From Here To Eternity

"Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will morn over Him. Even so, Amen" (Revelation 1:7).

Notice in this verse that John writes that "every eye will see Him?" In fact, he even goes back to those who nailed Him to the cross when he says "even those who pierced Him." And John tells that all the tribes "of the earth will morn over Him." We do know that when Jesus returns He will judge, the "just and the unjust," so I think that John has pretty much included everybody here in this scripture that he can think of. And Paul writes in Philippians 3:10 that ... "every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." It's that "under the earth" that gives us the remainder of those who will stand before God on that "great and terrible day." In other words, there isn't anyone who is alive or has lived that will not be at this event. You and I included!

I wonder how many of us are looking forward to that day and then how many are frightful of these coming events. If your security is in Christ Jesus as your Savior and Lord, there is really nothing to fear. Oh, I feel confident that it will be somewhat intimidating, but fearful...I say no. I am very much so looking forward to that day when Jesus breaks through the clouds and claims us, the church of Jesus Christ as His own, and takes us with Him to "forevermore" be with the Lord.

If you want to be free from the fearfulness of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, you just need to recognize that you are a sinner (Ro.3:23), that He died to save you from your sin (1Cor.15:3), and accept His free gift of eternal life by inviting Him into your heart (Ro.6:23). Will that change you immediately? Not sure, but probably not. It takes time to "grow in Christ" so what are you waiting for. Romans 10:9 & 10 says "that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." I can promise you that you are NOT going to get a better deal than that from this world.

Things in the world are changing rapidly, and you never know when your last opportunity will come and go. I wonder about those FEDEX pilots who died suddenly in a fiery crash in Japan a few days ago. What about those three precious families who perished suddenly in a crash in Montana on the same day. When they breathed their last, their fate was sealed. Don't take that chance with your eternity. It's way too long to be separated from God.

Dave