Is This All There Is?

This is the inevitable, if not the initial response to the implications of Preterism. Those who have been looking to be “raptured” out of this evil world feel that Preterism robs them of the “blessed hope.” Yet we have failed to realize, that by claiming that the you, we and us of the New Testament refer to our current generation, we have effectively robbed the New Testament saints of that same blessed hope—the very people to whom it was promised! (p. 401)

Still, however, we can sympathize with the reader’s feelings of a “hollow” interpretation, for we also raised similar questions upon our introduction to Preterism. We believe that there are two primary reasons for this sense of disillusionment. The first is that the New Covenant and the Kingdom of God have been overly literalized in their presentation to us, and we have been led to expect them in this physical realm. This was our focus of study in Part I.

The second reason for not appreciating the New Covenant is rooted in our inability to fully comprehend and compare the differences between the “ministry of death” and the gospel of grace. (pp. 402-403)

And yet we have succumbed to an eschatology that looks at this glorious plan of redemption (which causes the angels to rejoice) and makes us ask “Is this all there is?” Though certainly not held by all, there are some Futurists who have the attitude “why polish brass on a sinking ship?” The world is going to Hell in a hand basket, the days are evil, and the Bible tells us that it will only get worse in these “last days.” Therefore, why get involved in politics, the arts, our communities, etc.? We can’t change what is destined to be. One would think that since the ship has remained afloat for 2,000 years, we might begin to realize that the ship is not sinking. If it appears to be listing in the water, it is only because much of the crew has become derelict in their duties. Instead of taking pride in the vessel upon which they sail, seeing it as the answer to the world’s problems, they merely see it as a life raft to keep them out of the troubled waters of this world until they are rescued from them.

If we would polish the brass nameplate on the bow, we would see we are not on a sinking ship. Rather we are riding on HIS Majesty’s Ship, The Glorious Gospel of Christ. Instead of hoping that we are airlifted off before it sinks, we need to pull together as a crew. Then, according to the proper working of each individual member (Eph 4:16), and building one another up in our most holy faith (Jude 20), we can take this ship to every port in the world. Thus, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14).

Truly, the ingenuity of the incarnation to provide a sacrifice that would satisfy the requirements of God’s holy nature in judging sin, the love of the Father and the Son towards man in instituting that plan, and the fact that there is no plan of redemption for the fallen angels, make the gospel of the New Covenant The Greatest Story Ever Told. (p. 412)