Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

 (i) The Christians believed that they were already living in the last days. "It is the last hour," says John to his people ( 1 John 2:18). The writer to the Hebrews speaks of the fullness of the revelation which has come to men in Christ in these last days ( Hebrews 1:2). As the first Christians saw it, God had already invaded time and the end was hastening on. 