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1st
and 2nd Coming of the Messiah, All
kinds of beliefs about the end of the world and the 2nd coming of Jesus
Christ are prevalent, both amongst Christians and non-Christians alike.
Then again, more people focus on the 2nd coming of Jesus than on the
fascinating prophecies of the Messiah’s first coming, born as a
virgin, destined to die to pay for our sins, and then after three days
and nights be resurrected as the savior of all who would desire a relationship
with him. The Prophecies of Jesus Christ’s 1st Coming focus
on who he was before his human birth, his miraculous birth, a bit about
his life, his crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection-all of which
was prophecied many hundreds of years before his birth. If you want proof
that the Bible is real and Jesus is really the Messiah this study will
do it for you.The prophecies of Jesus Christ’s 2nd Coming focus
on just that. It’s a three-part study. Part I is a general survey
of Old Testament 2nd coming prophecies. Part II covers Daniel chapters
2 & 7 and Revelation 13 & 17, which show the prophecied rise
and fall of all the main world-ruling Gentile empires up to the 2nd coming
of Jesus Christ (and kind of shows Christians where we are in the overall
historic-biblical scheme of things). Part III zeroes in on the very day
of Jesus Christ’s 2nd coming, a period of time highlighted in the
book of Revelation as the seven last plagues. This part cross-references
with many of the 2nd coming prophecies given in the Old Testament which
were featured in part I. These studies do not focus on rapture theory
or a place of safety during the tribulation for believers. There is sufficient
biblical evidence pointing in either direction-rapture and place-of-safety,
which can mean only one thing-such theories are just that, theories-not
central to the knowledge of salvation, not solid Bible doctrine. The
Lord doesn’t want Christians to be going nuts over how they can
escape the tribulation. It’s enough to know he will protect his
own, and that is his responsibility how he does it, not ours. He doesn’t
want us focussing on how or when all these things are going to come about.
He does want us to know they will occur and that justice in the end will
prevail against all evil-doers. And his main purpose for us in our lives
is that we develop a relationship with him and the Father with the help
and aid of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and that we evangelize to the
world until he returns. Rapture/Place-of-Safety theory focuses Christians
on the wrong concepts, saving one’s butts, often to the exclusion
of all else, rather than encouraging believers to focus on the weightier
matters of Christian faith, love and mercy that Jesus spoke of and exemplified
in his life. |