The return of our Lord Jesus is near as we can see what is happening in the world today. The bible teaches us that His rapture is something which will happen suddenly, meaning no one will know when He will come. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). So the Lord did not want us to know the exact day or year in which He will return but only have an idea.
However, we have an example of the rapture in the bible when the angels of the Lord came to rescue Lot from the land of Sodom. The apostle Peter said of this event, “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)-- then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgement” (2 Peter 2:6-9).
Before getting to this story and explaining further what Peter was saying, I want to look at the event itself from the book of Genesis. The above verses are all about the judgement which shall befall the earth immediately after the rapture of the church of Christ. Read this, “And Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?’(...) So the Lord said, ‘If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes’” (Genesis 18:23-24 & 26).
The Lord tells Abraham that the judgement will not come upon Sodom if there are as few as fifty righteous people in it. Sodom today is the picture of the earth today where we dwell. The wickedness that is on earth today is tantamount to the one in Sodom and Gomorrah and the Lord is about to judge the earth. But the Judgement of the Lord has not come, please let not these pandemics make you think that the Lord is already judging the world. Judgement will not happen while there are still righteous people.
In fact, God said to Abraham, I will spare it because of ten (read Genesis 18:32). So as long as we are here on earth, the Judgement is still held back. When did the Judgement take place in Sodom and Gomorrah? It took place after Lot and his family were redeemed from the place. The rapture will come first and then the judgement will follow. Whoever tells you that the Lord is already judging the world through the Corona Virus is wrong because Science has proved it to have been created in the laboratory. So, it is a man made virus and not natural. Hey, God will not bring judgement on us.
He is assuring Abraham that He will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. Hey people! God does not deviate from His promises and He says His promises are true and faithful. The world is getting worse each day, but hey, the church of Christ will become better each day. Then the rapture will happen suddenly and all of us will be taken up to heaven we will meet the Lord Jesus in the clouds. If Jesus comes tonight we will not see the next sunrise.
All believers will be raptured just like Lot was rescued. Was Lot perfect in behaviour in order for him to qualify? Peter says that Lot tormented his righteous soul by seeing and hearing the lawless deeds by the Sodomites. Clearly they did not torment him but he himself tormented his righteous soul by seeing and hearing. Nonetheless, the Lord knows how to rescue the righteous out of the temptations; He went and rescued him from Sodom. The same will happen to us on the day of the rapture, everyone is going up except for those who deny Christ.
The rapture is not the second coming of Jesus because His second coming in glory He will come to this earth with us. In an allegoric manner, I want us to consider Moses and Elijah. I want to show you something here, “And as He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him” (Matthew 17:2-3).
Moses and Elijah are allegories of the church of Christ when He returns in glory to rule on the earth. Moses is the allegory of believers who died before the rapture while Elijah is the allegory of believers who will be alive when the rapture happens. Moses died, and Elijah never died and yet in glory as Jesus is transfigured they appeared with Him. Our bodies on that day will be transformed and will be made fit to go up unlike now we are unable to go up because of the force of gravity. Hey people! On that day we will go up against the law of the force of gravity because God is the One who created it.
Paul said also of the rapture, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10). Whether we died or we will be alive at the day of the rapture we will be going up in the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. This affirms what I said above pertaining to the allegories of Moses and Elijah. Look people Paul says we were not appointed for wrath but for His salvation.
Read this also, “For they themselves declare us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). We are not waiting here on earth waiting for the judgement of God but for His Son from heaven. Hey people! He is coming for us before the seven years of tribulation. We will not be here on earth but we will in heaven watching down.
It will be like the day of Sodom and Gomorrah when they were overthrown. As I said earlier on, the rapture will precede the judgement of the Lord. On the day of the judgement of the Lord, we will be in heaven watching down like Abraham watching down the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. After that there will the seven years of tribulation and then the return of our Lord Jesus Christ will happen in the New Jerusalem in the new earth.
The Kingdom of our Lord is typified by the two kings of Israel, namely David (Beloved) and Solomon (Peaceful). The kingdom of King David was filled with wars and enmities while the kingdom of Solomon had the most peaceful kingdom. As a result, he was able to marry 700 women and had approximately 300 concubines. I do not want to fault him in anything as he was appointed by the Lord and he was blessed financially and spiritually with wisdom. Financially, he had $2 trillion of course with the inflation adjusted.
The richest man in the world today is Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon, who is $113 billion followed by Bill Gates the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, who is $98 billion rich. In order for Jeff Bezos to finish all his money in a year, he has to spend $309,6 million a day, that is impossible if you ask me. But what the Lord promised to the king Solomon that there won’t be any king to be prosperous like him was fulfilled. These are rich men but not closer to $2 trillion. Therefore, I respect the word of God.
But hey, I am not going to discuss rich men of the world. So we see the earthly kingdom of our Lord Jesus in David’s kingdom. The first coming of our Lord Jesus was always filled with strife and enmities; it was not peaceful at all as the Pharisees were always testing Him and attempting to kill Him. However, His second coming will be peaceful because He will come to officially sit on His throne. The bible says of Him, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33).
The book of Revelation gives us the idea of what will transpire. Let us read, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:1-2). This earth is going to be renewed and reconstructed and there will be no sea to set up boundaries. We will live on this earth but having new set up because this one we are living on is fallen and because it is fallen, the heaven also had to be restructured because man had sinned, therefore there had to be changes like security upgrades to hinder sinners won't be necessary after the return of Jesus Christ in glory.
The bible continues to say, “‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” (Revelation 21:4-7).
First of all, I like the fact that it is noted that there will be no more death, sorrow and crying. This is how in the beginning of creation was supposed to be. But Adam and Eve ruined it by heeding to the voice of the serpent. Then after the fall of man, then the whole creation fell. Some trees developed thorns on them, Adam and Eve became servile to nature. Nonetheless, we who are of grace, we are not conformed to this fallen earth, yes we are still in it but because of the One who is risen, we are also risen.
Then the bible says, “Then one of the seven angels who had seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, Lamb’s wife.’ And carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Revelation 21:9-10). The holy Jerusalem will descend out from heaven and we will be in it.
This new earth will have no temple as I will explain in the next paragraph and there will be no sun for the Lamb will be our light. Remember in Egypt, this is what happened, “So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:22-23). This is a supernatural light because if the Israelites’ light came from lamps, the Egyptians would also put their lamps on. So the light came from the Lord Himself that is why the Egyptians could not even make it for themselves.
"But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there)" (Revelation 21:22-25).
You know as I read this book I pray for the Lord to expedite His coming that we may be with Him in glory. If you are reading this and you have not made Jesus Christ your Lord, I would like you to take this opportunity and pray this prayer, say: “Lord Jesus, I thank You, for You came and dwelt on this earth, to live and take up my sufferings, my curses, my shame, that at Your appearing, I may be transformed with the church, with the bride of Christ, for Your glory, forever and ever, Jesus Christ is my Lord, and Saviour for eternity, Amen.”
If you have just prayed this prayer, you are a new creation born of God and heaven is your home. Hallelujah! Glory and praises be unto Jesus Christ our Lord forever and ever.
Stay in health through grace and favour...!!!
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