Acts 17:31 ... "He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed."
It is said the ancient Greeks believed in what is called a "circular view" of time. After the passage of a vast number of years, an "aeon," history begins to repeat itself. The events of an aeon duplicate those of the preceding one. When Paul came to Athens and spoke on Mars Hill before the assembly of Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, he introduced them to a new concept of time, which is called the "linear view." According to it, time moves in one direction along a line from a definite incipient point to a definite terminal point. The initial point is the creation of the universe by God, (Gen. 1:1); the terminal point is that referred to by Paul in the above quotation. Its occurrence will be marked by the appearance of "a Man," Jesus Christ, in the zenith of the sky with a host of accompanying angels, (I Ths. 4:14-17). Cataclysmic events immediately follow, including the resurrection of the dead, (Jno. 5:28-29), the dissolution of the universe in "intense heat," (II Pet. 3:7-12), and God's judgment of both men and angels, (Rev. 20:12; Jude 6). From the beginning of time backward was eternity past, and from the end of time onward is eternity future. Eternity signifies infinite duration. What we call "time" is therefore only a finite segment of the infinite line of unmeasured eternity.
Paul's revelation to the Greek assembly did not explore the details of this novel truth in opposition to their former understanding, for he made only this single statement regarding it. Rather, he called attention to the need of everyone to make preparation for this climactic "day," which God has already "fixed," when He will judge each and every human life. We are now somewhere moving along the timeline toward that special day, and are much closer than 2000 years ago when Luke wrote these words of Acts 17:31. Our forward course is inexorable; nothing can alter the progression thereof but God, who will terminate it. Human infidelity, doubt, and denial cannot stop it. Neither our ignorance of it nor indifference toward it can change it. In Acts 17:30 Paul said that "having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent." The End is coming whether we know it or not, whether we admit it or deny it, whether we ignore it or seriously contemplate it.
The present age is one of lack of faith and denial of Biblical revelation, but even universal accord in such denial in no way changes the substance of reality. There is this admonition given in II Pet. 3:3-4, "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.'" Scoffing at Biblical revelation and public questioning of divine announcements does not make them null and void. It is easy and simple to deny any proposition, especially if spoken by one who is noted for great mental ability. A denial of truth, however, does not make it false. The future in becoming the present will prove which is real, the proposition or the acclaimed denial. Many people resolutely deny there will be a Final Judgment, because there is great relief in the conclusion that they will never be held accountable for how they behaved in this life.
The choice of whether to believe anything is an ability God has granted us the liberty to exercise. But God has also endowed us with a mental capacity called WISDOM; and when allowed, wisdom will counsel you to believe that this earth will not always be here and that its dissolution will come with God's judgment of man. Wisdom urges you to live each day with a view toward the time when "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad," (II Cor. 5:10). This spiritual sensitivity will guide you in thought, in speech, and in conduct. It will motivate you to interpret life within the context of God's grace and then reverence God whose Presence is all pervasive. It will also regulate your interaction with people about you, (Mat. 25:31-40). It is the ultimate tragedy of human life to wait until the Final Judgment to concede that it is, after all, a reality, (Rom. 14:10b-12), for then it will be too late to prepare for it. In lovingkindness and great mercy God has revealed to us the approach of this Terminal Point of Time.
