The King is Coming

                                                                   
Growing up, we were taught the importance of reading the bible as it holds God’s directions and instructions for our life, but of all the chapters (books) of the Bible I found the Book of Revelations to be scary, I think I read it just once while growing up, this was due to the fact that like most readers we imagine the things we read and those in the Book of Revelation I assure you are horrific to think about. This brings me to the topic, THE KING IS COMING. I am trying to create awareness about the second coming of Jesus Christ. All my Bible readings are from the new living translation (NLT).
“Jesus Christ is coming soon” is a well-known statement all over the earth, it is been said and acknowledge by both believers and most times unbelievers. What we all need to know that first of all no one knows when that day would come for the world, 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says “For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night”. Many people thus have a very wrong perception about this, the day of the Lord is not like a planned event like the UCL Final or Final year exams etcetera, the day of the Lord comes at different times for most humans, the day the Lord for both believers and unbelievers is that faithful day when the mortal body dies, that is why that day is unknown and unexpected because no one can predict correctly the day they die.
The Bible speaks further about the individualist nature of the Lord’s Day, In Hebrews 9:27,”And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment”.  It then depends on where you stand with God based on how your lived your life here on earth. At death, believers leave the body to be with Christ. Apostle Paul refers to it as being away from the body and at home with the Lord  (2 Corinthians 5:8). The mortal body “sleeps” the sleep of death, but not the spirit which at death goes immediately to heaven to be judged. The Books of Hebrews refers to “the spirits of righteous men made perfect” in heaven (Hebrews 12:23). When the Lord returns, we will receive a new spiritual body-“It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body”, (1 Corinthians 15:44) - to be joined without redeemed spirits. United in spirit and in body, we shall ever be with the Lord. Another confirmation of the Judgment after death is cited by the bible in Luke 16:19-31.
In the book of Matthew 16:26, it says “And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?” It is also repeated in the books of Mark 8:36 and Luke 9:25. That is the million dollar question, is anything worth more than the soul? Knowing fully well that the soul lives on even after death, Revelation 20:14-15 clearly points out what would happen to those who had valued their lives here on earth over their soul, it says “And death and the grave were thrown in the lake of fire, this is the second death”, it goes further to say that “Anyone whose name is not found recorded in the book of life was also thrown into the lake of fire”, this fire is eternal and also has tormentors that torment the inhabitants (see Revelation 14:9-11).
It then brings forth the important question, after knowing not the day when we would die and after being made aware of the two routes after death, how are we living our lives, some people spend their money as they earning it, without thinking about the next day, I believe that that is how a godly life should be lived, every day should be lived like God would take you the next moment, be overly conscious about your life, Psalms 139:23-24 also highlights it (Ps. 139:23: “Search me, O God and Know my heart, test me and know my thoughts, 24: “Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” ). It is important that this is done daily do reaffirm our stand with God. We may think or believe that because we are from bible reading homes or church going families that we know God , the most important thing is for God to know you in Matthew 7:22-23, God denied who did miracles in his name because they were done with our his permission,  it is not because you answered that altar call that immediately secures your salvation, you don’t win league title or cups by winning just one match, same with the heavenly race, it is a process and surrendering your life to Jesus is just the first step, and every necessary step is written in the bible, God desperately wants us to succeed in this race and his has done quite enough frankly for us to win the race, he sacrificed his only son for our sins,( both the ones committed and yet to be committed, both for the living and the ones yet to be born) and he also provided the holy spirit as a guide for us, to help navigate us through the treacherous paths of this life, it is just like in an exam, the questioner spends a teacher to assist all the students who are sitting for the exam in order for them to succeed in the examination, that is what the holy spirit is like for us and even much more and all we need to do is just to claim what has already been purchased for us by our lord Jesus Christ, we just need to honestly come to God in humility (not putting up a show, come in sincerity, because God checks the motive of everything we do) and say just say this short prayer, Lord come into my heart, be the lord of my life, I accept that Jesus Christ, you son died for my sins and I am ready to accept him as my Lord and personal savior. Then start changing your ways, treat people better and equally, doing the commandments that the Lord has spoken about in the Bible and that which he gives through revelations and keep pray daily without ceasing for his mercies and grace because we cannot win this race by our own power alone.   Also find a Bible believing church to attend because your spirit man needs to be feed just as your mortal body eats, if you are in Enugu state, Nigeria, you can join me and worship @ 154 Zik Avenue, or any Chrismatic Renewal Ministries (CRM) close to you.