For a matter of fact, many have written and talked about Jesus' Second Coming and The Rapture. It is a very deep topic and anything related to it can easily stir up any minds that are attached to it's research. For those who are not Christians, it is a very "out of the world" topic altogether but basically what we are talking about is hope. Many religions and teachings offer great teachings and wonderful life, at least on earth but the difference in Jesus' teachings are that we are not only given redemption and wisdom, we are given hope. The hope is that we have a life beyond what we see and feel. We no need to ponder what might possibly happen to us when we die. We are given assurance and hope of eternity which was made possible by His ultimate display of love on the cross. Like how He once came to redeem us, He has promised us that He will come again to take us with Him, we call it The Rapture. While this is a known fact among Christians, how are we supposed to anticipate this wonderful event that will stall the whole world one day. So since the knowledge about it is too deep, God inspired me to relate it to something simpler. Actually, God allows certain things to happen in life for some reasons. For the last 3 months, I spent half of my life in train and I thought all of it were in vain. But then now, God inspired me to use the experiences in there to write about His wonderful will.
All of us have definitely travelled in this long, convenient (sometimes irritating) and high-tech vehicle. But we hardly noticed the knowledge it might offer to us. Now let's further discuss about this Rapture by dividing the Train Journey (KTM) in to 2 parts:
a) Outside the station
b) Inside the station
a) Outside the station
Let us now imagine that we are about to take a train back home after staying in a foreign land spending some time working or doing something worthwhile. We have not been home for the past 20 or 30 years maybe. This is the scenario. While we anticipate the journey back home, we will actively prepare ourselves prior to the journey. One of the most important things that we will do is packing up. We will actively sort out important things and pack them up to bring back home. We won't want to leave anything valuable behind. We pack clothes, gadgets etc. Sometimes packing alone can go up to days if you are planning to shop some things that you want to bring back home. Similarly, as for the Rapture where we will journey back Home with Jesus, we have to pack our things up. We have to store up all the valuable things with us. The valuable things here are the unsaved souls around us and knowledge of GOD. We have to meditate daily on the word of God and fill ourselves with more of Him. We also have to be keen on finishing our job that was given according to Matthew 28:19-20. Which is to spread the Good News to the unsaved. We won't want to leave any of these valuable souls behind. 1 Thessalonians 5 says about preparing to leave. We have to pray and actively work out the salvation so that valuable souls are added to His kingdom. The hope of eternity should be told to everyone. Finally we have to arrive in the station at least 30 minutes before the train arrives. Similarly, we have to be ONTIME EVERYTIME when it comes to Godly issues. We should not take His grace for granted.
b) Inside the station
Now when we are done with the outside-station issues, we are now stepping into the station. First and foremost, we need to take care of our ticket. Without the ticket we will not be accepted into the train. Sometimes I see people sneak into the train without the ticket. I have also seen them getting caught. So to get inside the KTM train, we need to take care of the ticket. Salvation and Redemption are tickets given to us by Jesus to enter Heaven. It is our duty to take care of it. He died on the cross to give us the ticket and the ticket's price is PRICELESS. And not everyone who has the ticket can get into the train. Those who can take care of it until he gets into the train will be the one accepted. So with our lives and all our efforts, we should take care of our "ticket" which is our redemption. Ephesians 6:17 says that we should put on the helmet of salvation and hold up the sword which is the word of God. It is used to guard our precious "ticket". Besides, we also wait for the train eagerly. Who would not be excited to return home? In the KTM station, there will be one LCD board showing the arrival time of the train. Let's say KTM arrives at 10.00am and we are already in the station at about 9.30am. Though excited, we would sit down awaiting the train. But when time ticks away to 9.55am, we will stand to our feet to await the train eagerly. Most of the time (almost everytime) the KTM delays by few minutes. Though the time passes 10.00am, we would not be possibly sitting down now yet after knowing the train has not yet arrive. We would anticipate any moment arrival and we will get more and more anxious. Awaiting the train we will not even realise that 30 minutes have passed yet we choose to stand. We know that after 10.00am, any minute the train will arrive and if we sit, we can't sit actually. I tried it but it's just man's nature that he chooses to stand. As time passes more and more, we will start looking for signals such as the "screeching" sound of the track that signals the position of the train that is not far away. We will pay attention to the announcements given and also constantly checking our clock.
Similarly, in today's world, we eagerly anticipate Jesus' return to redeem us with Him for eternity. There are some important events that we have to look so that we can get the whole picture of it. When Jesus first came, He came to redeem Israelites and not the Gentiles. But God's ultimate will is for everyone. Jesus said to His disciples that He will die and rise up again and then He will be taken up to prepare mansions for His believers. He went on to say that He will return shortly to take His disciples with Him forever. The time He gave was the duration one will take to go around the villages in Jerusalem(not sure whether villages or mountains). That would take less than a week. So after Jesus was taken up, He was supposed to return within a month at least. But after He rose from death, things changed. He opened the redemption and salvation to the whole world and now He said that His coming is not known by anyone except for His Father. Which means The Rapture or The Train has been delayed. The delay is to make sure that every breathing man and woman has heard about The Hope and The Good News. His abundant grace is now opened to the world and that was why He said to the disciples to go and make disciples in Christ in Matthew 28:19-20. And a new age started and we call it Grace Period, Holy Spirit Period and so on. In comparison, Jesus was supposed to come at 10.00am but He intentionally delayed it so that everyone can have a chance to know the love of God.
But compared to 2000 years ago, we have more reasons to feel the highest level of anticipation because they were at the 10.01am moment and now we are already in the 10.20++am moments which means the possibility of the train arriving any time now is more likely than before. Jesus' coming is becoming more likely because He has given us signs in which we have to keep watch so that we can prepare ourselves for His coming. War, famines, nations' uprise etc are some of them. Paul goes on to say that there will be a time where the world will run about for reasons and at one time they will settle down in calm situations when The Most Anticipated Rapture will happen. If we look around now, though all these have already been happening centuries back, they are in peak in our days. Aren't they adequate to further strengthen the fact that He is at the doorstep? So what are Christians supposed to feel? Worried? Excited? Anxious? Relaxed?
Paul said that The Rapture will happen out of a sudden like a thief in the night. Others have to worry but not Christians, or those who believe in Jesus. He is coming to take away the "valuable things" from the world. We are the valuable ones. Those who live in the dark should worry and be afraid of theft. We live in the Light and all we have to do is peacefully anticipate. Though we are anxious about the arrival of the train, when we see the light or glimpse of its sight, our raging heartbeat will slow down. We will be cool and calm. So we need not worry about His coming. Our inner man, the spirit of God will know when Jesus will come and He will calm us when it happens.
Now all we have to do is simple. We have to be ready for our journey ahead. Constantly pray, meditate on His word, share the faith, help others, attend church regularly. Most importantly we have to protect ourselves from shades of the world. It is only possible with the Might of God. Seek His strength for the slightest bit of it can shake the foundations of the cosmos.
Note: There are few theological differences between Jesus' Second Coming and The Rapture where the Second Coming is preferentially referred to the Armageddon war. But since these are chain events, the signs given prior to this can match one another. But there are specific individual explanations for each of the events.
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