Friday: Further Thought – The Return of our Lord Jesus
Further Thought: The second coming of Jesus isn’t the epilogue, the appendix, or the afterword to the sad story of human sin and suffering in this fallen world. Instead, the Second Coming is the grand climax, the great hope of the Christian’s faith.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
Without it, what? The story of humanity just goes on and on, one miserable scene after another, one tragedy after another, until it all ends only in death. Apart from the hope that Christ’s return offers us, life is, as William Shakespeare wrote, “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” And yet, we have this hope because the Word of God confirms it for us, over and over. We have this hope because Jesus ransomed us with His life (Mark 10:45), and Jesus is indeed coming back to get what He paid for. The stars in the heavens don’t speak to us of the Second Coming. The birds chirping in the trees don’t herald it. In and of themselves, these things might point to something good, something hopeful, about reality itself. But they don’t teach us that one day, when Jesus returns, “the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52, NKJV). They don’t teach us that one day we will look up and “see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62, NKJV). No, we know these things because they have been told to us in the Word of God, and we trust in what the Word promises us.
Discussion Questions:
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Jesus left us physically with a promise! Yes, this is a wonderful comfort! To hope for a good thing that will solve all of the problems at once is fantastic! But what about now? What about the present? Can the exercise of the daily presence of Jesus do the same for us?
We also have to point that at the same time Jesus ascended, He left us with a Comforter! He did not leave us alone!
Believing in Christ's second coming is as important as in the presence of the Holy Spirit! Jesus's second coming is a wonderful promise of love for all humanity, but the most important proof of His love He has already given us! Jesus is a God who died for His creatures even though they chose to trust Him not! And we can rejoice on this news NOW. God so love the world that He was able to give His only Son for it! That's amazing! If He was able to do this, why would He simply leave us here in despair? That would be totally out of sense! Christ's second coming will happen just because there was His FIRST coming!
Better yet is that we can be with Him any time! We can run to Him right now!
The return of our Lord Jesus is the only real hope we have - to see Him face to face and live with Him eternally. Everything else is temporary, fleeting. It's comforting to know that we can depend upon His promises, and the best part is that "affliction shall not arise a second time." Amen! Praise the Lord!
How can we make sure that nothing in our lives is truly keeping us from salvation? Rx: Take your daily spiritual 'adderall'. Focus on Christ is then captured.
lightning
We know not the hour of it's striking when it strikes nothing in its path will be left in darkness all hidden things will be revealed
Home at Last - Journey comes to an end.
insignificant (Adventist are insignificant)
The priest answered, “You’re right; I apologize, here I did make a mistake. When I said that among all the billions of people living on the face of this planet, everyone was honoring the great master (satan), I forgot all about the Adventists. After all, THEY ARE SO FEW IN NUMBER when you think of all the billions, I DIDN'T EVEN THINK TO MENTION THEM; so, I’m sorry.”
Winnowing
The husks of corn are blown away and what remains on the floor or the seed. If you have been planted in Christ however insignificant you are, you will remain and counted worthy to be accepted into his kingdom.
hope (Second Coming of Jesus)
How did you survive the concentration camp? I refused to give up hope.
personal
Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him. This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Faithful
Remain faithful to the calling. Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.
epilogue - The final events of the bible
3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.