Bible Connections 18: Already Not Yet

Peter quotes Joel at Pentecost and changes one phrase. Joel says afterward. Peter says in the last days.
That small edit tells you where he thinks he is standing. The last days have started.
But read the rest of what he quotes. The sun turned to darkness, the moon to blood, signs in the heavens. None of that happened that morning. Peter quotes it anyway, because the age has begun without being finished.
That is the shape of the whole New Testament: already, because the latter days have dawned in Christ; not yet, because the latter days have not consummately arrived.
Scripture links:
- Acts 2:16-21 - this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel, in the last days.
- Romans 8:18-25 - the creation groaning, and we with it, waiting.
- 1 John 3:2 - we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared.
If your faith feels unfinished, you have read the situation correctly.