My dear readers,

The Return of Jesus Christ - Its Significance

God has revealed that the return of Christ will be in two stages. The first is the return of Christ FOR His church (cf. 1Thess 4:13-18). The second is the return of Christ WITH His church (cf. Rev 19:11-14; Jude 14; Mark 8:38). The time gap between these two events is seven years, also known as the Great Tribulation by Christ (cf. Matt 24:21).

The return of Christ is a very important event in every believer’s life. It gives us an eternal hope that keeps us living and serving Him faithfully regardless of the dire circumstances. Steadfastness is not naturally found in us. It is a conviction God gives to us based upon His truth especially in the doctrine of Christ’s return. His return means that He expects us to be ready to meet Him. Christ desires to say to His disciples: “Well done, my good and faithful servants!” But will He? Understanding the significance of Christ’s return helps. It helps us in our outlook of life as a child and servant of God and as a witness to a world dying in sin. The following are some of the significance:

The End of Church Witness –1 Thessalonians 4:15-17: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Believers remain on earth after salvation to serve and witness for Christ as the replacement of the national witness. When every living saint is caught up, i.e. raptured, the only “church” that will be left behind is the harlot church of the antichrist which will comprise of goats only. Christianity as a religion will remain, but it will only be a shell. Jesus has prophesied that Christianity will fall away, i.e. turn apostate, before His return. The church of the 21^st century has already fallen away. For example, the Christ presented by the Roman Catholic Church, Charismatic churches and the Neo-evangelical churches cannot save because it is not according to Scriptures. But there will be a remnant as Christ has assured us.

When the return of Christ raptures all of God’s children, for the first time in human history, for that brief moment in time, there will not be a single believer on earth. Then the LORD will send His two witnesses (one of them will be Elijah, cf. Mal 4:5-6) to preach the Word of God by means of great miracles. Many will be saved. But these saved ones will face the Great Tribulation. Many will die for their faith in Christ. Revelation 15:2-3: “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”

Witness for Christ while it is still day, before the night comes and we cannot witness for Him anymore.

The Battle Begins – 2 Corinthians 5:20: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” Believers are called “ambassadors for Christ.” Before any battle begins between countries, one of the first things countries will do is to recall their ambassadors. The message is loud and clear. There is no more fraternal relationship between the two countries. War is imminent. Everyone knows it. From the end of the global flood, and more than four thousand years later, God has been very gracious and merciful to a world neck-deep in sin and steep in idolatry. Salvation in Christ is still very much available to all who will believe. Instead of repentance and turning away from idolatry, the world has consistently turned its back on Him. They have rejected and put to death many of His faithful prophets and servants whose God-given duty was to rebuke them for their sins and to turn them back to God in Christ.

The time of the end of the world is after the Rapture. God and the world will then be on a war footing. The wrath of God will be unleashed upon this sin-filled, unrepentant, idolatrous world. The sins of the world will be full in the fiery eyes of the righteous God Almighty! The day of God’s judgment upon this earth will begin immediately after the day of Christ when He will take His people home in glory. Sinful men will then answer for their heinous sins against their Creator God.

Fight the good fight of faith and be sure to be on the LORD’s side!

The End of Service – Hebrews 4:9-11: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Serving the LORD in the church and being a blessing to God's people is always the greatest blessing we can ever have in service. This empty life once soaked in filth and sin is now washed and cleansed by the blood of Christ, and the Word of God now brings eternal blessing to God’s children! What an amazing grace it is! But this service is not forever. When Christ returns, the day of service on earth will end permanently. We will teach our last lesson in church. We will attend our last worship service. We will give our last tract. We will wash our last dishes, iron our last garment, vacuum and mop the floor for the last time. We will go to work and witness to our colleagues for the last time. Everything of earthly service unto the Lord will cease immediately, forever, never to return.

Cherish every moment of service as if it is our last, for truly it can very well be the last.

The Climax of Salvation – Romans 8:17-19: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” When Christ said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) on the cross of Calvary before He gave up the ghost, His salvific work in saving mankind was completed to perfection. That was why God raised Him from the dead for our justification and forgiveness of all our sins. However, Christ’s salvific work in every believer’s life remains to be completed until His glorious return. For at His return, we will all be glorified. We will receive our glorified body that is spiritual, glorious, powerful and immortal. It is made with the hand of God! The last trump will sound from heaven as a trump of triumph. The amazing sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has brought about the glorious salvation of millions of saints whom He will present before the presence of God the Father in great victory!

Now are we sons and daughters of God and we know it, but the world cannot see it. But soon when Christ returns, the world will see all believers in glory and they will know that we are the children of the Most High!

The End of the World – 2 Peter 3:4-7: “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” When the world perished after the global flood, God gave mankind a second chance to begin afresh to repopulate this world. He reduced man’s lifespan by tenfold to threescore years and ten, and by reason of strength added another ten years (Ps 90:10). This is to slow down the spread of sin which spread so rapidly when man was permitted by God to live eight to nine hundred years before the global flood. With this tenfold reduction, sinful man still manages to spread his evil and corrupt the earth in just over four thousand years after the global flood.

The return of Christ will bring an end to man’s sinful ways and all the evil and wickedness committed against God and to man’s ruining His creation. Christ will rule for a thousand years after the battle of Armageddon, cast the Antichrist and the false prophet into the Lake of Fire, and the devil into the Bottomless Pit. Thereafter will be the judgment of the sheep and the goats and the recreation of the new heaven and new earth.

All believers will reign with Christ. The return of Christ signals the end of this present world and the beginning of Christ’s world!