Our purpose here and in following articles is to scan the period of time between Christ's departure and his second appearing by focusing on the work of the Holy Spirit. Understanding the meaning and time frame of the Spirit's mission is the key for understanding the meaning and duration of Christ's absence.

 

We have seen that the departure of Christ from the world of Old Testa­ment Israel was the prerequisite for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to his disciples, "...if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you" (John 14:7).

 

In John 14:2-3 Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." From these two pas­sages, we see that the presence or arrival (Parousia) of Christ, and thus the receiving of his disciples unto Himself, was the end result of what the Spirit was sent to accomplish during this transitional period of time.

 

Furthermore, the Spirit was sent to work in and through Christ. Therefore, it is the identical work mentioned by Christ in John 14:2: "I go to prepare a place for you." This will become clearer as we survey the work of the Spirit, tracing it through to the consummation that brought forth Christ's Second Appearing.

 

As well, we will analyze of the Spirit's work related to the Spirit’s role in the gospel's cross-centered eschatology. This will involve taking a cursory view of the gift, the promise, the pledge, the unity of the Spirit, and the basis of the Spirit’s transforming power.

 

The work of the Holy Spirit during Christ's ab­sence was thoroughly eschatological from begin­ning to end.  This concept is met with resistance largely due to what often is a one-sided ap­proach to eschatology. We have grown accustomed to thinking of eschatology strictly in terms of bring­ing something to an end. But biblical eschatology is a two-sided coin. On one side there is a movement toward an end in the sense of an absolute termina­tion or passing away of a former state of affairs. On the other side there is a movement toward fullness or completeness in the sense of the coming of a new and eternal state. These actions are not chronologi­cal but concurrent, having a common point of consummation.

 

We see that the covenantal framework of gospel eschatology has two sides that cannot be separated by an intervening age. The re­verse side of the coming of the New Covenant economy is the passing away of the Old Covenant aeon, and this twofold action occurs side by side until the change is completed.

 

The common mistake made in end-time exegesis is that of separating these interrelated actions, giving them separate frame­works of fulfillment. The passing of the Jewish age is put in one pocket of time and the Spirit's work of bringing about the new creation in Christ is put in another. Consequently the Spirit’s work in building up the firstfruits church until it reaches "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph.4:13) is not seen as eschatology. It is seen as something coming without the reverse action of something passing away.

 

This one-sided approach neglects the fullness of eschatological significance.  The passing away of the Old does not precede the coming in of the New.  The statement of the Holy Spirit concerning the Old Covenant, "Now what is becoming ob­solete and growing old is ready to van­ish away" (Heb.8:13) was made several years after the Spirit came on Pentecost and began to build up the first-century church until it attained the image of Christ.  Dur­ing this period Paul wrote, "For the form of this world is passing away" (1 Cor.7:31).

 

And again, "For if what is passing away was glorious, what re­mains is much more glorious" (2 Cor.3:11).  Note that Paul said the glori­ous (the ministry of the Old Covenant) "is passing away," not has passed away.  The present action (from Paul’s standpoint) should not be ignored.  Paul saw the passing away of the glorious as an on-going process with the end result being "what re­mains is much more glorious."  The fu­turity of consummated change (from Paul’s perspective) is clear in the next verse: "Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech." Paul’s use of "hope" indicates that the "ministry of death, written and engraved on stones" (v.7) already had not fully passed away at the cross.

 

These pas­sages illustrate that the work of the Holy Spirit throughout New Testament scripture was thoroughly eschatological until the change from "this age" (the Old Covenant age) to "the age to come" (the New Covenant age) was consummated.  Now we will comment on two related issues regarding the Spirit: the Last Days and The New Position of Christ.

 

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in "the last days" is evidence of the eschatological character of the Spirit's mission.  Joel addressed Old Covenant Israel's end-time (2:28-32 and 3:14-21).  Peter deliberately adds "in the last days" (Acts 2:17), thereby stressing that the Holy Spirit is an eschatological gift poured out in the final days of the Old Covenant age to work out the transformation of the covenant aeons whereby all of God's promises to Israel would be fulfilled in Christ.  Joel 2 and 3 stresses Israel's centrality in the things that would come to pass in the last days.

