I’m Dennis
Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a
moment we’ll talk about it…
… If one scans
the Bible for perhaps the most important topic, one will find it is the great
prophetic themes concerning the coming of the Messiah, God’s Savior of the
world! In fact, in the New Testament alone, the Lord’s coming is mentioned
some 318 times in over 260 chapters and numerous times in the Old Testament.
It is a truth of tremendous importance to mankind. Therefore study of the
great prophetic themes that run throughout the Bible is of utmost importance
as we rush headlong into the future that will at any moment in time, bring the
culmination of God’s promises to His beloved children, the Christians of this
world. Indeed, in our 21st century with each passing moment, we
see areas of Bible prophecy pieced together and come alive in the unfolding
drama of God’s history! Yes, we truly live on “the Edge of Time,” which by the
way is the topic and title of today’s broadcast. But before I get into it,
let’s take one more moment and pause to listen to this, after which I’ll
return with my message for you today…
… In the Book of
Revelation, the last and final communication from Heaven to mankind till Jesus
comes, we are told,
Rev 19:10 (NIV) “…For the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy.””
That phrase,
“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy,” means exactly that!
All prophecy in the Bible, that predicts the future, was given for one purpose
and that is to reveal the Savior Jesus Christ’s coming for redemption of all
mankind. Now concerning the prophetic themes of Scripture, in summary form,
let’s look at the Bible as a whole and see what has brought us to the edge of
“prophetic” time. To begin, we see in the Old Testament,
1. THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST FORETOLD (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14) –
God’s Word revealed right at the onset of humanity’s creation and fall, that
God would one day send a Redeemer, a special human being who would be able to
remove the sin stain on humanity and bring us back into a right and perfect
relationship with the Creator. Now we know from the Bible, that the promised
Redeemer would be the offspring of a woman (Gen 3:15), the offspring of
Abraham (Gen 12:1-3), the offspring of Judah (Gen 49:8-12), the offspring of
David (2 Sam. 7:12-16), and finally the offspring of a special virgin woman
named Mary (Isa. 7:14; Mat. 1:21). In addition, this man-child would be like
no other ever to be born of Adam’s family. Why? For one thing He would be
fully a man, but He would also be -- God Himself come in human flesh (Isa.
9:6-7; John 1:1-3,14). This promise of God Himself being the Redeemer of
mankind, is the great beginning theme of the Old Testament prophecies
concerning the future. Of course, this was fulfilled, beyond a doubt, in Jesus
Christ. We read,
John 1:1, 14 (NNAS) “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh,
and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from
the Father, full of grace and truth.”
But then
following His birth, His life and His death which foretold that He would bring
the redemption payment of all humanity, we specifically see in the New
Testament the next great theme which is,
2. THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST (Mat 16:28; Titus 2:13) – Yes,
the Second Coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ is clearly and
prophetically revealed! What is Christ coming back for? He is coming again for
three major reasons: First,
(1)
CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN TO RAPTURE HIS CHURCH (John 14:1-3; 1 Thess
4:16-18; 2Thess 2:1). This is the most important and prominent theme of the
New Testament, when the “Edge of Time,” is forever fulfilled. For the first
thing Jesus Christ will do upon His return to this earth is take away His
entire living Church on the earth by rapture. Yes indeed, in the twinkling of
an eye, when most least expect it, a trumpet call from God will sound which
only the saved of the Church will hear, and they will be carried upward into
the sky to meet the Lord Jesus in the air! Forever, every Christian who is
alive will be transformed into new heavenly beings and given a new eternal
body to live with God forever. But right along with the living saints, will be
the reuniting of the dead in Christ, whose soul and spirit will also be given
new bodies for living forever in the presence of God. Thus the Second Coming
of Christ, is the hope and expectant joy of the Church. Now following this
event God will begin His program called the DAY OF THE LORD. This includes,
(2)
Christ is coming again to judgment the world
(Psa. 7:8; Psa. 96:13; John 16:7-11; Rev. 19:15). All these verses in
summation tells us Christ’s Second Coming is first to bring God’s wrath upon a
fallen unrepentant world of sinners. He does this first by judging all mankind
and finding them guilty of sin and evil. Following this, God will sentence the
chosen penalty, which is death and Hell for all eternity. Secondly,
(3)
Christ is Coming Again to SPECIFICALLY save THE NATION OF Israel!
