Nuggets from Countdown to the Second Coming—The Purifying Expectation

Moreover, it is essential that the imminent rapture once again become not only the great expectancy and hope of the church, but that Christians testify to the world of this soon-coming event and of Christ’s second coming to judge the world and to establish His millennial kingdom that will follow. If we believe in the Christ whose birth the angels proclaimed, then we must also embrace what the angels declared to be the purpose of His birth: that He would bring peace to this earth, as only He can, by personally reigning on the throne of His father David in Jerusalem. This is not stated as an ideal possibility with other options available; it is man’s only hope.

Those who believe in Christ must necessarily oppose and condemn as false and deceitful every attempt to bring “peace on earth” that does not embrace Jesus Christ as world ruler. If that seems like an extreme statement, it is only because so few Christians take seriously what the Bible says about global peace, the Rapture, the rise of Antichrist, and the Second Coming.

Those who set out to establish international peace through a world government over which the Lord Jesus Christ is not invited to reign are necessarily on the side of the Antichrist. They are preparing the world for his rule, whether they acknowledge that fact or not, even though the prospect for international peace and unity resulting from their own efforts may seem so encouraging.         

Those who suggest that we can retain the idea of Christ’s return to reign over this earth merely as the symbol of some “spiritual truth” suitable for all religions deny the very foundation of the Christian faith. The significant distinction between Christianity and every other world religion is found in the central and essential personal role that Christ plays as compared with that of a Buddha, Muhammad, Krishna, or Confucius. In contrast to others, Christ did not offer a mere religious philosophy to live by; He offered Himself.

Christ personally died for our sins upon the cross, and He promises to personally live within the hearts of those who receive Him as Savior and Lord. Furthermore, He promised just as clearly to come personally, visibly, and physically to this earth to establish His kingdom in peace and righteousness. It is as much a denial of the Christian faith to refuse to take seriously Christ’s promise to return in person upon earth as it is to reject His offer to personally be one’s Savior from sin and its penalty.