Live Proleptically
30 days in 1st Peter - day 23
I bought a used book once solely based on the title – “A Proleptic Priesthood.” That word “proleptic” intrigued me. I discovered it meant “to see beforehand.” It is “pro” or before combined with “lepsis” which has the idea of before. To see before.
In the book and in the context of a Christian worldview, it can be used to describe how a Christian approaches life. We live with the future in view. We base what we do in the here and now on where we will be in the end.
We could say that in our passage today that Peter is calling on us to live proleptically when he writes, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.”
Peter was not saying that he thought the second coming of Christ was going to happen in his lifetime or even shortly after that. The word he uses for “end” means the completion or the achievement of something. He is doing something all of the Apostles did. He is saying that everything from the resurrection to the return of Christ is “the last days.”
The Scriptures view history in these broad categories around God’s redemptive work. Creation, the Fall, Christ Redemptive work including His birth, death, resurrection, and ascension, and His Return. We are living in the last days – the days between Christ’s redemptive work and His return.
And the point Peter is making is that knowing Christ is returning and we are living in the last days should motivate us to a certain way of living. We should be serious about prayer, fervent in love, hospitable without complaining, and faithful in ministry because we see before it happens where this is all leading.
Ultimately, we live holy lives because we know that every knee will bow to Jesus as Lord. He will be glorified. So, live today with that future in mind and “in all things may God be glorified through Jesus Christ.”
