The Last Time 1 John 2:17 - Equipped for Battle

Many people have wondered, “Are we living in the last days?” “Does the Mayan calendar really know what is going on?” “What about all this activity in Israel and the Middle East? Does all this really mean that the end is near?” So many questions and so many speculations as to what is going on are available just about on any news network. Let me be clear on my position: I don't know, however, Jesus said this in referring to times like these:

So likewise, when you see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near at hand. Luke 21:31

John the apostle continues his effort to help us understand how much God desires fellowship with us. In doing so, he now turns from his subjects of the removal of sin which separates people from God, loving God and loving others, growing in the faith, and resistance to temptation, to warnings over false teachers and ideas that shall appear in the last times. In First John chapter two and verse seventeen he writes:

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Think about it for a moment. John wrote this almost two thousand years ago, and he said, “it is the last time” and he repeats it, “whereby we know that it is the last time.” The last time? Two thousand years ago, and John is saying “it is the last time?” For some that will cause questions. How could it be the last time when John was speaking and yet it has been two thousand years since then? The answer is simple really when you know just a little more.

God does not measure time like we do. Where we count days, weeks, months and years as lengths of time, but God who lives out of the time continuum sees it differently. For example, we are given a hint to this in the book of Psalms chapter ninety and verse four:

For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.

Also the apostle Peter shares with us in the book of Second Peter chapter three and verse eight:

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

So from what we can glean from these verses, when we think, wow, John said it is the last time and that was two thousand years ago, God thinks, oh, it's been a couple days that have passed by. Time is not the same for God, and He knows exactly what time it is. One thing is for sure, it is much closer to the “last time” today than it was when John wrote these words, and God knows when all these things will come to pass.

Next time we will look further into John's statement about the “antichrist” and “many antichrists”, so read ahead, and we will share about them then

Until tomorrow...there is more...

Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, find locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore