of God’s Spirit on His people, and it is truly amazing! We are so blessed to be living during this time. And yes, we are living in the last days, but it is important to note that the reference to the ‘last days’ in verses Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 isn’t as ominous as many have made it. Over the years, we have been taught and many have assumed it means that the end of the world or Armageddon is very close. But the ‘last days’ is a distinction that should cause us to rejoice in victory rather than to be filled with doom and gloom.

Ephesians 2:10(NLT) tells us, “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Our extraordinarily powerful and wonderful Heavenly Father calls us His masterpiece, and we need to let the beautiful reality of this sink deep within us. A masterpiece is a work of outstanding artistry and superior workmanship. It is a creator’s finest work. This gives us a basis for comprehending how God thinks and feels about us, and it also outlines a bit about God’s purpose for our lives. It’s all about love! 1John 4:8 tells us that God is love. It’s not only what He does, love is who He is. He created us out of His unconditional love, and Ephesians 2:10 affirms that He was busy planning good things for us long before we ever arrived on the scene.

It is also important for us to understand that because of His great love, there were certain boundaries God wouldn’t and won’t overstep. Of course, He could have overstepped those boundaries if He wanted to, because He’s God after all; He can do anything He chooses, but He has limited Himself by His own standard. For instance, He shows us in His Word that real love does not restrict or take away choices. God did not want robots who do everything they are programed to do. He wanted children, and Genesis 1:26 tells us that He has made us in the image of the Godhead.

After creating us as His masterpieces, through His love He gave us the freedom to make our own choices. For example, we know that Heavenly Father has overwhelming love for us all, but He will not force us to have overwhelming love for Him. He’d like us to love Him in the greatest way possible, which is through the love of Christ, but God will not coerce or force us to love Him this intensely. We can see this in Adam and Eve. God wanted them to continue enjoying sweet fellowship with Him, but they made a different choice, and He didn’t stop them.

Heavenly Father didn’t overstep their free-will choice to sin, thereby showing us His allegiance to the free-will agency He’s given us all. God told Adam and Eve the truth about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He wanted them to remain safe and protected in His care, but they chose not to believe Him and to take the devil’s word over God’s Word. This led to their colossal fall, and the most devastating result of Adam’s and Eve’s fall is that the Holy Spirit could no longer abide with them. Their disobedience caused them to lose holiness. Because of this, their connection to God through His Spirit was severed.

God had a plan for our redemption through Jesus Christ even before He created Adam and Eve. He knew they would sin at some point, but this didn’t make the heartbreak of their fall any less. After they sinned, Heavenly Father told satan in Genesis 3:15(NLT), “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” This verse is God prophesying the coming of the Messiah, and although it tells us that satan would strike the heel of Christ by nailing him to the cross, we also see that Christ would also strike. Jesus Christ won the victory over satan and stroke down the bondage and captivity the enemy had over God’s people. Through Jesus Christ, we have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13). This means that the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, Teacher, and Guide, could join us in the way that God intended.

Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished through his sacrifice and resurrection, the Holy Spirit can live inside our physical body. Our bodies become a temple for God when we give our lives to Jesus Christ and repent of our sins. Every person that has lived since the Apostles tarried in the upper room for the infilling of the Holy Spirit has lived in the last days. None of know when Jesus Christ is coming to the earth again. We don’t know the minute, hour, or day, but he is indeed coming. And until he does, our hearts should swell to overflowing over what God has accomplished for us through Christ. God’s Spirit now lives inside us! This is a gift beyond our comprehension. Nothing we could ever do in ten thousand lifetimes would be enough to thank God for the heft of the gift that Jesus Christ has made available.

Those of us living today are tapping into God’s heart and experiencing the power and glory of His Spirit! We are touching heaven and basking in its abundant resources. All those many years ago, when Adam and Eve sinned, our Heavenly Father could have said, “You’re too much trouble. I give you everything, and you mess it up by turning to evil and turning your backs on My goodness. That’s it! I’ve had enough!” He could have totally wiped us out and started all over again. He didn’t. He is patient as we take baby steps towards learning how to love like Christ. He’s done this because the only way that we can accept the greatness of His love in all its lavishness is by first knowing what this love really is. And the only way to know what God’s love is, is to learn to love His way ourselves. The times prove we’ve got a long way to go, and God will be just as patient and loving with us now as He’s always been, even in these last days. ■ Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Living in the Last Days

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