This realignment of the apocalyptic narratives of the New Testament along a coherent and immediate historical axis leads us to suggest that the church now finds itself, in effect, in a post-eschatological situation. The apocalyptically conceived crisis that dominates so much of New Testament teaching is behind us: the age of temple-based worship has come to an end, those who suffered with Christ now reign with him, a renewed, international people of God has emerged, the beast which opposed the people of God, while paradoxically being an instrument of divine judgment, has been overthrown, and the satanic power that inspired it has been curtailed. We don’t have a lot of complicated end-time events to worry about.
There are indications in Paul that the church will have an existence after the ‘end of the age’. He speaks, for example, of a ‘Day’ that will test the work of those who have built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. If the work survives the ‘fire’, the builder will receive a reward; if it is burned up, he will ‘suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire’ (1 Cor. 3:14-15). The implication would appear to be that, whatever may become of the builder, the church that is properly built on the foundation of Jesus Christ will continue to exist after the eschatological crisis. Indeed, the whole point of constructing it from incombustible materials is to ensure that it will survive. In Ephesians 2:4-7 he explains that believers have been made alive with Christ, raised up to sit with him in the heavenly places so that ‘in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus’.
In a post-eschatological reading of the Bible there is at least a shift of emphasis from asserting an overarching metanarrative towards a rediscovery of the role of the historical community in mission. On the one hand, the biblical narrative, even in its most highly ‘mythicized’ aspects, is seen to have a much closer relation to a particular historical context. On the other, we are presented with a more open-ended perspective on the future. The thousand years of Revelation 20 is not an indefinite period of time: eventually Satan will be released from the pit and the final cosmic dénouement will be set in motion. But the expectation of an imminent end, and the attitude of unworldliness that accompanies it, has been relocated in the past. The church has moved beyond that crisis: the persecution that threatened the church of Jesus Christ with annihilation has come to an end, an international community of believers has been established across the Roman world, sovereignty has been transferred from the demonically inspired imperial power of Rome to Christ: ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death’ (Rev. 12:9-11).
So what can we now say about the mission of the church? The command to ‘make disciples of all nations’ (Mat. 28:19) belongs in principle to the period of eschatological transition and to the same historical context as the earlier statement: ‘this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come’ (Matt. 24:14). The command is given in order to ensure that they there will be a renewed people of God in the post-eschatological world. Certainly that people needs to be sustained throughout the coming ages, but the emphasis now should be on being – being effectively – the people of God in the world rather than on saving souls.
There is likely to be a recovery of Old Testament patterns of religious life and mission. Forms of discipleship devised to enable the church to function during periods of crisis may give way to more settled, creative, life-affirming modes of being God-centred. The promise to Abraham that all the nations will be blessed through him and Isaiah’s image of Israel as a light to the nations (Is. 42:6; 49:6; 60:3) will become central. The church will exemplify a God-centred righteousness (cf. Matt. 5:14) and will be the means by which people discover for themselves the possibilities of forgiveness and life in the Spirit (cf. Gal. 3:8-9). The church is the servant who will bring ‘justice to the nations’, who will be a ‘covenant to the people’, who will ‘open the eyes that are blind’, who will ‘bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness’ (Is. 42:1, 6-7), and who will challenge the prevailing paganism of the world – the stories, myths and ideologies that exclude the living God (Is. 43:10-12). The church will be ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light’ (1 Pet. 2:9).
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 may suggest that during this period of Christ’s reign at the right hand of the Father his enemies are progressively subjugated. It is also worth noting how frequently the New Testament emphasizes the requirement of ‘good works’ (cf. Matt. 5:16; Eph. 2:10; Tit. 2:14; Heb. 10:24). Broadly speaking, a post-eschatological church will adopt a this-worldly orientation: the vision is of a community permeated with the presence of God, functioning as a sign of that reality, as a catalyst for goodness and integrity in the world, and as a reservoir of grace at the heart of mankind’s social and creative endeavour.