Monday, November 5, 2012
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
PREDICTED BUT UNPREDICTABLE
Jesus promised His followers that He would return to earth to judge the world of sinners. At that time He would gather to Himself all those trusted in Him and were waiting for His return.
But because God is merciful, a period of time would intervene before Jesus returned. During this period of time sinners would hear the message that they were doomed to hell by their sins, but saved through Christ's suffering and death in their place. They would hear how God the Father raised Jesus from the dead to show all people that this Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Savior that He had sent. Only after the message of Jesus was heard by all nations would He be seen by all nations.
Some churches teach that Jesus will come back secretly and "rapture" or "snatch away" His believers years before the end of the world takes place. But Jesus never taught such a rapture. He said very clearly that when He returns to the earth His appearing will be like the lightning that flashes in a thunderstorm. In other words, Christ's return will not be hidden at all, but visible to all people from one end of the earth to the other.
Everyone will see Jesus when He returns, but none will know when that appearing will happen. In fact, before Christ was crucified, not even He knew when His final return would occur. Keep that in mind the next time some false teacher predicts the exact day of Christ's return. Jesus says that no human can know when that day will be. Christ's return is predicted by God's Word, but His return is also unpredictable.
May this move us all to meditate on our own sins, and to constantly confess them to God. Only through faith in Christ can we be ready for His sudden return.
