Originally written when I was 17 years old in response to a conversation my mother had with a pastors wife about how she had fears about the End Times and the Second Coming of Christ.
Why Fear "The Coming"? Why indeed! We shouldn't fear it. Instead we should rejoice in it. A great mystery is coming to pass. It's almost as though we have a part in a mystery story. I love a good mystery don't you? They're so exciting. As should be Christ's return.
In First Corinthians 15:51-52 he tells us a…"mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed."
Another reason to rejoice and not fear is the fact that verse 54 of that chapter tell us that, "death is swallowed up in victory." Verses 57 and 58 talk about thanking God because He already has given us the victory. We should be steadfast and always abounding in the work of God because we know that this work is not in vain. It holds a special purpose, though we may not know at the time what that purpose is.
God says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 that he doesn't want us "to be ignorant lest we sorrow as those who have no hope." So he tells us how Christ is coming. "For the Lord himself will descend out of the heavens with a shout with the voice of the Archangel, and with the Trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Now if God meant for us to fear Christ's coming, why did he include verse 18? It reads: "Therefore, comfort one another with these words." This is something to which we should look forward, not to fear. We should be waiting eagerly…not apprehensively.
Christ did say that, "the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night." (1 Thessalonians 5:2) But we who are not of the darkness should be prepared for this day so it should not overtake us as a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5) The key to the mystery if not fearing the Coming of Christ: BE PREPARED! BE READY!
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