Great Doctrines - Grace Church of DuPage
Great Doctrines - Grace Church of DuPage
Great Doctrines - Grace Church of DuPage
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L<br />
D OCTRINAL OCTRINAL LLESSON<br />
L ESSON SSECTION<br />
S ECTION 40 GGENERAL<br />
G ENERAL EESCHA<br />
E SCHA SCHATOLOGY<br />
SCHA TOLOGY<br />
DOCTRINAL SUMMARY<br />
Eschatology answers man’s natural question; “Will the generations <strong>of</strong> men come and<br />
go in endless succession and finally sink into oblivion, or is the race <strong>of</strong> men and the<br />
whole creation moving on to some divine ‘telos’, an end designed by God?”<br />
The Stoics spoke <strong>of</strong> successive world cycles, and the Buddhists <strong>of</strong> world ages ~ in each<br />
<strong>of</strong> which a new world appears and disappears again and again. In these religions,<br />
all is vague and uncertain. It is only Christianity that presents an end time that has a<br />
greater precision and carries an assurance that the end is <strong>of</strong> divine design.<br />
Eschatology is the crown and capstone <strong>of</strong> theology. It answers the questions <strong>of</strong> how<br />
God is perfectly glorified in the works <strong>of</strong> His hands, how the counsel <strong>of</strong> God is finally<br />
realized, how the disrupting influence <strong>of</strong> sin is overcome, how the work <strong>of</strong> Christ is<br />
crowned in perfect victory, how the Holy Spirit completely redeems and glorifies the people<br />
<strong>of</strong> God, and how the <strong>Church</strong> ~ the Bride <strong>of</strong> Christ ~ is brought together to her<br />
Bridegroom in glory.<br />
Eschatology sheds a clear light on every section <strong>of</strong> theology; God’s saving plan and His<br />
communion with His people, the permanent significance <strong>of</strong> the Redeemer in the<br />
forgiveness <strong>of</strong> sin ~ all these are asserted without reservation. In Bible eschatology, the<br />
communion between God and man is set forth as completed; and therefore, Christianity<br />
presents the culmination <strong>of</strong> all things in its purity ~ not as an ideal, which is never<br />
realized, but as perfect reality.<br />
<br />
AS YOU PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER YOUR RESPONSE:<br />
Having received all <strong>of</strong> these great teachings <strong>of</strong> the Bible, I am to be transformed by the<br />
renewing <strong>of</strong> my mind, faithfully growing in grace, diligently and patiently looking for<br />
the sign <strong>of</strong> His coming. (2Peter 3: 14-18; Revelation 22:6-21) Amen.<br />
HOMEWORK:<br />
Read the central passages twice this week.<br />
Read Grudem chapter 54 & 55.<br />
Notes<br />
GREAT DOCTRINES IV ~ THE CHURCH PART 4~SECTION 40~PAGE 3<br />
S<br />
40 G<br />
E