"When Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in [the splendor of His] glory." (Colossians 3:4, Amplified Bible)
We are in what Christendom refers to as the Advent Season. It has been traditionally a time of preparation, by fasting and prayer, for the celebration of the appearing of, "Jesus Who is called Christ." But what few have realized, myself included, is that historically it is supposed to equally include celebration and preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. May God give grace to the Global Church this Advent Season to correct this neglect.
This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ--- "Good tidings of great joy," was the appearing of Him, "Who is our Life." Jesus, "became flesh and dwelt among us." Jesus, "Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree-- by whose strips you were healed." God, the Father, "raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...." Moreover, "....inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him."
Many have heard me say over the years that is has been the Indwelling Christ and His Words, and the hope of the Second Appearing of Christ which has sustained me these past forty years, the season which has been without the presence of our eldest son, Stephen Paul. When the funeral director asked us what we would like engraved on the marker, my immediate response, without hesitation, even without thought, was from the 1 Thessalonians passage, "Until the Trumpet Sounds." This Advent Season I will include in every observance, every candle lighting, every Scripture reading, every prayer a celebration of the great Reality of the Universe, "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are sleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always with the Lord."
Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You so much for all of This! Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
