Christ Is Coming Back

[dave c]

simpletruth #138av Revisited 13 NOV 10 salicart@msn.com

HOSEA 10:12—Part Forty Eight: Christ Is Coming Back

by rev. dave c

Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).

Beginning in Genesis, Chapter Three, the Old Testament contains hundreds of prophesies concerning the coming into the Earth of the promised Messiah, the Savior, who would establish His Kingdom rule from within the Hebrew nation. As the chosen people of God, Israel had long anticipated not only freedom from foreign control, but they looked forward to gaining spiritual, social, political, and military dominion over their known world. When John the Baptist began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near," he was addressing the 2,000 year old expectations of all Jews everywhere that God would some day perfectly fulfill His covenants with Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, and David. Then John, upon spotting the approach of Jesus of Nazareth, proclaimed to the crowd of the devout, and to the just curious, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1:29; NIV).

As discussed in Part Forty Seven, the First Advent of Christ, the Son of God, was met in this Jesus of Nazareth—and His presence as the Son of Man on the earth heralded the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus did not, however, come to establish His earthly kingdom at that time. He came to teach the Word and preach the Good News of salvation, to prophesy the imminent outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all the children of God, and to unlock the door of Heaven through the sacrifice of His blood and body. Throughout His ministry in the world, Jesus spoke not only of the Kingdom that had arrived in the here and now, but He also spoke of the Kingdom to come in all it’s glory. Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:30&31, "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other (NIV)." From our perspective in time and space, it has become evident that many of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah speak of this Second Coming. Please read Isaiah 11, Jeremiah 23, and Ezekiel 37.

In the Book of The Revelation, John frequently describes the future occasion of Christ’s return to Earth at some undisclosed point in time to claim His Bride (the True Church), and to take up His reign over all of creation in the glory of His full sovereignty. To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you ...from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen (Re 1:4-6; NIV). "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation (Re 3:14; NIV). The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign (Re 11:15-17: NIV).

Within all of Scripture, Matthew makes unique reference to “the Kingdom of Heaven” some 32 times in his Gospel (with a concentration of occurrences in Chapters Five and Thirteen), as well as referring to “the Kingdom of God.” Most commentators teach that the author intended no distinction between the two phrases, and consequently the contemporary reader should not attempt to make one. They maintain that Matthew was being sensitive to the Jewish reluctance to say, or write, the personal name of God, as is exemplified in the Old Testament by the predominant use of the title “Lord” ('Adonai) to refer to God, rather than “Yahweh” (Yhwh). Given the New Testament proclamation that the Kingdom is upon us, and the Kingdom of God is yet to come, perhaps we should consider the possibility that Brother Matthew is providing a direction for understanding this paradox. The New Testament teaches us that salvation is simultaneously a past event [For it is by grace you have been saved (Ep 2:8l NIV)], it is a present event [For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1Co 1:18: NIV)], and it is a future event [This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God (Ph 1:28; NIV)]. In the same manner the Kingdom has come, the Kingdom is coming, and the Kingdom will come. Jesus told His disciples, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you (Mt 13:11; NIV). Let us pray that the eyes of [our] understanding [be] enlightened; that [we] may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come (Ep 1:18-21; NKJV). Amen.