JESUS CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN!!

"This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11, NKJV)

Devotion #1 of 15 INTRODUCTION Eschatology

Eschatology is the study of last or final things. Such a study is particularly appropriate for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because of the new birth, we have a different set of values than the world. Indeed, they are so different that it has placed us at variance with the world order. Here, in the realm of the seen, we are "strangers and foreigners" (1 Pet 2:11). As we become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:3), we become more oriented to heaven, and less to earth. There are few areas where this is as apparent as in that of spiritual perspective. To the unregenerate (and to many that profess regeneracy) relevancy pertains to the "here and now"--the realm of the seen. However, this is not the perspective of those who "walk by faith" (2 Cor 5:7). Faith attaches primary relevancy (real significance) to eternity--to God and Christ. If something is limited to this world, it cannot be foundational. If it is confined to the realm of time, it is not a matter of priority! That is why eschatology--the study of last or final things--is so vital to the believer. This is a perspective of the last of this world, and the last of life "in the body" (Heb 13:3). Still, this is not a mere academic view. To those choosing to "walk in the Spirit" (Gal 5:16,25), "last things" deal with culmination and fruition. This is the fulfillment of divine objective, the completion of "project earth."

Divine fulfillment

It is not possible to contemplate the living God properly without considering the fulfillment of His will. The Lord has declared Himself unique in this matter. He does what He wills, fulfilling His counsel. "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it" (Isa 46:9-11). God finishes what He begins! Our Father has revealed Himself as ACCOMPLISHING what He determines! "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isa 55:11). God neither speaks nor works in vain! Nothing He does is abandoned or fails to meet His objective. From this perspective, the study of last things is an analysis of the fulfillment of divine purpose. It is a projection of our thoughts to the time when God will complete the work He has begun through Christ. "Last things" are not simply things that happen at the close of history, although that is when these things occur. It is more personal than that! This is the finalization of the "day of salvation" (Isa 49:8; 2 Cor 6:2). It is the purpose of God brought to its completion; the fruition of divine objective.

Divine purpose completed

This study will show that the finalization of God's revealed purpose is related to the appearing of Jesus the "second time." That time will mark the end of "this present evil world" (Gal 1:4), and the beginning of "the world to come" (Matt 12:32; Heb 2:5; 6:5). Any view of "last things" that does not find its significance in the return of God's Son "from heaven" (1 Thess 4:16) cannot be true, is not profitable, and is detrimental to faith. The centrality of this doctrine in the Word of God will justify these observations. PRAYER POINT: Father,I delight in the thought of Your Son returning to receive me to Himself, that where He is, there I may be also. Open my understanding to see His return as You do, and deliver me from all deception on this matter. Receive my supplication in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

-- TOMORROW: IT ALL CENTERS IN JESUS! --