(Gen 13:14-15; 2 Chron 21:7; Psa. 89:28;Ezk 37:26-28) The Scriptures
are too numerous to quote which reveal God, in the future, one day will
restore the scattered nation of Israel and literally give them the entire land
of Palestine as their homeland for the next 1000 years! This will only happen
when their Messiah Jesus, the Savior of the world returns in glory and they as
a nation recognize Him and confess Him as their Savior God. In addition to
this, the third most important reason for His Second Coming is,
Now what can we
say about all this in light of the fact that so many abuses and false teaching
surrounds these great prophetic themes of the revelation of Jesus Christ?
Let’s look at
some dangers in studying the Second Coming. This is an important issue as we
stand at the edge of time, when God is poised to bring in eternity beginning
with the “Rapture” of Christ’s earthly Church.
Now admittedly,
there are many differing ideas of how and when Jesus will come again “for” His
saints. However, I firmly believe after much study of all the differing ideas
proposed these days, that the only real and true interpretation of Christ’s
coming again “for” His saints will occur before the “Seven Year
Tribulation Period” begins and before the Antichrist is revealed.
Today much
sensationalism has clouded the promise in Scripture of Christ’s coming again
for the Church saints. In the last forty years, we’ve witnessed the folly of
sensationalizing prophecy. We’ve heard many predictions of when Christ will
come again. However we need to heed Jesus’ words as to the timing of His
blessed return, the blessed hope of the church. We read,
Mark
13:32-33 (NAS) “”But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels
in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 33 “Take heed, keep on the
alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.”
Unfortunately,
this Scripture has terribly confused many Christians and been used by cultists
and others to say Jesus is not God, or He was just a “lesser god,” one of
many, such as the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults teach. But
when Jesus said that He didn’t know the time of His return, it did not mean
that He was confessing He was not the omniscient God of creation. He was
stating that in his humanity, the return of Christ was veiled. Yet on many
other occasions the Lord Jesus made it clear that He was God, fully God come
in the flesh. Most succinctly we read,
Col 2:9 (NIV) For in Christ all
the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
John 8:58 (NIV)
“”I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!””
Here Jesus
speaks of His eternality. Indeed, if Jesus is God, and all God, He must
therefore have all of God’s non-communicable attributes one of which is
“Omniscience”, that is God is all-knowing; If so, then how could Jesus not
know when He would return, if the Father has set the date in eternity past?
Let’s answer this one. We further read in,
John 18:4 (NIV) Jesus, knowing all that was
going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?"
We must understand the “Kenosis” of Jesus, that is, the Nature of His
Incarnation. The Bible tells us God fashioned Himself into a human being in
the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth. He was born of no human father, but God the
Father’s Spirit uniquely created His body, soul and human spirit out of the
seed of a woman, the Virgin Mary. Therefore, Jesus Christ was and is fully
God, but also was and is fully man. These two divine and human natures resided
together in one human being. It appears that Jesus the God-man was able to
separate these two natures from each other for God’s divine purposes. The
Bible says,
Phil 2:7 (NLT) He made himself nothing; he
took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.
Jesus was as a result of this able to shield His omniscient knowledge from His
conscious human mind and spirit, when it was the Father’s will to do so. A
case in point is found in,
John 5:30 (NLT) “But I do nothing without
consulting the Father. I judge as I am told. And my judgment is absolutely
just, because it is according to the will of God who sent me; it is not merely
my own.”
Yet at all times and moments of human existence on earth, Jesus never gave up
His divine qualities or attributes, He just controlled them and balanced their
presence together as the Father led Him. Thus, the Lord willfully restrained
His human nature from knowing the omniscient plan of the Father God’s return
of Christ for these three things we discussed a moment ago. Now this of course
is, the “mystery” of God come in the flesh, but it also presents for us the
mystery of His Coming again. The truth of the matter is, no one can know the
exact time of Christ’s return! Therefore, everyone who predicts the date of
His return from the fanatical prophecy experts to the cultists who claim
inside knowledge ¾ all are wrong and
disobedient to set dates.
Any who have done so, from Edgar Whisenant and his ludicrous book years ago
called, “88 Reasons for the Rapture in 1988,” to Harold Camping’s
unfortunate prediction of the Lord’s coming on September 7, 1994, -- all have
been embarrassed and proven foolish.
