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The Greatest Event on God's Time Calendar

1 Corinthians 15:50-52 – “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.  Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 

We are living in what the Bible defines as the last days.  Frances Dixon wrote, “The certain and glorious fact of the second advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is so clearly stated in the Bible that even a child can grasp the truth that Jesus, Who first came to earth some two-thousand years ago, is one day coming again the second time.”[1]

What is the greatest event on God’s time calendar? According to the Scriptures the greatest event on God’s Calendar is the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Bible talks about the Second Coming in the Old Testament, the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles and the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 15:51 the Apostle Paul writes concerning the mystery of the coming of the Lord. What is this mystery?  It is what scholars call the Rapture of the New Testament Church.  Paul reveals more of this mystery in his letter to the church at Thessalonica.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 reads, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For 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. 16 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.”

This great event, His Second Coming, has been maligned, abused, and even denied in Christian circles.  The Apostle Peter addresses these doubts in 2 Peter 3:3-4, “Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of His coming?  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

How do we know that we are living in the last days and we are near to the coming of the Lord?  In Matthew 24 and Luke 21 we learn that there will be specific signs that reveal that we are close to the greatest event on God’s calendar. 

In Matthew 24:3-14 Jesus reveals some of these specific signs that will occur before His Second Coming.

·      Verse 5 – False Christ and deception. 

·      Verse 6 – Wars and rumors of wars. 

·      Verse 7 – Nation against nation, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in 
various places.
·      Verse 9 – Persecution, betrayal, and hatred. 

·      Verse 11 – False prophets. 

·      Verse 12 – Lawlessness and the love of many growing cold.

           I believe we are near to the greatest event on God’s calendar.  In light of this information how should we live?  We must draw near to God.  James the half-brother of our Lord writes in James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Jesus gives these instructions in Matthew 24:42, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” Verse 43 – “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.”  Verse 44 – “Therefore you also be ready, for Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
           






[1] Words of Life Ministries, Bible Study Guides, Pastor Frances Dixon, UK.

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