To the Ends of the Earth

Jesus has come in these last days to provide salvation for men, women, and children of all nations, and everlasting life in the age to come.

After his resurrection, Jesus declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me! Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” Christ sent his disciples to announce the salvation accomplished by his death “to the ends of the Earth.” The promise of the Abrahamic Covenant to bless all nations is now being fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

God gave promises to Abraham and the nation of Israel. He is now speaking with finality in His Son, “the heir of all things.” Jesus is fulfilling all of God’s promises, and in him, we see the full glory, truth, and grace of God – (John 1:14-18, Hebrews 1:1-3).

• “I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me: You are my son! This day, I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession” – (Psalm 2:7-8).

• “It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel. Behold, I have given you for the covenant of a race, for a light of the nations, that you should be for salvation to the end of the earth” – (Isaiah 49:6 [The Septuagint, lxx]).

• “The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations from faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you will all the nations be blessed. So then, they that are from faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. <…> Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He says not, and to ‘seeds’, as of many; but as of one, and to your seed, which is Christ” - (Galatians 3:8-9, 16. Note the verbal allusion to Genesis 22:17).

[Photo by Alin Andersen (Bern) on Unsplash]

The Age of Salvation, the period known in Scripture as ‘the last days’, began with the Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation of Jesus Christ. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost confirmed that the Church has entered the Messianic Age. From now on, Jesus is reigning as our Lord and King:

• “This is that which has been spoken through the prophet Joel: And it will be in the last days, says God, I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh! <…> And it will be, that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” - (Acts 2:16-21, citing Joel 2:28, 32. Note that Peter cites the passage from the Greek Septuagint version of Joel).

The life-giving message of Jesus Christ must be announced to all men before he returns. The Son of God has overcome death and achieved everlasting salvation for all those who call upon his name. This salvation is not limited to Israel but is offered freely to men and women of every nation and ethnic group, and to all on the same basis, “the faith of Jesus Christ” – (Romans 3:21-22).

Every man and woman who turns to Jesus in repentance and faith will receive the forgiveness of sins, the gift of God’s Spirit, and the assurance of salvation on the Last Day when every individual will stand before the Judge of all the Earth.

God has empowered the Church of Jesus Christ with His Spirit to proclaim this Good News to the nations of the Earth, and to call every man, woman, and child to embrace Jesus and join the Kingdom of God before the Day of the Lord:

• “It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” – (Acts 1:7-8. The allusion is to Psalm 2:8 or Isaiah 49:6).

• “And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will summon” – (Acts 2:38-39. Compare Joel 2:32).

This salvation includes the redemption of the nations and the creation itself. The legal claim of Satan on humanity was voided by the self-sacrificial death of Jesus, and the curse that condemned us to death has been broken. When Jesus returns, death will no longer be able to hold us, and even nations and kings will be found inhabiting the Holy City, New Jerusalem:

• “Since the children are partners in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might nullify him who had the tyranny of death, that is, the Devil, and liberate all those who through fear of death were all their lives subject to bondage” - (Hebrews 2:14-15).

• “He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life in the Paradise of God” - (Revelation 2:7. See Genesis 2:9).

• “And the nations will walk amidst the light of it, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the city” – (Revelation 21:24).

• “And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of the street. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And the curse will be no longer” – (Revelation 22:1-3. Compare Genesis 2:9, 3:10-13).

The structures and ideologies of the current world order will not endure forever. Ever since Christ’s victory on the Cross, the forms and institutions of this age have entered their terminal phase. This process will continue until they vanish from the Earth.

The Cross of Christ is the hinge on which History has turned, and there will be no return to the old era. Following the return of Jesus, sin, suffering, and death will be eliminated forevermore:

• “But this I say, brethren, the time is shortened, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none, and those who weep, as though they wept not. And those who rejoice, as though they rejoiced not. And those who buy, as though they possessed not. And those who use the world, as not using it to the full! For the forms of this age are passing away”- (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).

• “In saying, Of a new sort, he has made obsolete the first. But the thing that is becoming obsolete and aged is about to disappear!” – (Hebrews 8:13).

• “But according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” - (2 Peter 3:13. See Isaiah 65:17).

• “Repent, therefore, and turn about that your sins may be erased, so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heavens must receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets” – (Acts 3:19-21. Compare Isaiah 1:26, 43:25, 44:22, 49:6).

When Jesus next appears, he will raise the dead and overthrow death, consummate the Kingdom of God, and judge the nations – (1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Matthew 25:31-46).

ONCE AND FOR ALL TIME

The appearance of Jesus Christ in History signaled the start of the new epoch, the final age that will conclude with his return and the redemption of all things:

• “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, who came to be of a woman, who came to be under law, that he might redeem those who were under the law; that we might receive the sonship. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So that you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God” – (Galatians 4:4-7).

