April 1, 2010

  • The End

    "For the Lord HIMSELF shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess 4:17

    The Bible was written for the living, not the dead.

    Sounds pretty obvious, doesn't it? But seriously. "The dead in Christ shall rise first: then WE which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with THEM in the clouds..." It does not say, "THEY which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with THEM (the dead in Christ)..."

    Paul wrote this for us.

    God is good. And I... sometimes I am so busy looking for cheap coins on the ground of life that I am astounded and surprised when I bump into the providence of God or when the heavens open and the showers of blessing start raining down. Why should I be surprised? Why am I amazed when God does what He said He would do? And yet I know that this is the human element. We must see to believe and are wearied by even short periods of delay.

    In Matthew 24:48 we see the parable of the servant who the Lord had made ruler over his household. After a while, the servant starts to think, "My lord delays his coming..." and starts to beat this fellowservants and drink with the drunkards, and is ultimately surprised by the coming of his master. Many people (not including myself) like surprises, but even they wouldn't welcome this one. And yet, we too, think in our hearts, Jesus is delaying His answer. We start beating our proverbial servants (our powers of reason, faith, love, sense of purpose...) and start to side with the 'other siders'....

    Do you know what I'm talking about?

    In any case, I am encouraged. We already know the end of the story. In that Great gettin' up morning, we will be forever with the Lord. And ONE angel, not two or three or a legion, will come down and defy Satan, whose amazing power will be no match for just one of the host of God. And after the millennium, he will be destroyed.

    And we will vindicate the character of God and declare to the world that "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deuteronomy 32:4, Rev 15:3)

    And thus shall we ever be with the Lord.

    The Bible was written for us, the living, the ones who are here. It was written to give us hope, encouragement, exhortation, rebuke, guidance... it is Jesus, the Word of God, made tangible and audible through the words that will ever be in our ears. It is as living as it ever was, and as it ever will be. Let's hold fast to that.

    The 7,000 out out there. Do you hear them sing?