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John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Titus 2:11-13 - For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Christmas is when we celebrate the Birth of Jesus.
Christmas is more than that - it is the celebration of God keeping His prophetic word to mankind.
Christmas is powerful because what was promised has both personal and worldwide implications.
Christmas reminds us in a very vivid way that our God is a promise keeper.
It is a reminder that God has plan and that only part of that plan is fulfilled.
Christmas reminds us that God has done what He said!
God promised that Jesus would come the first time as the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of all mankind.
God has also promised that Jesus would come a second time.
The first coming has a name it is called the – Incarnation. This is when Jesus came as God made flesh.
When Jesus comes again that second advent - that second coming also has a name and that is the rapture of the Church.
This is when Jesus comes back to take all those who have made Him savior and Lord from throughout History both the living in the dead and catches them up in the air to be with Him forever.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 - 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. 17 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.
The fact that Jesus came the first time is all the proof that we need that He will come the second time.
There are many prophetic scriptures that Jesus fulfilled during His first coming.
Here are just a few of the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus:
I want to say it again – Our God is a promise Keeper. If Jesus came the first time, then we can count on the fact that He is coming again.
Ephesians 5:25-27 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Jesus is coming, but not just for any church.
He’s not coming back for a broken church.
He’s not coming back for a whining church.
He’s not coming back for a depressed church.
He’s not coming back for a fearful church.
He’s not coming back for a politically correct church.
He’s not coming back for a comfortable church.
He’s not coming back for a silent church.
He’s not coming back for a dying church.
Jesus is coming back for a glorious church, a triumphant church,
A Holy Church, a victorious church, a thriving Church,
A Bride without spot or blemish.
This second coming is called our “Blessed Hope”.
Philippians 3:20 - For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
This Blessed Hope is the Rapture of the Church. It is the catching away of the people of God at the begging of the Tribulation or the last seven years of mankind as we know it.
The Tribulation is the Judgement of God on mankind with a redemptive purpose.
It is a time of shaking the world in order that all who have rejected God will know that there is a God. It will be a time of convincing people of the Righteous ways of God is such a specific manner that they will have to purposefully make a decision to reject God even when He has without question revealed Himself and His ways.
Jesus came the first time for the saving of the soul; He will come again the to save the body. He came the first time to redeem the individual; He will come the second time to redeem society.
There are over 8,300 verses in the Bible that contain predictive prophecy.
These verses reference 700 different prophecies.
These include Messianic prophecies – Those are prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.
Prophecies concerning the nation of Israel.
They include prophecies concerning the church age – the age we live in now.
They include prophecies concerning end-time events.
One-fifth of the entire Bible is prophetic.
There are 8 times more prophetic scriptures on the Second Coming of Jesus and the Rapture of the church than there are about His first.
I want you to think about that. – there is no doubt that the first coming was vital to man-kind. So why is there so much attention given to the Rapture of the Church?
More than 50 times in the New Testament we are informed to prepare for His return. Next to Faith, the Return of Christ is the most repetitive subject in the New Testament.
But why is there so much emphasis placed on the Rapture?
Today there is a real effort to erase the idea of the Rapture of the church from our discussion. There is even a real effort to convince people that the Bible does not even talk about the Second Coming of Jesus until after the tribulation.
It has always been church doctrine that Jesus is coming back for His church. There have always been those around who do not believe that a pre-tribulation rapture is biblical and that Jesus will only return at the end of time after the tribulation and judgment. There are those who scoff at the idea that Jesus is even coming back at all.
Understand that this is a satanic assault against hope. The promise Jesus gave IS A PROMISE of hope for both the Christian and the non-Christian.
The fact that Jesus is coming back gives great hope for the Christian of better things to come. The fact that Jesus has yet to return means that there is still hope for those who will come to Jesus. People have all kinds of ideas that they give as reasons for what seems to be Christ’s delay.
Jesus is not delaying His promise--- He is extending the season of hope.
2 Peter 3:1-10- Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 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.” 5 for this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Any delay we perceive in the slowness of Christ keeping His promise to catch us away is purely because He longs for people to be saved and not become partakers of His judgment and wrath.
I love the Christmas season. I love the lights, the gifts the decorated trees. But I love the Hope that Christmas renews in the hearts and minds of people.
May this season of hope remind you that just as Jesus came the first time, He is coming again. Look up, be encouraged, Live expectantly your redemption draws near.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. From All of us here at HCC know that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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