Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Jesus Christ was emphatically clear about the future: this sinful, painful world is not to continue on and on ad infinitum for ages to come. "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-3).
Note: He receives His people to Himself, not vice versa. He has taken the initiative all the way through: a conjugal love has motivated Him. Love is always the desire to be one with the beloved. Jesus is no different!
The story of the second coming of Christ is a love story; there is a Bridegroom involved and a Bride. The drama is played out on planet earth in view of the vast universe of God, as though this planet were the stage. The second coming of Christ is the denouement of history, the one grand event toward which through the ages humanity has moved steadily.
The prophet Daniel describes the Last Generation as "the time of the end" (11:35; 12:4). Jesus told His disciples, speaking of specific events, "Then the end will come" (Matt. 24:14). There will be a Last Generation! Six thousand plus years of history cannot be for nothing!
The apostles had a clear understanding: "This we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep [not everybody is going to pass through death!]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:15-17).
The joy that Jesus will know will be unbounded, for He has personally, individually loved each one of His saints. The Last Generation will be the reunion. The long delayed wedding of two who have dearly loved each other is an occasion of great joy here on earth; think of a cosmic wedding! Four grand Hallelujah choruses with heaven's symphony orchestras accompanying the massed choirs. "The angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed [happy] are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.' [New Living Translation], ... who have the testimony of Jesus ... for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:7-10).
You are invited; now "make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10).
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 28, 2007.
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