Preparing Extraordinary For The Coming Of Jesus Christ

 

*PREPARING EXTRAORDINARILY FOR THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST* 

Jesus has shown us how to prepare for his coming 

Jesus loves you. And he wants you to triumph; he won’t let you fail. He gives you all the tools you need to be with him for eternity in paradise, which is in his word(BIBLE)

We are called every moment of our lives to persevere and overcome tests and struggles; we are called to triumph and make ourselves ready for him.

Advent is ever-present and always, in the sense that it points to Christ’s second coming.

We are called to prepare … always. We are called to repent … always. We are called to proclaim … always. We are called to triumph.

This is alluded to in Hebrews 12:26-27: Christ “has promised, ‘I will once more shake not only earth but heaven.’ That phrase ‘once more,’ points to the removal of shaken, created things, so that what is unshaken may remain.”

This testing and these struggles, which we endure every day, attack us and test us because there are the parts of us that are weak and flawed and need to be cast aside for us to be ready … always.

The verses from Hebrews talk about getting rid of that part of us that is the weakest or the sickest. The stuff we don’t need, as Scripture tells us, the part that can be shaken.

And Jesus will show us the way. He will be with us as we do this, because, in these struggles, we will stumble, we will sin and it will hurt. But remember that Christ is the form God’s love takes in the presence of sin. Jesus is the Father’s response to sin. He wants us to triumph; he will not let us fail. He loves us.

The fruit of our Advent preparation is a relationship with God, and repentance repairs any damage that we may have caused through sin.

Repentance means staying in relationship.

The only reason we are ever sorry for anything is that we realize it hurt our relationship with God or neighbor or ourselves, and it crushes us. But Jesus is drawn to our wounds, and he loves us.

We can do this directly through prayer, through minimizing distractions in our heart and through service to the church.

We can also do this indirectly through recognizing Jesus in those around us, through desiring only positive things for ourselves and others, through upholding the human dignity of the person standing before us. All of these things only serve to better our relationship with him.

Hold on to your relationship with Jesus Christ. It is all that matters. It is all that will ever matter.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is the hope of believers that God is in control of all things, and is faithful to the promises and prophecies in His Word. In His first coming, Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem, just as prophesied. Jesus fulfilled many of the prophecies of the Messiah during His birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection. However, there are some prophecies regarding the Messiah that Jesus has not yet fulfilled. The second coming of Christ will be the return of Christ to fulfill these remaining prophecies. In His first coming, Jesus was the suffering Servant. In His second coming, Jesus will be the conquering King. In His first coming, Jesus arrived in the most humble of circumstances. In His second coming, Jesus will arrive with the armies of heaven at His side.

The Old Testament prophets did not make clearly this distinction between the two comings. This can be seen in Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7 and Zec14:4. As a result of the prophecies seeming to speak of two individuals, many Jewish scholars believed there would be both a suffering Messiah and a conquering Messiah. What they failed to understand is that there is only one Messiah and He would fulfill both roles. Jesus fulfilled the role of the suffering servant (Isaiah chp 53) in His first coming. Jesus will fulfill the role of Israel’s deliverer and King in His second coming. Zec 12:10 and Rev1:7, describing the second coming, look back to Jesus being pierced. Israel, and the whole world, will mourn for not having accepted the Messiah the first time He came.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the angels declared to the apostles, “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:11). Zec 14:4 identifies the location of the second coming as the Mount of Olives. Matt 24:30 declares, “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” Titus 2:13 describes the second coming as a “glorious appearing.”

The second coming is spoken of in greatest detail in Rev 19:11-16, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Are you ready to place your faith in Jesus? Do you trust Him to save you? There is no special prayer you must pray. However, you can respond right now with a prayer similar to this:

“Dear God, I realize I am a sinner and could never reach heaven by my own good deeds. Right now I place my faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Son who died and rose again to give me eternal life. I trust in Jesus alone. Please forgive me of my sins and help me to live for you. Thank you for accepting me and giving me eternal life.”

Have you made a decision for Christ because of what you have read here?