advent

The Christmas season is celebrated worldwide, but not with universal emphasis on Jesus Christ…. and there is evidence to suggest that, it was a pagan festival before the Chuch “adopted” it for an “advent” celebration.

All Christians should resist the pagan aspects of the holiday…. the overeating and binge drinking…..  excessive preoccupation with pagan symbols and songs, santas and reindeer, wreaths and candles and such like.

I want to draw your attention to the SECOND advent of Jesus Christ, which is yet to take place in the future….. and to assure you, as surely as night follows day, that it will occur…. and when it does, it will be SUDDEN and DRAMATIC.

Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

Matthew 24:30 “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Matthew 26:64 “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said; nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

Mark 14:61 -62 “But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked hin, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed ?” And Jesus said, ” I am; and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him; and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him”

My friend, as I have said before…… Jesus Christ was not just another prophet or preacher or holy man….  you have a CHOICE to make…. He is either the King of Kings and Lord of Lords…….  or he is a deceiver and a blasphemer and a charlatan and a liar.

The Scribes and Pharisees DESPISED him…. because of his humble origin and his speech and manner of life… he was not the Christ they wanted….. and make no mistake, the “rich, powerful and succesful” humans on this planet earth STILL DESPISE him today…..  they want a GOD of their own making…. in fact, their GOD is like Satan himself…. ruthless, vicious, cruel and self-serving…. THAT is the image that they ADMIRE and RESPECT.

Please consider John 10:32 – 33 “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of these works do ye stone me ? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that THOU, BEING A MAN, MAKEST THYSELF GOD.”

This then is the DECIDING factor….. is Christ EVIL or is Christ GOD ????? …. there is no “middle” position… he cannot be just “a good teacher” or a “good and holy man”….. BECAUSE “good, holy people” do not claim to be God…. either he must be a deluded madman with a God complex…. or he was, in fact, the REAL DEAL…. GOD in the FLESH….. and we have a problem with that….. we cannot ACCEPT a God that appears to be “just a human like us”……. PARTICULARLY, a HUMBLE, SIMPLE sort of person who “identifies” with the “refuse” of human society.

Trust me…… Jesus Christ would not receive any better reception today…..  NOTHING has changed….. He would NOT be welcome in our Churches and our society would not acknowledge him anymore than the Jews did !

And that is why …. the nations will tremble, wail and mourn… when He returns in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory……  they DONT WANT HIM….. because they REJECT everything that he stands for….. and that is why Jesus could say in John 15:24 “If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they had not had sin; but now have they both SEEN AND HATED BOTH ME AND MY FATHER”

This is the stinging indictment against this world…. they do not want God to reign over them….. instead, they want a “god” of their own making…… a god that conforms to their own idea of what a god should be like….. they have both seen and despised the TRUE GOD.

But the reality is…. everything we see HAS been created by the true God…… and eventually, He WILL REIGN over what He has made……. and the long history of human and angelic REBELLION will come to an end.

Why has he tolerated this REBELLION against Him for so long ? …. in reality, all human history is not really “so long” on a cosmic scale ….. it is but a blip in a TIMELESS ETERNITY.

Prayer for Today:

Father, help us to truly live your life among these people on earth…. that we may hear you say…. “well done my child” when we finally reach eternity.