The End of Days

By Andrew Stoddard

Scripture Reading: Daniel 12:1-13, 2 Peter 3:8-13, Revelation 1:4-8

God has set eternity in the heart of man (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Scripture tells us that we are wired for eternity, created for an everlasting kingdom, drawn by the Spirit to His goodness which will be fully and forever established at the end of this age.

Nostalgia is a strong emotion. Most of us tend to think of that feeling as a longing or yearning for a romanticized version of what once was: a childhood memory or a favorite family vacation, the most beautiful autumn day or a moment of athletic victory and the accompanying rush.

I’m not the first to point it out, but I think it’s fair to acknowledge another type of nostalgia that is rooted in a holy longing for the future. Because God has set eternity in our hearts, we actually remember glimpses of what will be.

“How long till the end of these wondrous things?” (Daniel 1:6). This question posed by the unknown man could just as easily come from any of us. How many times per week do you find yourself praying, lamenting, thinking, or even saying out loud, “How long?!”

Probably too many times to count.

In the deepest seat of our person, as we are re-created and redeemed, the image of God in us has tremendous hope because it pre-celebrates the day when all shall be made new. When we lose sight of that eternal perspective, we ask “How long?” from a place of grief and fear. When we hold on to a God’s eye view of this life, when we recall the work that Jesus completed on our behalf, our hope and remembrance of the future is further established.

As we live in the tension of this world, between Eden and Eternity, we can cry out “How long?!” but we can also cry out in victory and hope no matter our circumstances because we remember the work of Jesus, which helps us not only confess “this too shall pass,” but “this too shall be healed.”

As was promised to Daniel, “Go on your way to the end; you will rest, and then you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance at the end of the days” (Daniel 12:13). For us, to “go your way,” is to walk in the way of Jesus, remembering eternity and living for it as He set it in our hearts.

Written by Andrew Stoddard