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What Time In History Do We Live In?

by John Clark 
07/12/17
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In what of time of history do we live? We live in the twenty-first century, of course. There is a biblical panorama that divides history into eras that some scholars refer to as dispensations. A biblical and Christian definition of this word can be defined as periods of time in which God reveals himself, and deals with humanity, in different ways. For the purpose of this article I am going to break down the Old and New Testament into parts. Some of it will be in line with traditional belief about dispensations. Some will be departing from it. All of it will provide a biblical framework for what time we are presently in.

First of all we have the time from creation of Adam and Eve to the fall, when sin entered the world. 

Next, is the era from when God kicked out Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden to the global flood of Noah's time. 

After this is the time following the flood when nations and governments were established, beginning with the Tower of Babel. This includes much of the Old Testament. Some refer to it as the Dispensation of Law. 

Coming to the New Testament, we have a brief time of seeing Jesus Himself born and walking on earth until his ascension to the father after his resurrection.

I see the next period of time as being from Pentecost and the establishment of the universal Church and spiritual family of believers. This is called the Age of Grace, or the Church Age, and continues to the present time. It will culminate at the time of the rapture or the Tribulation. 

The next age of biblical history is what is prophesied in Revelation, the Great Tribulation of seven years.

Finally, we come to the 1000 year reign of Christ upon the earth. and into eternity, 

In each of these segments of biblical history God deals with humanity in specific ways, too much to go into within this article. That is a study in itself. I am addressing only the time in which we now live, the Church Age, or Age of Grace. One thing I want to point out, however, is that every one of these periods of time has a common factor. They have each given humanity and individuals ample time to acknowledge God's  "eternal power and divine nature {that} have been clearly seen...so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20).  At the end of each, God brings judgment!

God banished Adam and Eve from the garden, which was a utopian existence, and sentenced Adam to work by the sweat of his brow the ground that God had cursed (Genesis 3).

God judged the sin of Noah's time with the global flood. Genesis says that there was "evil continually."

The Tower of Babel was erected out of pride apart from God, so God judged humanity by dispersing it into different nations and languages so that people could no longer work together in defiance of him. God continues to judge nations today. 

Jesus judged sin during his life on earth, ending with his death and resurrection. 

God will judge the entire world during the Great Tribulation. 

Let's jump back to the present age in which we now live. Those who are Christians have the Holy Spirit living within them. It is recorded in Matthew 28:20 that Jesus said, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Since Jesus said this when he was upon the earth, it had to refer to this present age, which has lasted for over 2,000 years. The time in which we now live is also called the "last days" before the return of Christ. It is also the last days as history knows it because life on earth will be radically different from anything past or present, due to the Tribulation Period, followed by the 1000 year reign of Christ. 

We are here, witnessing the events of the closing of an age of biblical history. There will soon be a time of "great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall" (Matthew 24:21). Someone once said that history is "His story" of love and redemption expressed in different ways through the dispensations. The world is nearing the end of the Age of Grace. We are experiencing judgment. That is one reason why the world conditions are the way they are. 

I encourage you to call upon God's grace to save you, if you have not already done so. Admit that you are a sinner, acknowledge that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead for you. Then you will become a recipient of his grace, and not a victim of his judgment.