The point of this is, we do live on the edge of prophetic time. A time that is
marching closer to the real coming again of Jesus Christ. Now, the Church’s
true response to this -- is to live in full anticipation and expectancy of it,
for then believers will know the sure and certain hope of it. This will light
the fires of dynamic love, deep compassion, urgency of witness, and final
preparation for meeting our Lord at any moment and time.
Yes my friend, regardless of what so-called prophecy experts are saying. Jesus
Christ is coming again at any moment, and NOTHING needs to be fulfilled for
His return for His New Testament saints! That’s a fact of Scripture! So, watch
out for the experts today who use news headlines to open and explain specific
scripture. Current events were NEVER planned by God to be guidelines for
interpreting prophecy. Moreover, our preparedness for Christ’s return must
never be controlled by world events either. Rather, it must be controlled by
the Word of God which tells us,
Mat 24:42-44 (NLT) So be prepared, because
you don't know what day your Lord is coming. 43 "Know this: A homeowner who
knew exactly when a burglar was coming would stay alert and not permit the
house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time. For the Son
of Man will come when least expected.
Phil 4:5 (NIV) “Let your gentleness be evident to
all. The Lord is near.”
1 Pet 4:7 (NIV) “The end of all things is near.
Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.”
James 5:8 (NIV) “You too, be patient and stand
firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”
From the
specific words of Jesus to all His apostles and writers of Scripture
¾ they all rested in the fact that
Christ could and would return at any moment, although unknown to all humanity.
Now the fact is, God has delayed for over 2000 years. Does this mean He has
forgotten or has a different plan? Not on your life, rather the fullness of
time He has set has not arrived yet, because God is long-suffering and wanting
as many as possible of all humanity, to be born again and saved from their
sins, before Christ returns to judge the world.
Are you ready
for the coming of the Lord? The Bible warns from Old Testament times to New,
Amos 4:12-13 (NIV)
“”Therefore…, prepare to meet your God...” 13 He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to
darkness, and treads the high places of the earth—the LORD God Almighty is his
name.”
Jude 1:14-15 (NIV)
“See, the Lord is coming… to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of
all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh
words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.””
Rev 22:12 (NIV)
“”Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone
according to what he has done.”
I don’t know
about you, but we live in perilous times. From continued terrorism, to great
fear that atomic weapons will one day soon be in the hands of Islamic
extremists. Yes, all around us many current events and happenings in our
generation seem to indicate that the period of time the Lord says He will be
coming back, seems to better and better, fit the puzzle more and more. That
means we all must be ready to meet the Lord when He comes.
So the question
is ¾ will we meet Him at peace with
God, and in a joyous reunion as a believer and follower of the Lamb, or we
will meet Him as the fierce wrathful God, who vows to bring swift judgment and
cast all unsaved sinners into Hell for all eternity? The choice is up to you,
here and now! All God the Creator asks of us is to joyously receive His Son,
Jesus Christ, and accept His free gift of salvation that save us from our
sins. For sure, God asks no price from us for this, just that we give our
hearts in full surrender to Him, acknowledging Jesus Christ as our God and
Savior.
So, have you
received Jesus Christ into your heart and life? Have you confessed Him as your
God, and your sins to God? If so, your life will genuinely change, and a new
spirit heart will be beating in your breast that will love and serve this
great God and King Jesus, till He comes.
May God find
that new heart fully in love with God’s Word, His Son, and the desire to live
absolutely for Him. May you also be found without spot or blemish at the 2nd
Coming of the Lord. He is indeed coming again, that’s a fact and He can come
at any moment. Therefore, as we live so close to the “Edge of Time” when
eternity shall be ushered in by the coming of the Lord, let us all be sober
and serious about the matter of our eternal destiny. Only Christ can change
it, and the time is at hand for you to accept it. Receive Christ today, right
now and be assured of His love and glorious return for you to be by His side.
Even so as the Church has cried for centuries, may Jesus come today!
…The Mystery of
Christ’s Coming again surely confounds those who desire dates and time, but
for the saints who trust in God’s Word, they leave it alone with the only
expectation that Jesus is coming again at any moment and we must be prepared
and ready today. Are your spiritual bags packed? Are you keeping short
accounts with God as to your sins and confession of them? Are you an active
witness for the Lord, sharing Christ with all around you? Are you living for
Him, and on fire for the Lord and His church? Jesus says,
Rev 22:12-13 (NIV)
“”Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone
according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and
the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
May you be found
ready and waiting, and may our Lord’s coming find us all faithful to Him.
