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Lots of Christians have theories about the timing of the return of Jesus Christ. Each person's theory and $1.75 might buy you a decent cup of coffee.
People who say "Scripture clearly states" something about the timing of the return of Jesus haven't spent much time doing anything but cutting and pasting bits of verses to make them fit a pet idea. About the only things Scripture clearly states about the return of Jesus Christ are:
* He WILL return--at a time fixed by Father God.
* NO ONE but God knows the day or the hour of Christ's return.
* Jesus will return as the same guy who left 2000 years ago (not a reincarnation).
* He will return the same way he left--through the sky.
* The next time Jesus appears, He will be coming for those who belong to Him.
When I began writing SWORDSMAN in the late 1970's, I thought I'd been given the great task of writing a story about believers living during the time of Jesus' return. When I first started, I didn't have a clue how many theories there were about the "last days" or how contentious some people are about them! (Oh, the joys of my simplicity back then.) I still believe that I received a commission from God to write the story. . . . But twenty-five years later, I've come to understand something: The story of SWORDSMAN (and the whole Fellowship of the MysteryTM trilogy) is about the real hope Jesus Christ offers us in a world filled with misguided beliefs.
Even within the Church, it amazes me that professing a particular teaching on the timing of Christ's return can be used as a litmus test of faith. In fact, there are churches where Christians are routinely denied positions of ministry and sometimes even membership to the church itself unless they agree with the pastor's eschatology (end-time theory). How this must grieve the Lord, who gives us no instruction to require this.
The center of Christianity's focus shouldn't be LEAVING, but LIVING in Christ.
Just remember--hearing and knowing the prophecies about the Messiah dying on the cross didn't help the disciples to figure it all out in advance. They kept trying to put together a scenario that zipped right to the good part--them in charge and living large. Even while the execution of the Lord was happening, they didn't connect the dots and see that everything was taking place exactly the way Jesus said it would. When Jesus was buried, they figured it was just OVER. They couldn't see (until the other side of these events) just how wrong they'd gotten it. . . . Yet it was "in Scripture" all the time.
KNOW that Jesus IS coming, but ask yourself: If the timing of His return went differently than I planned, would it shake my faith? Don't get so locked into your scenario that you'd be blown out of the water by a different reality, because SALVATION DOES NOT REST IN A THEORY OR A TIME, BUT FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST WHATEVER THE TIME.
. . . "I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." [John 16:38, KJV]
Article Written by: Terry Craig
Keywords: End Times, Rapture, the Second Coming, The Last Days, The End of Days, The End Times
Description: discussion on the Last Days
Article created on: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:00:33 -0700
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