THE FUTURE

The "rapture doctrine" advocated by some Christians deals with what happens to the Church when Jesus returns - when it comes to "second coming", as it is usually called. The teaching says that believers experience a kind of ascension; that they will be put towards Christ, sometime when he returns in glory. Essentially, the believers of rapture serve as a single passage: «Because we tell you with a ...

In Acts of the Apostles 1,9 we are told: "And when he had said that, he was visibly picked up, and a cloud took him away from their eyes." At this point I would like to ask a simple question: Why? Why was Jesus taken away this way? But before we get to that we read the next three verses: “And when they watched him go up to heaven, behold, there were two men in white robes standing by them. They said: You men of ...

As he promised, Jesus Christ will return to earth to judge and rule all peoples in the kingdom of God. His second coming in power and glory will be visible. This event ushers in the resurrection and reward of the saints. (John 14,3; epiphany 1,7; Matthew 24,30; 1. Thessalonians 4,15-17; Revelation 22,12) Will Christ Return? What do you think would be the biggest event that could happen on the world stage? ...

Have you ever heard that those who die as infidels can no longer be reached by God? It is a cruel and destructive doctrine, the proof of which is a single verse in the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus. Like all biblical passages, this parable also stands in a specific context and can only be understood correctly in this context. It's always bad to have a doctrine on a single verse ...

In your opinion, what would be the biggest event that could happen on the world stage? Another world war? The discovery of a cure for a terrible disease? World peace, once and for all? Maybe the contact to extraterrestrial intelligence? For millions of Christians, the answer to this question is simple: the biggest event that will ever happen is the second coming of Jesus Christ. The central message of the Bible The whole message ...

If there were no future, writes Paul, it would be foolish to believe in Christ (1 Cor. 15,19). Prophecy is an essential and very encouraging part of the Christian faith. Bible prophecy announces something extraordinarily hopeful. We can draw a lot of strength and courage from her if we concentrate on her key messages, not on details that can be argued about. Meaning and purpose of prophecy Prophecy is not an end in itself - it articulates ...

Prophecy reveals God's will and plan for mankind. In biblical prophecy, God declares that human sinfulness is forgiven through repentance and faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Prophecy proclaims God as the almighty Creator and Judge over everything and assures humanity of his love, grace and loyalty and motivates the believer to live a godly life in Jesus Christ. (Isaiah 46,9-11; Luke 24,44-48th;…

At the end of the age, God will gather all the living and dead before the heavenly throne of Christ for judgment. The righteous will receive eternal glory, the wicked will be condemned in the lake of fire. In Christ the Lord makes gracious and just provision for all, including those who did not appear to have believed in the gospel when they died. (Matthew 25,31-32; Acts 24,15; John 5,28-29; Revelation 20,11: 15; 1. Timothy 2,3-6; 2. Petrus 3,9; ...

Important for avoiding misinterpretations is first of all to see Matthew 24 in the larger context of the previous chapters. You may be surprised to learn that the history of Matthew 24 is already in the 16. Chapter, verse 21, begins. There it says summarily: "Since the time Jesus began to show his disciples how to go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders and chief priests and scribes ...

It is the hope of all Christians that believers will be resurrected to immortal life at Christ's appearance. It should therefore come as no surprise that when the apostle Paul heard that some members of the Corinthian Church denied the resurrection, their lack of understanding in his 1. Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, vigorously rejected. First, Paul repeated the gospel message to which they too professed: Christ was ...

In the story of Les Miserables (The Wretched), Jean Valjean is invited to a bishop's residence after his release from prison, is given a meal and a room for the night. During the night Valjean steals some of the silverware and runs away, but is caught by the gendarmes, who bring him back to the bishop with the stolen items. Instead of accusing Jean, the bishop gives him two silver candlesticks and wakes the ...

In the Bible it is written: "God is love" (1. Jn 4,8). He made up his mind to do good by serving and loving people. But the Bible also points to God's wrath. But how can someone who is pure love also have something to do with anger? Love and anger are not mutually exclusive. Therefore we can expect that love, the desire to do good also includes anger or resistance to anything hurtful and destructive. God ...

Every year we celebrate Jesus' resurrection. He is our Savior, Savior, Redeemer and our King. As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we are reminded of the promise of our own resurrection. Because we are united with Christ in faith, we share in his life, death, resurrection, and glory. This is our identity in Jesus Christ. We have accepted Christ as our Savior and Savior, therefore our life is in Him...