 

If we do not permit the end to begin where the Spirit began, we will inevitably miss the time and framework of events for the last things.  Pentecost was a Holy Day in the Jewish calendar.  The events that unfolded in Acts 2 are prefaced with the words, "Now when the Day of Pen­tecost had fully come" (v.1).  Every­thing recorded in this chapter took place, not on a Christian Holy Day, but on a festival day celebrated by Israel from the earliest days of their nation. But the cross was a turning point.  The "last days" of Old Covenant Israel's earthly, national existence as God's covenant people had come, and the Acts 2 Pentecost falls into that eschatological time frame.

 

The concept of instantaneous change at the cross or no later than Pentecost (rather than by means of the cross) contra­dicts the clear testimony of Jesus in Matthew 24:3 when he tied the de­struction of the temple to "the end of the age."  Was the temple destroyed on Pentecost?  If not, then the end of the age did not take place on Pentecost. Furthermore, it is not possible to mar­shal support for the claim that "the end of the age" in Matthew 24:3 is a refer­ence to the New Covenant age.  There is common agreement that the Old Covenant age was still present when the disciples asked about "the end of age." If the age they were in was not the age in question, then they would have asked, "What shall be the end of the age to come?"

 

We are not saying that the New Covenant age did not begin until the destruction of Jerusalem or the full end of the Old Covenant age. It began with the Spirit’s post-cross ministry, with the consummation being the coming in fullness of the New Covenant age about 40 years later.  From this perspective "the age to come" in He­brews 6:5 is a reference to the New Covenant age. Its powers were being tasted already in the transitional period through the working of the Holy Spirit.

 

Thus, the Spirit’s coming on Pentecost signaled the beginning of the end of the Old Covenant age and the beginning of the New Covenant age.

 

The coming of the New begins in the "last days" of the Old for the simple reason that the Old Testa­ment (with its promises, prophecies, types, and shadows) was the back­ground for the gospel's end-time mes­sage.  Christ was the sum and substance of all things written in the Law and the prophets.  He was both the end (telos) and the goal toward which everything moved and found unmitigated fullness in the "great and notable day of the Lord" (Acts 2:20). To this end the Holy Spirit was poured out in "the last days" of the Old Covenant dispensation.

 

The fact that the New Covenant age had its initial beginning in the latter days of the Old Covenant age does not mean that it was of that age.  This parallels the situa­tion of Christ's disciples whom Jesus said were in the world but not of the world (John 17:11, 15). Christ himself was once “in” but not “of” the world (see vv.11-15).  However, that was no longer the case after his resurrection. (See John 6:62, 63; 8:21-23). Neither would such be true of his disciples after they attained "to the resurrection from the dead" through their dying and ris­ing with Christ. The time and frame­work for this is laid out by Paul in Philippians 3:9-16 against the background of the Law (vv. 1-9), a seminal piece of writing on the eschatological work of the Holy Spirit in terms of gospel resurrection.

 

When Christ told his disciples, "if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you" (John 16:7), he was saying that as long as he was in the Old Covenant world (the world below) the Spirit could not begin the age-changing work.  Only after Christ had ascended to the world above (the heavenly realm wherein God's promises to Israel would be fulfilled) were conditions right from a messianic standpoint for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

 

Christ's new position, as defined by Peter in Acts 2:22-36, identifies him within "the age to come" of the New Covenant.  The first text Peter appeals to is Psalm 16:8-11.  This was a messianic prophecy concerning the deliverance of the suffering servant from Hades: "For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow Your Holy One to see corruption" (v.10; Acts 2:27). Peter argues in 2:29-32 that David was not talking about himself but Christ whom God raised up to sit on his (David's) throne (see 2Sam. 7:12-16).

