IMPACT IN THE AGE TO COME

The goal of impacting lives is excellent, but incomplete. While many people find legitimate fulfillment in serving others, we want our lives to count in eternity as well. Fortunately, that is where we have the greatest potential for impact: not impact on another person for a few decades, or even on our culture for a century, but impact on the entire world as well as our own lives for eternity. Many Christians divorce their actions in this life from their impact in the next. The Second Coming of Christ has been portrayed as some sort of cosmic delete button, after which nothing that happened in this life will matter, or even be remembered. Well-meaning Christians have drawn a line of distinction between this temporal life and the fullness in which we will walk on Earth during the age to come.

Scripture, however, makes it clear that there is a lot of con- tinuity between the two timeframes. Therefore, what we do as Christians now will matter then. If there were no continuity be- tween the two realities, we would be squandering our lives. This is not the case. Instead, we are building relationships, honing skills and shaping our characters in practical ways that will make a significant difference in eternity. As we fashion our lives in this age, we must keep in mind the greatness of the age to come and that the small things done in obedience and meekness now will result in greatness and impact then. There is a divine exchange coming to our lives. Many will find that the kingdoms they built in this life will be taken from them, while those who have main- tained meek hearts throughout their earthly lives will receive great authority and honor. When we really understand this ex- change rate, we will invest all we can in what God values.

Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve

thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first. (Matthew 19:27-30)

Believers in Jesus are those who have a great opportunity to pursue a deep and lasting impact in this age and in the age to come. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), we are taught to give to our enemies, to fast, to pray and to bless oth- ers. Those attitudes are often rejected by this age, but they will impact our eternal destinies. When the Lord returns, He will establish righteousness worldwide (Isaiah 2:1-4; 9:6-7; 11:1-16). However, before He comes, there will be worldwide revival that will cause new pockets of righteousness and justice to be estab- lished in many parts of society. The Lord will protect and sus- tain some of the justice that is established in society in the end- time revival. We labor today, knowing that some of our labors in establishing justice in the Earth will withstand the pressures of the evil one, even those coming from the Antichrist and his approaching reign of terror.

There will be some continuity of our labors; the fasting, the prayer and the acts of mercy will not just disappear when He returns. The prayers we have prayed for our home town will not suddenly become void and invalid after the Lord returns. In fact, they will become an even more certain reality! Some of the ground we gain in righteousness and justice in society will serve as a part of the beachhead from which Jesus will rule in our cities when He returns to Earth. Some people get the idea that studying the End Times leads people to disconnect from the tasks at hand—nothing could be further from the truth. Our fervent belief in the Lord’s return must not cause us to abdicate our responsibility to work toward change in society. Just the op- posite is true— because He is coming, we work to change society. We work for justice because we understand the implications of

His imminent arrival. He will continue to increase that which He established through His Church before His coming.

We must consider the ultimate meaning of the work to which we are putting our hands. If we’re leading a small band of intercessors, the intercession we are making is preparing the ground for a Kingdom that will last a thousand years. Some of the children we are training on Sunday mornings may be mighty men and women of God who will do great exploits outlasting their natural earthly lives. The humility that we work hard to develop in this life will contribute to determining our roles in the Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal Age.

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