This is the 11th in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
The second coming of Jesus is implied in hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that center on future judgment of the world and a coming kingdom of righteousness. Jesus and the New Testament writers elevate these ancient prophecies and apply them to the unfinished but guaranteed future work of the Savior.
One challenge of messianic prophecies is their compressed view of the future. We see predictions of a Suffering Servant who is despised, rejected, and sacrificed for our sins (Isa. 53), along with visions of a Davidic king who comes in power, judging the world and setting things right (Ps. 110).
Are the Suffering Servant and Davidic king separate individuals, or are they one person conducting two major campaigns to redeem a sinful and fallen world?
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians: “But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly” (2 Cor. 11:3-4, emphasis added).
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul depicted Christ as the last Adam and second man in order to show how Jesus’ death and resurrection reversed the effects of the Fall and secured a glorious future for us (1 Cor. 15:45-49). Borrowing from that analogy in his second letter, Paul now likens the church to a second Eve. As Adam and Eve became one flesh (Gen. 2:24), Christ and the church are joined in a covenant relationship.
The image of salvation as betrothal between Christ and his followers is consistent with first-century Jewish marriage customs involving two separate ceremonies: the betrothal, and the nuptial ceremony that consummates the marriage. Usually, a year separates the two events, yet the betrothed young woman legally is regarded as the man’s wife and obligates herself to remain a virgin. The contract is binding; only death or a formal bill of divorce may end it. If the betrothed woman cheats on her husband, she is considered an adulteress. She may be banished under Roman rule or stoned under Old Testament law (Deut. 22:23-27).
Since Paul spent considerable time planting the church in Corinth, he feels a personal responsibility, as spiritual father, to ensure the church’s faithfulness to the Lord. But in his absence, Corinthian believers have welcomed seducers into the church – self-proclaimed “super apostles” who teach “another Jesus,” “a different spirit,” and “a different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4-5).
This is the 10th in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
Angels proclaim the return of Jesus in at least two New Testament passages. In the first, “two men in white clothes” tell the apostles Christ’s return is to be a mirror image of his ascension, which they have just witnessed. In the second, an angel flies high overhead, announcing to the earth’s inhabitants that God’s hour of judgment has come.
Acts 1:10-11 – While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”
Jesus has instructed his apostles to remain in Jerusalem until they receive the Father’s promise of the Holy Spirit. Thus empowered, they are to be Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Then, Jesus ascends into heaven with a cloud taking him out of their sight (Acts 1:4-9).
In the apostles’ minds, this may harken back to the ascension of Elijah in 2 Kings 2. After the prophet’s dramatic exit in a whirlwind, accompanied by blazing horses and a chariot of fire, Elisha receives a double portion of Elijah’s spirit to carry on the prophetic ministry.
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle Paul writes: “Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven — if I have forgiven anything — it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:10-11, emphasis added).
And: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11, emphasis added).
In each of these passages, Paul points to the evil one’s schemes. First, as believers, we are to educate ourselves about Satan’s plots so we may prevent him from gaining an advantage over us. The Greek word translated “schemes” in 2 Corinthians 2:11 is noemata and basically means “thoughts,” “purposes,” or “designs.” No doubt, these are malicious schemes intended to cause harm.
This is the ninth in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
There is general agreement among Bible commentators that the rider on a white horse in Revelation 19:11-16 is Jesus. The majority view is that John sees the return of Christ, in which he judges the earth and sets things right.
The white horse is a sign of Jesus coming in triumph. On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. Historically, for a king to enter a city on a donkey signifies peace rather than conquest.But now, Jesus returns as King of kings.
It was customary for a triumphant Roman general to parade on the Via Sacra, a main thoroughfare of Rome, followed by evidence of his victory in loot and captives. So, the white horse is a symbol of Christ’s triumph over the forces of wickedness in the world.John is describing Jesus’ coming as the Jews expected him the first time – a powerful military leader.
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