Jesus had quite a bit to say about His coming kingdom and His disciples and the prophets also shared much about the end times. But are we there?
In Matthew 24, Jesus' disciples wanted to know the signs of His coming and the end of the age. He answered them with this: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ', and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."
He went on to say, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Jesus also said, "no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left."
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
The Apostle Paul was given a vision of the future by God and shared some of his insights with the churches he helped to establish. He too spoke about the earth and all of creation waiting for the return of Christ. "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
Both Jesus and Paul saw the earth in terms of childbirth awaiting the coming kingdom. Having experience three births firsthand, I can understand and appreciate what they were both stating. Birthing pains start out fairly mild and spaced far apart, but as the baby prepares to be birthed, the contractions come closer together and the pains become more severe. Extreme earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, drought, extreme heat and cold all seem to be pointing to the imminent coming kingdom.
Paul also had these words for the believers in Thessalonica who were concerned about fellow believers who had died. "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)
The world is a frightening place right now especially for Christians around the world, but these are exciting times to be alive and preparing for the return of Christ. He's coming back for a church that is standing firm and watching for Him.
Paul wrote these words to the believers in Thessalonica, "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
What do we do while we are waiting for Christ's coming? We pray and ask the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His harvest field, because the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We continue to be light and salt to the people around us. We watch the earth as the contractions grow closer and praise God that He will soon liberate the earth. And we pray "Come Lord Jesus"!
In Matthew 24, Jesus' disciples wanted to know the signs of His coming and the end of the age. He answered them with this: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ', and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."
He went on to say, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Jesus also said, "no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.""Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
The Apostle Paul was given a vision of the future by God and shared some of his insights with the churches he helped to establish. He too spoke about the earth and all of creation waiting for the return of Christ. "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
Both Jesus and Paul saw the earth in terms of childbirth awaiting the coming kingdom. Having experience three births firsthand, I can understand and appreciate what they were both stating. Birthing pains start out fairly mild and spaced far apart, but as the baby prepares to be birthed, the contractions come closer together and the pains become more severe. Extreme earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, drought, extreme heat and cold all seem to be pointing to the imminent coming kingdom.
Paul also had these words for the believers in Thessalonica who were concerned about fellow believers who had died. "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)
The world is a frightening place right now especially for Christians around the world, but these are exciting times to be alive and preparing for the return of Christ. He's coming back for a church that is standing firm and watching for Him.
Paul wrote these words to the believers in Thessalonica, "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
What do we do while we are waiting for Christ's coming? We pray and ask the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His harvest field, because the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We continue to be light and salt to the people around us. We watch the earth as the contractions grow closer and praise God that He will soon liberate the earth. And we pray "Come Lord Jesus"!
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