Friday, September 11, 2015

The Signs Of The Times That Point To Christ’s Return (7)


The Seventh of an On-going Series

 Only the Father Knows When Christ Will Return
(Matthew 25:13)





KINGDOM DYNAMICS
The Imminent Return of Christ (b) 

The early church grasped the meaning of the interim:  it is the season of God’s patience and of the church’s mission.  Believer applied themselves whole-heartedly to the gospel task and experienced no emotional or intellectual crisis over the Lord’s delay. 


There is no hint in the preaching of the apostles that they expected nineteen centuries to elapse before the Lord would return to Earth.  In this sense it is true that we live in an unexpected, unforeseen time.  However, attempts at pinning down prophecy and predictions to our own time are all the more incredible.  God’s freedom and His way of surprising us by how He fulfills prophecy call us to cling to His promise and t remain constantly ready for the return of the Lord Jesus at any moment.  The apostles were not confounded by the tension os living in and being engaged with the present, yet knowing that the present is passing away. 

To the church in Rome, Paul wrote that "the whole creation" in all its suffering, futility, bondage, and decay (now in the birth pang of its labor), waits eagerly for the "glorious liberty of the children of God" to take place – literally "to be apocalypsed" (Rom. 8:19-23).  This healthy vision is worthy of being embraced again today by believers who may be weary of attempts at frantic Christian living driven by human systems of prophey.  The early church:

1.      Lived and believed Jesus was coming at any moment;
2.      Loved and served as though He might not come in their lifetime; and
3.      Clearly saw the transience of a world in decay and the glory of a gospel gaining in ascendance.

Be prepared,




Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/President/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts

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