My recent visit to Australia gave me a new perspective on the historic Christian eschatological expression “Already, but not yet.” The flight back to Southern California took 12 hours. I left Sydney at 8:30 PM on a Friday night and landed in Los Angeles at 5:30 PM that exact same Friday night. I had, in effect, come from the future.

As I explained in a previous article about future things, Christ’s kingdom has been inaugurated already through his Incarnation in the first century AD, though the full consummation of Christ’s kingdom has not yet been fulfilled. This connection between the present and the future is a critical feature in appreciating the eschatology of historic Christianity. I hope this article will help you as you think carefully and critically about future things.