 

The second text is Psalm110:1 where it is said of Israel's future king: "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."  In Acts 2:33-36 Peter shows this was not a prophecy about David, for David did not ascend into the heavens. He was talking about his son, Christ, whom God raised up and exalted to the heavens.

 

But what does all this mean? What impact did it have on the Jews of Peter's day to hear that the crucified Christ, now exalted to the heavens, was the one of whom David spoke?

 

They understood that these prophe­cies, when fulfilled, would bring forth the glorious "age to come" so eagerly awaited by Israel. Suddenly the Jews are confronted with the fact that where Christ is after his resurrection (as fore­seen by David) is not the place where they anticipated “the age to come.”  Christ, in order to fulfill Psalms 16:8-11 and 110:1, came into the world where the Jews thought "the age to come" would be realized. Christ was born of the seed of David "accord­ing to the flesh," but Israel should have learned about the restrictions of "the flesh" with respect to "the promise" by looking at Abraham (Gal.4:21-31).  Paul asked, "What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?" (Rom.4:1).  With respect to Ishmael (who was born of the flesh) and to the promise (which was accord­ing to the Spirit) the answer is that Abraham found (obtained) noth­ing.  In this same connection one could ask, "What, then, shall we say that Christ (the seed of promise) has found or obtained accord­ing to the flesh?" The answer is the same—nothing.

 

Likewise, the means necessary to fulfill the Davidic prophecies—Christ's death and resur­rection—are precisely that which removed Christ from the world that was "according to the flesh."  Israel's mistake was not in looking for "the age to come," but in looking for it according to "the flesh."

 

Paul addresses this mes­sianic misapprehension on the part of Israel, "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer" (2 Cor.5:16).  The cross/resurrection was the point of reference in the statement "from now on" we no longer know Christ "accord­ing to the flesh" (“according to the flesh” being a phrase commonly used to denote Israel's mode of life under the Law).  In this connection see Philippians 3:1-10 where Paul indicates that what came through Moses was not capable of bringing about "the age to come" through Christ.

 

The eschatological import of Christ's new position (his exaltation to the heavens) is crucial with respect to "the age to come" for which the Holy Spirit was poured out.  From Pentecost on, one world was passing away and another world was coming in as the direct result of Christ's new position and the work of the Holy Spirit in and through "this same Jesus" who previously had come "in the flesh"—but found nothing.

 

Connected to this, we see the "antichrist" of the "last hour" as being Law-zealous Jews.  They re­sisted the gospel of Christ's new loca­tion and would not confess that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (1 John 2:18-23; 4:1-3).  They would have received with open arms "the age to come" within the perimeters of their covenantal world, but the message of Christ's death in the flesh and resurrection in the Spirit (Rom.1:3, 4; 1 Pet.3:18) was the arrival of a new world order correspondent to God's promise to Abraham, who looked for a heavenly country and city (Heb.11:9-16). This transformation of covenantal worlds through the resur­rected Messiah was "the offense of the cross" (Gal.5:11; 6:12-16).

 

But the point is, Christ's new posi­tion “in the heavens” during the “last days” of the Jewish age establishes a frame of reference in scripture for the eschatological work, message, and mis­sion of the Holy Spirit.  From this per­spective we have a reasonable and biblical structure for the pervasive, indisputable "expectation of nearness" found in the New Testament. The end of all things was "at hand" (1 Pet.4:7) in the latter period of the apostolic mission simply because the "last days" were rapidly drawing to a close.

 

Consequently, the ar­rival of Christ (through whom "that which is perfect" would soon come) was equally "at hand" (Rev.22:6-10).  The fall of Jerusalem was "at hand" in apostolic time. The complementary event of that eschatological incident, the Parousia of Christ, was "at hand" too.

 

The inconsistency of a one-sided approach to gospel eschatology has opened the door for numerous speculative end-time schemes, for example the "newspaper theology" of Hal Lindsey. The apostles, however, through the Holy Spirit, preached the Parousia of Christ against the background of the Old Covenant regime and its "last days" transformation during the first-century.

 

 

URL: http://www.presence.tv/cms/jrn-presenceofgod-08.php

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