"The Sign Of (Jesus') Coming..."

Today is the day we have selected throughout the world to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, after He was crucified to death, not for His sins (for He was sinless), but for ours, that we might be forgiven, and granted the free gift of eternal life after death that we don't deserve, and can not earn by our own good works, or otherwise merit. The symbolism of allowing His Son to be sacrificed for our sins was not one of God's making, but "ours" (in the sense that "we", or heathen mankind in general, were in need of someone sinless to be sacrificed in our place, in order to satisfy our guilt before a Holy God.) This was a concept created by the heathen nations that surrounded Israel, in ancient times, and would be well understood by the Israelites of Jesus day, many of whom had been worshipping the false deities of the pagan nations, and hypocritically trying to "keep" the commandments of their own God, at the same time. (Except for the minor transgression of "... thou shalt have no other gods before me."--The #1 commandment, of their Ten Commandments!!!) The pagan concept of sacrificing a new-born child, before it was old enough to enter into "sin", was common in the neighboring countries. But God condemned this practice, and even said that it had never entered His mind to expect this kind of sacrifice. So, why did He allow Jesus to pay this price for us? Because He knew that He alone could come to earth and be born as a child, and live approximately 33 years of sinless life, and allow Himself to be crucified, as His own son, as a substitutionary sacrifice for the death we are all deserving of (in this way, God, Himself, conquered the penalty for sin that Satan has devised for all of mankind to suffer. And if you don't believe in a real Devil, than who do you think created the concept of I.S.I.S., and who do you think was the real author of the Koran?).

He paid it so we wouldn't have to!!! All we have to do is believe it, and receive Jesus' forgiveness for all of our sins, and thank Him for dying in our place! That's called being "Born Again"!

Please don't ask me why we have selected this day, because I don't have a clue. I thought that it should be celebrated more closely in proximity to the Jewish celebration of the Passover, since Jesus was crucified on the Friday when they killed the Passover lamb (with all the appropriate symbolism that entails). But, for some reason, probably having something to do with the difference between the Jewish calendar, and our "Gregorian" calendar, we have designated today as "Easter Sunday", the day when the whole world is supposed to rejoice because of the "miraculous" proliferation of rabbits "eggs", all brightly colored the various colors of the rainbow (however the rabbits manage that!), along with various candies, including bags of Jelly Beans, and chocolate "rabbits", etc. In all my years I've never seen any rabbits buying Jelly Beans, or other candy, at a grocery store, or a convenience store, so I have no idea how they do that! That must be part of the "Easter Miracle" that was never explained to me as a child. I guess I'll stick with the Biblical account, and let others give their children a method of rotting their teeth out. Maybe we should call this "Happy Dentists' Visitation Day"! Oh well, I guess I've digressed a little.

In today's Bible reading, I was reminded of what I have come to believe is perhaps the true meaning of the phrase "the sign of (Jesus') coming", which is referred to in Matthew 24: 3, when His disciples asked Him about it, and in verse 27, and 30, when He referred to it, by way of His answer. He mentioned this after describing a scene that reminds one (today) of a description of a Nuclear attack, described in ancient terms, to a people who would have no concept of today's nuclear terminology. While the textual sequence of this reference is not necessarily an indication of the chronology of the events, it is significant, I think, that He is describing His return (to "Rapture" the Church to "meet Him in the air") immediately before this description of what seems to be a Nuclear holocaust. (This is what I believe is the true meaning of "the sign of [His coming]"; the fact that hundreds of millions of people would "disappear", instantly [a "sign", not seen, but UNSEEN!], and those remaining would know that all of them had professed faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord, and Savior). (Note that this refers to His "Coming again", but says nothing about Him touching down on the earth, like it does in Zechariah 14: 4, when it describes His landing on the Mount of Olives, before His final Judgment of the world. This, I hope should clarify the discrepancy of my belief in the pre-tribulation "Rapture", and those who discount it because Jesus is not propecied to "come again, and again", but only once.) Many will probably be well versed in the prophecies of His "Coming Again", but chose not to believe it (or not "...Right now...", as I've heard others say.) This agrees with my conclusion from reading Revelation 6: 12, through 17. It describes a situation, in almost the same terms, when something like a Nuclear holocaust takes place (as Ezekiel: 39, 6 says He will send "fire" upon "Magog") [the land that biblical scholars have long agreed was settled by the ancient tribal ancestors of present-day Moscow], and upon the land that scholars think could be America (just before the Nuclear blasts hit the earth). Then Revelation 7 goes on to describe a scene where God sends His angels to, "hold back the four winds" ( a description of a temporary hesitation in the normal rotation of the earth, perhaps as a result of the force of the Nuclear blasts?), while they "seal" various "witnesses" of the Lord, the 144,000 that have confused the Jehovah's Witnesses for almost 200 years. A little meditating on the Word made me wonder why the Lord would be concerned with only 144,000, when there are estimated to be some 200,000,000 Christians, worldwide (and we are all supposed to be witnesses for Christ), unless He has already "Raptured" us to meet Him in the air! I admit the logic may be flimsy, but it is enough for me to believe in, and I'll leave it up to you to decide for yourselves, if you agree, or not. Anyway, Happy Easter! Praise the Lord! And I hope all your teeth don't rott out today!!!