"... so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13c)
Subway preachers for money in New York City tend to have the same message. They urge everyone to repent and be saved, because Jesus is on His way back NOW. Consistency is not an issue in the preaching of our subway interrupters. Their messages are clear and concise, and they collect their own monies from one car to another, and one train to another. They provide us with an age old message in a new age time.
The message is as old as the time of Jesus. Jesus said He would be coming back. The Parousia is an expectation of the Christian faith. Though old in time, the truth is new in time. Truth never grows old, it is renewed with every generation. Truth is an ageless reality of God's revelation. It is respected until fulfilled. Even in fulfillment, truth is ageless throughout history. I truly believe, Jesus is coming back as Christ our Lord. I am not astute enough to calculate the second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, etc. My walk is by faith, not insight of the actualities.
There is help and hope for those of us who dare to believe. The apostle Paul encourages us to wait on the Lord, and be of good courage. Believing in the resurrection of Jesus, believe also in the return of Jesus. The witnesses of the resurrection, also heard the promise of the teachings. The teachings of the Christian faith hold to be doctrine the facts of the coming of Jesus Christ. So, the subway intruders, who preach for the money on the daily are not far from the truth, just incomplete in telling the whole truth. I have yet to hear our subway preachers speak to those who have preceded us in crossing from this life into eternal rest.
What happens to my paternal and maternal grandparents, my parents, my uncles and aunts and other relatives and friend, who have gone from here to there? Wherever there may be, when I call their names they may hear me but I dare not to hear them. Granny Rouse is 97 years old. She has outlived my grandfather and all of her children, except one. She has witnessed the departure from this life of a grandchild and great-grandchild. A host of relatives and friends have gone where she and all reading this, including me are yet to travel. Through it all, and the impending departure from this life unto the next is her deep grounding in a faith that says at the coming of Jesus Christ, the dead in Christ will arise first. Then, those who have been left behind, and are yet alive will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and be with the Lord forever. What happens?
An eternal party is what happens? The coming of the Lord is ushering in an eternal party. The message of repent and believe is incomplete without the entire gospel. The good news has to do with our defeat of death. The good news is that we are Easter people, there is a resurrection. The good news is that party time is coming. The Lord is on His way. So that, at the coming of the Lord, we will leave this dress rehearsal to enjoy the real deal.
Come, Lord Jesus, come!
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2 comments:
The problem is, Laptop Theologian, that no one who ever died came back to tell us other than Jesus and he's gone again. How are you so sure that he's coming back and if he does, how can I be sure that he's going to take me back.
I'm a believer but at times I wonder if it's all true, if maybe we are just supposed to live the best life we can here on earth and there is no hell but the one we make for ourselves here on earth.
Anyway, I don't live for heaven, seems kind of hypocritical to me to give God something just to get something in return. I love him for what he means in my life here and now. Am I wrong?
Dear Soul:
Too often we miss the message of Matthew 27:52-53. We are so focused on Jesus that we missed that the graves of the saints were open to go about witnessing unto the people that God indeed has a resurrection for us. Yes, there are others who have come back other than Christ. I want the visitation to come to you, so that you will have no doubts.
Thank you for believing. Even the smallest believe increases the hope for peace on earth as it is in heaven. However, there is no living of the best we can void of complete surrender to God. Revisit the account of the first and second Creation stories from Genesis 1-3. Read it with interest in knowing the difference from believing that God is and believing and living into the Isness of God.
I encourage you to yearn and live for heaven not to gain, but because it is yours to have. It is God's gift to the believer. You cannot earn by how you live. But, live in response to the fact that it is given to you. Because of what God has done let us live in respect of God. Do you have a child? A child owes nothing to the parents for being born or what they may do for the child. However, the lesson is that the child lives longer by honoring the parents. Honor God, so that your life in heaven may be eternal as oppose to disrespecting God and hell on earth turns to hell eternal.
This I have found to be true in my life, and I share it with you from the words of Andre Couch: "If heaven was never promised to me, its been worth it just having the Lord in my life." So love him for what he means in your life here and now, so as to live a life that He can love in you here and now. We have that responsibility as people of "Responsible Grace."
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