“It is true that I am going and preparing a place for you, but it is also true that I will come again and take you to me so that you too may be where I am (John 14,3). Have you ever had a deep longing for something that was about to happen? All Christians, even those in the first century, longed for Christ to return, but in those days and ages they expressed it in a simple Aramaic prayer: "Maranatha," which means to ...

The most common descriptions of heaven, sitting on a cloud, wearing a nightgown, and playing a harp have little to do with how the scriptures describe heaven. In contrast, the Bible describes heaven as a great festival, like a picture in super-large format. There is tasty food and good wine in great company. It is the largest wedding reception of all time and celebrates the wedding of Christ with his ...

For forty days after his passion, death and resurrection, Jesus repeatedly showed himself alive to his disciples. They were able to experience Jesus' appearance several times, even behind closed doors, as the risen one in a transfigured form. They were allowed to touch him and eat with him. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God and what it will be like when God establishes his kingdom and completes his work. This…

Did you ever wish someone would knock on your door and tell you that a rich uncle you never heard of would have died and left you a huge fortune? The idea that money emerges out of nowhere is exciting, a dream of many people and a premise of many books and films. What would you do with your newfound wealth? What influence would he have on your life? Would he ...

The gospel means "good news". For years, the gospel has not been good news to me because I have been taught for much of my life that we are living in the past few days. I believed that "the end of the world" would come in a few years, but if I acted accordingly, I would be spared the Great Tribulation. This kind of world view can be addictive, so that one tends to everything in the world ...

When we understand that we live, weave and are in Christ, in the One who created all things and redeemed all things and who loves us unconditionally (Acts 12,32; Col 1,19-20; John 3,16-17), we can put all fear and worry about "where we are with God" and begin to really rest in the certainty of His love and directing power in our lives. That is the gospel good news, and in fact it is not just for a few, ...

Do you wish that Jesus would return soon? Hope for the end of the misery and wickedness that we see around us and that God will usher in a time as Isaiah prophesied: «There will be no wickedness or harm in all my holy mountain; for the land is full of the knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea? " (Isa 11,9). The writers of the New Testament lived in anticipation of the second coming of Jesus so that he might get them out of the ...

Have you ever had reason to punish a disobedient kid? Have you ever stated that the punishment would never end? I have some questions for all of us who have children. Here comes the first question: Was your child disobedient to you? Well, take some time to think if you are not sure. Okay, if you answered yes like all other parents, we come to the second question: ...

The Millennium is the period of time described in the book of Revelation in which Christian martyrs will reign with Jesus Christ. After the millennium, when Christ has defeated all enemies and subjugated all things, he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, and heaven and earth will be made new. Some Christian traditions literally interpret the millennium as a thousand years preceding or following the coming of Christ;

«The court is coming! The judgment is coming! Repent now or you will go to hell ». Perhaps you have heard such words or similar words from screaming evangelists. Her intention is: To lead the audience into a commitment to Jesus through fear. Such words twist the gospel. Perhaps this is not so far removed from the image of the "eternal judgment" in which many Christians believed with horror over the centuries ...

When we understand that we live, weave and are in Christ (Acts 17,28), in the One who created all things and redeemed all things and who loves us unconditionally, we can put all fear and worry about where we stand with God and begin to truly be in the certainty of his love and directing power in to rest our lives. The gospel is good news. Indeed, it is not just for a few people, but for all ...

Paul argues again and again in Romans that we owe it to Christ that God regards us as justified. Although we sin sometimes, those sins are counted towards the old self who was crucified with Christ. Our sins do not count against what we are in Christ. We have a duty to fight sin not to be saved, but because we are already children of God. In the last part of Chapter 8 ...

There will always be someone who claims to be a prophet or who believes they can calculate the date of Jesus' return. I recently saw an account of a rabbi who was said to be able to link the prophecies of Nostradamus to the Torah. Another person predicted that Jesus would return at Pentecost 2019 will take place. Many prophecy lovers try to link the breaking news and the biblical ...

Nothing sells as well as prophecies. It's true. A church or ministry can have a stupid theology, a weird head, and nonsensical strict rules, but they have some world maps, a pair of scissors, and a stack of newspapers, along with a preacher who can reasonably well express himself, then it seems, people will send you bucketfuls of money. People are afraid of the unknown and they know the ...