Speculation, without the advantage of prophetic exactness, has been a part of the ancient and modern Christian experience repeatedly, especially when it comes to predicting the end of the world. Are we speaking of an end of a way of thinking which governs the systems of men, or is it the total collapse of the earth because of something cataclysmic? It reminds me of The Story of Chicken Little who had an encounter with a falling acorn, became petrified, and thought the sky was falling. Several other characters joined her posse bearing this false message to the king only to be tricked before arrival and led astray by a sinister villain named Foxy Loxy. Amazingly, a small thing can gain enough momentum to convince many of its truthfulness, when, in fact, it's not true at all. With the human propensity for imagination, is it really that difficult to turn an acorn into the sky? No - not at all! Are we facing a different kind of Chicken Little today? Yes! I personally believe this simple story is compelling and repeating itself with a postmodern cast of characters.

 I am amazed at the number of times notable men as well as insignificant ones have determined the world is coming to an end. The most perplexing thing is that scores of believers buy into this idea with very little Scriptural evidence. Of course, one of the more recent blunders was the eighty-eight reasons Jesus must return in September 1988. Now, many are on the bandwagon and being worked into a frenzied state about year 2012 because that is the date that the Mayans predicted that the world would end. Based upon their observatories, this ancient civilization could not see any continuation of the world beyond this date. Even people who do not know a lot about Mayan astrology have somehow arrived at the same conclusion about an imminent apocalypse in August 2012. Is there any Biblical base to any of this? I would suggest that maybe the world systems may collapse, as we know them, but not necessarily the destruction of the earth. Allow me to explain.

Isaiah, the prophet, once said: "To the law and the testimony: If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). He was rebuking the people of his day for seeking sources outside the Word of God to obtain prophetic information. Therefore, their observances were tainted and incomplete at best. A simple metaphor for light in this instance is revelation knowledge. Revelation permits us to know the current events in the Kingdom of God and to be mindful of when, where, and how something applies. It comes by the Spirit of God and not by theory, conjecture, and supposition. Revelation is PROPHETIC SIGHT. It gives us the ability to see accurately. Many of God's children are looking but never seeing. Seeing enables us to have a crystal-clear and current perception of what the Holy Spirit is doing.

The New Testament, ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ, speaks of two impending events that must preclude any notion of a completely destroyed earth. First, the apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, said I would not have you uninformed. He declared that the next grand event on planet earth is the manifestation of the Christ in a body of sons. (See Romans 8:18-22) I would certainly caution everyone to place the emphasis on the one coming through the vessel rather than the vessel itself. The life, the nature, the character, and the ministry of Jesus must be revealed in a family of sons. After nearly forty years, this is still an astounding idea to me. The things we identify as a collapsing world are nothing more than the birth pangs of the whole creation pregnant with living hope. I realize historically men have been ambitious, seditious, and have defiled this precious passage of Scripture in many ways; however it is still the truth. Jesus Christ entered into a pre-existing agreement with the Father and the Holy Spirit concerning this matter. In the timeless dimension called "being," a covenant was ratified that would significantly change the whole cosmos yet to be created. Jesus would become the firstborn of many that would follow Him in sonship. At an appointed time in earth's history the transcendent would interface with the terrestrial. The King, the Word made flesh, would temporarily move from the eternal Spirit realm and take up residence in human form. He came, He lived and died; and now, He has been resurrected and ascended back to glory. He conquered everything as the last Adam that the first Adam did not. Total restoration to be the sons God and all that Father God intended us to be was regained in Jesus' victory over sin, sickness, poverty, and death. Jesus' full investment of Himself to execute the pre-existing goals of the Godhead gives every aspect of the plan permission to be. Maybe this stirring about the year 2012 is nothing more than focusing the creation in preparation for this grand introduction of God's family in a manner the creation has never seen them in before.

The second thing I would remind serious Bible students about is the posture of our ascended Lord in the heavens. David said it this way, even before Jesus came: "The LORD said unto my Lord, sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool" (Psalm 110:1). Who is David's Lord, and who is the LORD speaking with Him? The apostles give us the answer to each of these questions.

"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is He? They say unto Him, 'The Son of David.' He saith unto them, 'How then doth David in Spirit call Him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool?' If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son?" (Matthew 22:41-45).

"For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:34-36).

"For he must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued  under Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:25-28).

We can rest assure that the apostles understood David's Lord to be our Lord Jesus Christ. Father God spoke to Him what David perceived by the Spirit of revelation. This is beyond His earthly experience and passionate sufferings. The man Jesus now sits upon the throne of David as King until every enemy has been placed under His feet. Repeatedly missed in this revelatory understanding is that Jesus is the head of the Body of Christ and not the total body. Personally, He conquered all enemies and placed them under His feet. However, it remains that the church must experientially do the same thing. We know by revelation that the church is Christ's body. Listen to the words of Paul as he prayed for the church in Ephesus and identifies this truth clearly for us:

"And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet, and gave HIM TO BE THE HEAD over all things to the church, WHICH IS HIS BODY, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:19-23).         

We can no longer disconnect the Head (Jesus) from His body (the church). What is true for Him must be true for us! Jesus has ascended and is now seated in heavenly places. Paul equally said that we have been quickened and raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (See Ephesians 2:4-7) The things that are true by revelation must come forth in full manifestation on the earth. All of His-Story, history, will never conclude without these events occurring. Jesus has already trounced every enemy, and now He waits patiently for the church to do the same. What men are calling the end of the world is nothing more than the full implementation of Christ's total victory in every experience of mankind. Jesus is that stately, secure statement in the heavens that says it is possible. He will remain there until a body of people place their feet on every expression of death.