As I worked on my sermon for Pentecost this last week, I was struck by Peter’s interpretation of what had just happened. The people in Jerusalem hear the disciples speaking in tongues and ask, “What does this mean?” Peter responds by quoting from the prophet Joel: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young will see visions. Your elders will dream dreams” (Acts 2:17, CEB). Peter’s interpretation of the events of Pentecost is that the words of the prophets have been fulfilled and we are now in “the last days”.

Many in the church over the last fifty years have been deeply malformed on the subject of “the last days”. The likes of Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth) and Tim Lahay (Left Behind) have trained us to think of “the last days” in terms of geopolitics and the antichrist. We are told to be on the lookout for the rapture, events in the middle east, the formation of a one world government, and so on. I am one of many in my generation who experienced “rapture anxiety”. I had many nightmares in my early adolescent years about being “left behind”.

Whole books can (and have) been written detailing the many biblical and theological problems with this kind of “theology”. But here’s what struck me about Peter’s sermon on Pentecost: for Peter, “the last days” have less to do with geopolitics than with the coming of the Holy Spirit. They have less to do with the antichrist than with Jesus Christ. For Peter, the last days are not something we are waiting for in the future and need to speculate about or fear, they are a reality that has already begun. The last days have broken into the world, and this is good news.

As Christians, we are a people who are convinced that the decisive events in the history of the world have already taken place. The most important, decisive events in history are not what we see on the news today, nor what may happen in the near future. No, the most important, decisive events in history have already taken place in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the biggest problem with much “end times” speculation is that it teaches us to fix our eyes on present political situations and looming catastrophes. It fools us into thinking that we are still waiting for God to win the grand victory over evil. But the good news of Jesus is that we are not waiting for “the end” for God to win some great victory – God has already won the victory over sin and death through the cross and resurrection. The victory has already been won. All we are waiting for is for that victory to be revealed for all the world to see.

In Revelation 19, when we see Jesus ride into battle, it is important that we note that Jesus’ robe is dyed in blood before the battle even begins (Rev. 19:13). Why? Because it is Jesus’ own blood, shed on the cross. We must not make the mistake of thinking that the cross was a minor victory in comparison with some future battle still to be fought. The cross is the victory of God. Thinking that Jesus will return as a mighty, warrior king with a sword to slay his enemies is a biblical distortion. In the end, when Jesus returns (that is, when Jesus is revealed) it will be the same Jesus who was crucified – not a “new” and “updated” kick-butt Jesus.

We can rightly say along with Peter that we are in the last days because God has won the victory over sin and death. The doors of salvation have been thrown open and anyone and everyone is welcome to enter. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21, CEB). Thus, our attention need not be fixed on impending events of doom in the geopolitical sphere. Our attention must remain on Christ and Christ crucified. May the Holy Spirit once again fix our eyes on Jesus!