And On and On the Ages Roll: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Scripture testifies that in the work of Jesus Christ the power of Satan, sin, and death has been broken. Yet on and on the ages roll, and wars rage, humans destroy one another and themselves, and natural evils such as earthquakes and tsunamis occur. We seem to suffer what J. H. Bavinck calls “the great delay,” still awaiting Christ’s final victory.

In this illuminating survey of the book of Revelation, Bavinck examines the status of the church and the world in the times of the end but before the “final finish.” Bavinck suggests the church is based on its mission to show the way of God and share his good news in the world. This mission occurs in a world claimed by Christ’s victory, but still marked by the demonic and human hubris. Revelation is a literature that discloses the church’s perennial challenges in a time claimed and won by Christ, yet still resistant to his lordship. The book peels back the veil to expose a battle not only on earth, but in the heavens, and assures the sometimes faltering church that it is not forgotten and Christ’s victory is certain.

Bavinck centers his account of Revelation in its chapter 12, the strange woman who is crowned and yet haunted and hunted, driven to the edge of civilization. He sees in this woman, the bearer of a child, a figure of the church that bears its child and Lord, Jesus Christ. Like the woman, the church in these times between the times, is both crowned as God’s royalty and often scorned by the world.