In chapter three we will be looking at several passages of scripture that make it abundantly clear that when Jesus came the first time, He inaugurated the beginning of the last days, which means that we have been living in the last days since Jesus' first coming. The last days will come to an end when Jesus comes back again.
WE ARE NOW LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS
'These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warning for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. (I Cor 10:11) The end of the world means the end of the age; the end of the history of this world.
"He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last time for your sake. " (I Pet. 1.20) When Jesus was born it was the beginning of the last days, or the last times. They began at the time of His first appearing.
"Dear children, this is the last hour, and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour " (I Jn. 2:18)
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." (Heb. 1:1-2) Jesus spoke to us in the last days through His first appearance. The above scriptures indicate that the first coming of Christ marked the beginning of the last days.
'Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Heb. 9:26-28) At the end of this age He will appear the second time. "For then would He often have had to suffer over and over again since the foundation of the world, but as it is now, he has once for all, at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice of Himself " (Heb. 9:26 Amplified) Scriptures that deal with Christ's second coming refer to the end of this age. Christ came at the beginning of the last days, or the beginning of the end, and the end of the end will be when He appears the second time.
In Acts 2:14, on the day of Pentecost, Peter quotes the prophecy of Joel 2:28, "Fellow Jews and all of you who are in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen care .fully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is w at was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, - God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. "' (Acts 2:14-]7a) That outpouring came to pass on the day of Pentecost. That was the beginning of the last days.
SUMMARY
There is a large consensus within the body of Christ worldwide that we are in the very last of the last days, and that the day of the Lord's coming is close at hand. In the next chapter we will deal with the day of the Lord, which is the day of His appearing.