By Bob Barney
Are we living in the last days? Are we in the END TIMES? Is the return of Jesus Christ right around the corner? These are the questions that many of us ask ourselves whenever we read the book of Revelation or the Gospel of Matthew. How can we not want to understand the return of Jesus Christ and the awesome Kingdom of God that He will be bringing with Him?
Let us first discuss the misnomer with the term “end times”. Jesus was never talking about the end of the world and John in his book of Revelation wasn't speaking of the end of the world either; in fact, both men were talking about what is best described as “the end of the age” of mankind.
When God created man, Adam and Eve to be exact, a new age upon this earth began. It was the age of mankind, and it began approximately five to six thousand years ago as best we can tell. Adam was set up to rule this earth during this age but because of Adam’s sin he lost his right as ruler of the age of mankind. Many are not aware that the Bible plainly states that the Earth is much older than man. In fact, those who believe the earth to be billions of years old are not necessarily in conflict with the Bible at all! It is very possible that the earth is extremely old. In Genesis the correct translation of God creating the heavens and the earth is that God RE-CREATED the heavens and the earth after a cataclysm that is not mentioned. This former earth was under the rulership of the great archangel Lucifer, the angel who rebelled against God and became Satan. If Adam had not sinned, he would have been the ruler of this age and would have replaced Satan is the ruler of this age.
Believe it or not, the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ is rarely ever presented in the churches of today. What I am referring to is that Jesus as God is coming back to replace Satan as the ruler of this earth and usher in a new age. When Christ returns and brings the Kingdom of God with Him, it will entail a government that will have no end, and the age of man will actually come to an end. It would be a very important truth for the church to finally get on board with what Jesus was saying and meaning! Jesus was not merely talking about salvation, and He most definitely wasn’t talking about how to get to Heaven, the Son of God was talking about bringing God’s government to earth, complete with God’s laws and love.