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The Rapture of the Church (Part 6)

 How Then Should We Live?

 

     Considering that the rapture could take place at any moment, how should we be living our lives and what should we be focusing on? I would argue that at minimum, there are three things we should be committed to doing:

Watch

For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you (Revelation 3:3).

     Knowing that the Lord could come back for us at any moment, literally, should serve as a tremendous motivator to us. Living with that kind of anticipation and expectancy helps us remain focused.

“The only way to wait for the second coming is to watch that you do what you should do, so that when he comes is a matter of indifference. It is the attitude of a child, certain that God knows what he is about. When the Lord does come, it will be as natural as breathing. God never does anything hysterical, and he never produces hysterics.”1

Work

It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his servants, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert (Mark 13:34).

Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:11-12).

     These and many other passages clearly teach us that we are to remain busy doing the Kingdom’s work, for there is much to do and little time to do it. If Christ were to return right now, what kind of work or project would you want Him to find you doing? We are here to serve Him and to serve our fellow man, in fact, though Christ is not here personally and physically, He is here, in you and me. Jesus is relying on us to be faithful and committed workers, for if we do not do the work, who will?

Witness

Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).

but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15).

     Jesus Himself said that the very purpose for the incarnation was to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus gave His life blood to redeem the elect. As His ambassadors, we now represent Him and carry on His work of “seeking and saving” the lost. In fact, regarding the world, that is the very reason why the church exists.

1 Edythe Draper, Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1992), entry 9912.

 

All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.   

 

Copyright © 2021 by Miguel J Gonzalez Th.D.

 

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