The Great Commission will be fulfilled. This commission is to make disciples of nations, not just individuals. To do this, we must understand the times.

          One of the most basic revelations of the times is found in Daniel 2. This is when Nebuchadnezzar dreamt of the statue that represented all of man’s kingdoms through the ages. At the end, a stone struck the feet of this statue and it began to collapse. Then the stone grew into a mountain, and it kept growing until it filled the entire earth. As Daniel said of the little stone that struck this statue’s feet:

          “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Daniel 2:44 NIV).

          Understanding this dream and its interpretation is a key to understanding our times. We know through history how accurately this dream has unfolded. Now we are at the time when the kingdoms of men are tottering and beginning to collapse, while the kingdom of God is growing. This year we will look with increasing depth at how this is happening. As we build this worldview on the sure word of biblical prophecy, we will have an increasingly clear perspective of our own times—what we can expect next and what our part is in it.

          To have such a worldview is fundamental to being a disciple. Prophecy, which gives God’s people an understanding of world events, is a special heritage of God’s people and has been from the beginning. When Enoch walked with God, the first to do so after Adam, “he prophesied.” A good case can be made that everyone who has walked with God in Scripture, and also in history, has prophesied. To prophesy is to speak for God, which is basic to our calling as His disciples—to represent Him and His message to the world.

          As we have studied, the Lord called people hypocrites who understood the weather better than they understood the signs of the times. Weather is temporary. Focusing on current and immediate conditions can be important, but it is far less so than understanding the times. As we are told in I Corinthians 2:10, “the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” Therefore, no one who is filled with the Spirit will be shallow. All who are Spirit-led will be compelled to understand with depth.

          Basic to understanding the kingdom is knowing that the Lord Jesus came to earth because the Father “so loved the world” (see John 3:16). Fundamental to understanding the times is to understand God’s love for the world. Jesus died for the whole world because He loved it. He is not coming back to destroy it, but to save it. If we are united with Him and abiding in Him, we too will have a love for the world. Such love compels us to know what is happening in the world and what we can do to represent the King who has redeemed it and will save it.

          Because God is love and the atonement and redemption of the world was based on His love, we cannot understand His kingdom or its coming except through the eyes of His love for the world. This love includes His judgment and the ultimate removal from the earth of everything that is contrary to His ways and His kingdom, but this is done out of love. God’s love is the foundation on which we must build our understanding of the kingdom and the times.

          The gospel of the kingdom is a gospel which means “good news,” not bad news. We are entering dark times of great trouble, yet in the midst of it, the world will be given the greatest news ever heard. To proclaim this good news is our calling.