Eternal life resides in Jesus and in Him alone. No one else! This is true now and will also be the case after Jesus removes His true church from the earth.
In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
What do people need the most? The answer remains the same as it’s always been: A clear understanding of the Gospel. By this I mean that people need Jesus, not the one that so many today create in their mind but but the One revealed on the pages of Scripture.
If there’s anything people need today, it’s hope. We are immersed in a culture of violence, deceit, and death. In the U.S., mass shootings have become commonplace. The horrors of Hamas’ massacre shock those not drawn into the demonic lies spread by the Palestinians. Anti-Semitic rants have become commonplace on our streets and on many college campuses causing many to fear for their lives.
In Philippians 3:20, Paul wrote, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The residents of first century AD Philippi understood the value and meaning of citizenship. As a Roman colony, they enjoyed many of its privileges. The also understood what it meant to be citizens of a faraway city. For us, the words bring needed reassurance of our glorious hope in Jesus’ imminent appearing.
Somewhere in the past, a tragic divorce occurred; theologians decided we must separate the return of Jesus for His church from the proclamation of the Gospel. The results of this untimely divorce have led to a dearth of understanding among believers regarding Jesus’ appearing and the joyful anticipation that comes with such awareness.
The consequences of this have been tragic.
The next signpost pointing to the occurrence of the rapture before the tribulation simply says “unique.” For pretribulationism to be biblical, the rapture and second coming cannot be the same event. If they are identical, we obviously cannot separate them by seven years or so.
If premillennialism is true, and it absolutely is, then then the following differences between the rapture and second coming passages argue strongly for regarding them as separate and unique events.
A GEICO commercial from last year portrays a spy fleeing from armed men on a roof as well as from a black helicopter approaching him from the air. His phone rings as his adversaries appear ready to capture him or perhaps kill him. Thinking the call is from those coming to rescue him he answers the phone shouting, “Where are you?”
We then see his mom relaxing by a pool as she calmly talks to him about his dad’s battle with squirrels in the attic. As she continues talking to her exasperated son the narrator interjects, “If you’re a mom, you call at the worst time. It’s what you do.”
The New Testament cries out with a similar message echoing the words of the narrator in the GEICO commercial, “As followers of Jesus we live in eager anticipation of his soon appearing. It’s what we do.”
We hear so many differing viewpoints today regarding our hope of forever. Some reject the notion that anything physical can be spiritual or godly and on that basis deny our hope of reigning with Christ in a physical kingdom. The Bible, however, flatly rejects such thinking.
As believers seeking God’s wisdom, what does the Bible say about our future? What are the basics that can place us on firm footing amidst the myriad of false teaching that surrounds us today?
Below I list five items that I believe are the rock bottom basics of our biblical hope. For each, I start with the words of Jesus and then provide support from what He also revealed about our future from other places in Scripture.
Why am I writing about preterists? It’s because their beliefs are growing in popularity and causing much harm in the body of Christ! My purpose is to point out the errors of this false teaching.
Preterists teach that all biblical prophecy has been fulfilled; this includes Matthew 24 as well as the entire book of Revelation. They claim all these things happened before and during AD 70 when Titus and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. They believe Jesus returned as the city fell thus fulfilling His promise to return to the earth.
