Jesus' second coming (cont'd)

Jesus will return, not if but when... Nobody knows when, Jesus said even himself (Matt 24:36). Yet many people have tried to predict when and all had failed. More recently was Harold Camping, an American Christian broastcaster, author and evangelist in California. He predicted that Jesus would return in May of 2011 that did not happen and he died in 2013. The date comes to pass.

Where was God for 2000 years? For a very long time, the whole creation has been groaning, eagerly waiting for Jesus’ return (Rom 8:22-24). Last week, we looked at the factors that preceded Jesus’ first coming. This week, we look at the factors that point to Jesus’ second coming.

· Signs in Nature – major floods in Venice, Italy and other cities, devastating forest fires in California and Australia, hurricanes and earthquakes in many parts of the world. Natural disaters appear to occur more often with more damages than ever. Many people cry “climate change”.

· Signs in Culture – pride, idolatry, materialism, covetousness, abortion, LGBTQ, corruption, lies (fake news)… are being accepted and legalized as a new normal, a way of life. People love to live in the dark, slave to sins - lust of the world, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1John 2:16).

· Signs in Technology - the Internet has been invented and is being effectively used to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with millions of people every year. For example, during the 15 years since start-up in 2004, Global Media Outreach (GMO) has made 2 billion Gospel presentations and helped over 200 million people to pray and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Internet today has been compared to the fishing net (to save people) that Jesus talked about in his time.

Today, we definitely should be ready because with each year passing, Jesus’ return is closer, our time is fleeting. We should remain in Jesus, obey God, follow His words, love God and others (God’s great command), and share Jesus’ Gospel (God’s great commission). That’s what we should do. More than ever, we should live and do God's will by being AOA – available, obedient, and aggressive.

Next week, we will begin a series entitled, “In the New Year, looking forward”.