• “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The season is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel!” – (Mark 1:15. Compare Daniel 12:4).

• “Blessed is he who reads, and they who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the season is at hand” – (Revelation 1:3. Compare Daniel 2:44 and 12:4).

The idea of a new era of salvation is implicit in the opening words of the Letter to the Hebrews. God has spoken with great finality in these final days in His Son:

• “Many parts and many ways of old, God, having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, upon the end of these days, has spoken to us in a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages, who being the radiant brightness of his glory, and the precise imprint of his essence, and upholding all things by the utterance of his power, having achieved the purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” – (Hebrews 1:1-3. Note the use of wording from Leviticus 16:16 and Psalm 110:1. Both allusions are based on the Septuagint [lxx], the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament).

Through his sacrificial death, Jesus has cleansed the stain of our sins. Therefore, God resurrected him and seated His Son on the Messianic throne as our High Priest who intercedes for us in the presence of God.

• “Now, in the things that we are saying, the chief point is this. We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a servant of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected, not man” – (Hebrews 8:1-2. Compare Psalm 110:1, lxx).

The death of Jesus was not an interim stage in a long series of redemptive acts, but the definitive and final saving act of God for His children. Every Divine act that preceded the time of Christ culminated in his Death, Resurrection, and Exaltation.

Moreover, God has appointed this ‘crucified messiah’ as the ruler over the Cosmos and the only source of everlasting life and salvation:

• “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” – (Acts 2:36).

• “He is the stone that was set aside by you, the builders, which was made the head of the corner. And in no one else is there salvation, for neither is there any other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” – (Acts 4:11-12. Citation of Psalm 118:22).

The crucifixion of Jesus was his once-for-all sacrifice for sins. His death was the nonrepeatable event that rescues us from bondage to sin and the fear of death. In the final analysis, death will not have the final word, for God will raise us from the dead when Jesus arrives:

• “And having been made complete, he became for all those who obey him the author of everlasting salvation” – (Hebrews 5:9).

• “For such a high priest as this was even suited for us: Loving, noble, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and become higher than the heavens, who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For this he did once and for all when he offered himself” – (Hebrews 7:26-27).

• “But now, once, at the conclusion of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And since it is appointed to men to die once and for all, and after this comes judgment, so also Christ, having been offered once and for all to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, apart from sin, to those who are awaiting him for salvation” – (Hebrews 9:26-27. Note the verbal allusion to Isaiah 53:12, lxx).

OUR RESURRECTION

God has spoken with finality in His Son. He alone “achieved the purification of sin,” and he did so in recent times, “upon the last of these days.” Therefore, he sits on the Divine throne as our faithful High Priest, the only man who ever conquered death.

Death will not be the end for all those who belong to Jesus. We will receive our full inheritance when Jesus returns to gather and vindicate his people, and to resurrect the righteous dead. The gift of the Spirit is the down payment and guarantee of our resurrection on the last day:

• “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” – (Matthew 24:30-31. Compare Daniel 7:13).

• “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the arrival of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who remain, will together with them be caught up in the clouds, to a meeting with the Lord in the air. And thus we will be with the Lord forevermore. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words” – (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).

• “For we know that the whole creation is groaning and travailing in pain together until now. And not only so, but we ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, the redemption of our body” – (Romans 8:22-23).

Salvation is provided on the same basis to every man, woman, and child: by the faith of Jesus Christ. The basis of our forgiveness and acceptance by God is the sacrificial death of His Son. Jesus has secured our access to the Creator of all things and resurrection life in the age to come – (Romans 3:21-22, Galatians 2:15-21).

• “For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” – (Mark 10:45. Allusion to Isaiah 53:12).

• “Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might ransom us from all lawlessness, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works” – (Titus 2:13-14).

We live in the final period before the Day of the Lord and the consummation of all things, when the Good News of salvation is being proclaimed. Everyone who responds with repentance and faith will receive the forgiveness of sins in this life and resurrection life in the new heavens and new earth when Jesus next appears.

• “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be consumed. Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God” - (2 Peter 3:10-12. Note the allusion to Isaiah 51:6).

[NOTE: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The authors of the New Testament often cite passages from the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, rather than the Hebrew text. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numerals for ‘seventy’ or lxx from the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• Salvation for the Nations - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth provides salvation and life for men and women of every nation and people)

• Christ's Radical Message - (Jesus summoned his disciples to proclaim the Good News to every nation, and to give complete allegiance to him and his kingdom)

• Jesus Saves! - (The Good News announced by Jesus offers salvation and life to men and women of every nation and people)

• L'Âge du Salut - (Jésus est venu au dernier de ces jours pour apporter le salut aux hommes, aux femmes et aux enfants de toutes les nations, et la vie dans l'âge à venir)