A Closer Look at Endings and Beginnings
Chapter Two – Biblical Examples of Last Days
One of the first Last Days mentioned in the Bible was in Genesis 2:1-3, the seventh day of creation. God completed the cosmos and rested from His labor of creating. You and I didn’t even exist within the context of matter or thought, yet God completed His work.
It was several thousand years later that God so loved each of us, that He sent His Son in human form to suffer and die for the sake of all humans, that our sin would be removed and that access to eternal love and relationship with God the Father would once again be restored.
But the curious thing about the Genesis 2 Last Day event was this: Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection and ascension were already completed in the mind of God (in physics that’s called potential energy). Revelation 13:8 states the fact that Jesus the Lamb of God was slain, in the mind and plan of God, even before the foundations of the earth were set. In other words, at God’s Last Day of labor, all things were set and completed. Only time had to pass for them to be manifest.
Then there was the Last Day in the garden for Adam and Eve. I can’t imagine the grief and sense of loss. One day you are free and destined to live in peace and harmony with God and all of creation. The next day you are banished from access to food that would keep you alive indefinitely and a close personal relationship with your Father Creator – not to mention then being at odds with the rest of creation. This was a very significant Last Day for them, and us.
Albeit God, set up access for us to return to that place of communion, there was indeed a Last Day that they stood in their precious home, only to be driven out into a realm they had never known. That’s a pretty big Last Day ouch if you ask me.
Then there was the Last Day before murder became a devilishly popular slap in the face of our Father God the Creator. I wonder how much of a strain there really was upon Cain and Abel’s relationship. I wonder when the seeds of jealousy and greed were planted in Cain’s heart. There had to be a Last Day that he ceased to obey and do what was right.
Had he chosen rightly regarding his relationship with Father God, murder may not have become so popular at the hands of his decedents. There was a Last Day when Cain, heard the voice of God, who offered wisdom and life, because God had seen that he was depressed and angry. God simply told him to do what was right, what possibly had been originally instructed, and his feelings and situation would change for the better. Cain declined. And a world free from murder saw its Last Day.
How about the Last Day before God flooded the earth? The account of Noah is peppered with Last Day moments, yet few to none heeded the warning signs – nor still do. The payment was met at a great price.
Last Days are scattered throughout scripture. The Last Day men acted as sheep herders then became leaders of people for the sake of God’s redemptive plan. Simply amazing!
There are Last Days of tyranny and fear brought to an end, by unwitting and unassuming men and women, found to be instruments of God, despite their hiding in wine presses or gleaning on the edge of fields, or who themselves had suffered under the whip of a taskmaster. On those Last Days they were converted into victorious champion sickles in the Hand of the Divine Reaper of Justice.
On and on through the ages, Last Days in the lives of men and women became pivot points of human transformation and access to God. It’s actually hard to imagine let alone document each and every Last Day that brought powerful change for one or the many. Millions of times, since day seven of creation have there been Last Days that were of enormous significance – and oh how easy it is to forget them.
There was a Last Day for this earth and mankind that caused all other Last Days to pale in comparison. That Last Day was the day before Mary gave birth to the actual Son of God. It was the day prior to Emanuel arriving in a stable. It was the day all hell and its minions sought to eliminate. It was a day the Savior was brought into this world.
Prior to that day, on the Last Day of demonic tyranny, all of creation groaned with no visible hope of relief, yet that Last Day did arrive. Jesus was born. And despite the most hellish efforts of the enemies of His Kingdom, He arrived.
And just a short thirty three years later, the consummation of God’s original Last Day of work came to pass. Sin was terminated as the final separation between God and man. Jesus was crucified, and death saw its Last Day of permanence. And the wrath of God toward all men was placed upon the spotless sacrifice, Jesus, and thereby we no longer are bound to face His wrath and eternal judgment.
And to cap it all off just three days after, the Last Day for sin and judgment, there was the Last Day that eternal entombment and death were able to call the shots. Jesus rose from the dead, and remains alive to this very day.
Wow, so many Last Day events. Not to mention all the Last Day events in the New Testament and prophesies yet to come. Over and over God has ordained the Last Day. He has ordained the turning point or the day of change so as to advance His plan and His Kingdom, even when we are unaware.
The Bible and the rest of recorded human history are filled with Last Day events; so why should you and I be dumbfounded or even amazed that our lives too would be filled with Last Days? Should we be surprised when one thing ends and another begins?
Rather, shouldn’t we simply embrace Last Days as part and parcel of how God brings the Genesis Last Day (day seven), to pass and so be proven True? I know I must, and albeit challenging some days, with His help I will. I will embrace the doctrine of Last Days and continue being sanctified and glorified for His sake.
For just as the passing of one day into another, is no longer seen as profound, but simply mundane; so too will I embrace God’s design for Last Days. And I pray that as I take each and every Last Day as not profound, but simply the mundane process that leads to an ultimate profound moment. The Last Day when all the old is passed away and new has finally come.
To Be Continued
Chapter Three - What is My Last Day
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