Before I write this, as a student I have to admit my knowledge
of eschatology haven’t fully sharpen yet, so do correct me with love if I made
a mistake on this blog.
I was taught; that Paul
was living in the last days, the passion that burn him to serve and go beyond
any ordinary missionary was in a question whether we as lay minister can catch
up with Paul, and as a Bible school students, we learn that one of the secrets
that urge Paul was the second coming of Christ, it is the hope and the
encouragement not just to him but to the people that he is ministering to. It
is, I may say was the confident of his ministry.
Looking back at the history
of our Pentecostal roots, many preachers preached with the second coming of
Christ in mind, and indeed such as these many more were moved to go mission in
a foreign land.
I thought to myself, if
Christ were to come tonight, would my view on the great commission change? Would
I still sit in my office room doing assignments or going out now to save as
many souls as possible before tonight? Would the Church still plan on their
next year event or jump out from the seat and preach it on the road side that
Christ is coming tonight.
Although we live in a
last days, we live in a time where everything is so advancing, little of
thought that Christ is coming soon, how many Churches do preach of Jesus’
coming but rather an ordinary sermon on love, character building and holiness. How
many of us as Christian have the great sense of His coming that would move us
fearlessly in preaching the Gospel to our enemies because Jesus is coming soon.
The Bible did mentioned
about how it will come, but it didn’t mention when, but yet, it does ask us to
be prepare in all times, being alert 24 hours that we do not know the time, and
it is such awareness I pray it will move us with passion to move with the Holy
Spirit, to know what is necessary and what is not, I believe with the second
coming of Christ in mind, with that strong urgency, our daily routine of a
Christian will change, and from this perspective we will know what makes Paul
so eager to bring the Gospel the world.
By Galvin G. Lojingau
Though Paul said to be alert, it does not mean checking on our attitude and whether we have done enough 24/7! Are we like the Pharisee who prayed in Luke 18:10-14?
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe we should do our best to share the Gospel, along the way, we will definitely have a lot of regrets and mistakes. Still, Paul knew we are not perfect: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Cor 12:9
The world will see how you act. And they want to know how whether your faith is any different from other religions. This is where grace draws the line.
If you don't know God's heart (God said David is a man after His heart), then you are missing God's point of His words.
Live this life to the fullest because Jesus has claimed it back for you! :)
Christ is coming soon. This is what I often hear today. Well, we don't know when but like you've said we are to live in such a way anticipating for His coming again so that when he comes, we are prepared. Yes, society is advancing at an unimaginable rate. In a blink of an eye something happens. Within a number of days, a new tech-gadget could probably be found in the market. Within hours even, a political decision is made which could affect the livelihood of millions of people. Who's responsible for all these? Time is passing so quickly, that in a few years our dear friends could have gone through physical change. This is the circle of life. But the world will one day come to an end. All ongoing activities will come to standstill when Christ returns in His magnificence. Till then, life goes on and I believe that many people are being reached with the Gospel. Change is inevitable but our faith is not to be shaken in the midst of it all. All that happens around us is a timely message that Christ is coming soon and better to live right before him now or face regret later on.
ReplyDeleteReading the different views on Eschalogitical perspectives brings about detailed understanding of what would possible happen in the last days. Christ is coming, that is a fact. When? No one knows.
ReplyDeleteThough Augustine would have expected in to end in 1000AD. We are still living in a Post Ascension pre Descending time. Some would say the Millennium has already started, some would say that it is still a long way coming. The Bible says no man knows the day of the coming of the Lord.
Yet we need to preach the Gospel in the meantime, not withstanding when it will happen. Obedience before the Grand Finale.
I like how you put it and I agree that we would live life very differently if we knew that christ was coming back tomorrow (if he was). or even if we knew we had 24hours left to live. suddenly many things would be put into perspective and we would have boldly told people about christ. and that has to be our main message about eschatology. that christ is coming again soon. are we ready? are we doing what really needs to be done?
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about the second coming of Christ, we will often think about the end of the world. Jesus told his disciples that many conditions would precede His return. It included such things as deception, wars, famines, disease, earthquakes and etc. These are truly terrifying. In this century, we have experience many natural disaster especially the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It has almost destroyed the nation. Many people started to ask, when exactly is the end of the world? We do not have answer for this question, but one thing i know is that everyone will have their own "end of the world" (death). we do not know what will happen next, this second we might happily living, but we might lose our life in the next second. Therefore, no matter what, we need to understand the urgency of preaching the gospel and start doing it.
ReplyDelete