True Bible Teaching - About You and God and Your Hope of Salvation

Introduction

In our hearts we know that there must be more to life than simply living and dying. We look into space and consider the wonder of creation and realize there is a greater power than ourselves. We look at the complexity of the human body and realize we are not here by accident or chance. So, why are we here and what is the meaning of our existence?

For many, life is full of suffering and misery. Life often seems unfair and without meaning or purpose. But the Creator of the heaven and earth has told us there is meaning and purpose to life. He has told us there is much more to life than simply living and dying.

The Bible tells us that God wants to save all men and women from a meaningless existence and include them in His eternal plan. The Bible is a book of hope and it tells us of the way that leads to SALVATION.

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THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The focus of the true Christian hope is the coming Kingdom of God on earth. The Lord's prayer shows this:

"Your kingdom come (that) your will be done on earth, as it is (now) in heaven" (Matthew 6:10)

At Christ's return, "the kingdoms of this world (will) become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15). Then God's will and desires will be completely and openly performed in this earth.

The Kingdom On Earth

The "kingdom of God" is a phrase interchangeable with "the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 13:11 cp. Mark 4:11). The Bible never speaks of the 'the kingdom in heaven'; it is the kingdom of heaven which will be established by Christ on earth at His return. As God's will is completely obeyed by the angels in heaven (Psalms 103:19-21) so it will be in the future kingdom of God.

Entering the kingdom of God at Christ's return is the end result of all Christian endeavour in this life (Matthew 25:34; Acts 14:22); as such, it is absolutely vital to have a correct understanding of it. The doctrine of the Kingdom of God forms a vital part of the Gospel message (Acts 8:12;19:8; 28:23,31).

"We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22); it is the light at the end of the tunnel of this life, and therefore the motivation to make the sacrifices which the true Christian life involves.

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At the End of 1999 all around the world vast and lavish preparations were being made for the start of a new millennium, a new era of a thousand years. The opportunity was taken for a variety of events, from private parties to large scale building projects all of them celebrating a new start.

But after all the excitement died down, and the balloons burst, what has this new millennium brought thus far and what will it bring yet?  For a thousand years is not a stage managed event, limited to a few carefully controlled hours or days, but a long, long period of time covering the lifetimes of many generations.

Will this new millennium bring with it a brave new world?  Will conditions on the earth suddenly (or even gradually) improve for all who are oppressed, exploited or diseased?  We know the answer to these questions.  All the grand schemes and great expectations will achieve very little. It needs more than a page turned over on a calendar to put the world right, even if the date on that page is the last day of the old millennium.

The last one hundred years or so of the last millennium saw incredible technological changes. But alongside all the machines which man's ingenuity has produced to help him undertake necessary tasks, there stand equally ingenious machines with an almost infinite capacity for destruction. Even those-like vehicles of transport-invented to assist man's well being and to make his life easier, have been responsible for the deaths of thousands, even millions of people.

Sadly none of the technological advances has managed to halt the decline in personal relationships and the breakdown of law and order in society.  Non have removed disease and suffering from our world, hunger and starvation are still widespread.

So what will bring any change to this world?

A Reliable Guide
How do we find answers to these questions? Is there a reliable source of information about the future, and especially about the future of mankind upon the earth?

The only reliable guide to the future-a guide which has stood the test of time and whose earlier predictions give confidence about all the other information it contains, is the Bible. It claims to be the Word of God-who inspired human writers to record His message to mankind. What then does the Bible have to say about the millennium?

What we shall soon discover is that any reference to a millennium in the Bible has to do not with the moment at the turn of the century but with an entire period of a thousand years. Actually the word millennium does not appear anywhere in the Bible. But there are a few places where a "thousand years" are mentioned in a general sense, and one place where an era of a `'thousand years" is specifically described.

Two of the general references to a thousand years use the phrase to explain how God is different from man, because He is not controlled by time: "A thousand years in God's sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night" (Psalm 90:4), "With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (II Peter 3:8).

God is able to view all of mankind's history in a moment of time. He can look deep into the past and far into the future He is not 'locked in the cage of time', as man is.

God has been at work for thousands of years with a plan and a purpose. He brought the world into existence at the beginning, and wants it to be a place where men and women can live at peace, with each other and with Him.  

Through the various Bible writers, God has revealed to mankind many of the details of His purpose. His work has continued through successive ages: the generation before the Flood; the times of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), the formation of the nation of Israel into a kingdom; the sending of His Son; the Christian era; and finally He promises a great 'day of rest', when all His work will be complete. That this is the purpose of His creative work is shown in the opening chapters of the Bible as they speak of Him resting when His work is complete: "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made" (Genesis 2:3). In this rest, He will be associated with those of His creatures for whom "there remains a sabbath rest ... for whoever enters God's rest also ceases from his labours as God did from His" (Hebrews 4:9,10).

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 Meeting The Lord In The Air?

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

WORDS OF COMFORT

The words of the Apostle Paul, quoted above, were intended to be words of comfort for the faithful believers, when one of the members of their congregation "fell asleep", in death.

This comfort is based on the hope of a resurrection and the elevation of the faithful to their promised positions as kings and priests on the earth. (See Revelation 5:10)

Paul's words in this chapter have caused some confusion in certain areas, but they also serve to make many Bible facts very clear. For example, the context informs us that:

1. Death is a time of great sorrow, especially if there is no hope of a resurrection in Christ. (This supports the bible teaching that without the resurrection, death is final and that corruption in the grave is the only expected event)
2. Those who die "in Christ" are said to be sleeping. They will be awakened from their sleep at the resurrection in the last day. (See 1 Corinthians 15:16-18, John 11:23-24)
3. The resurrection occurs at the return of Christ, when he descends from heaven
4. The dead in Christ will be raised first, and then the living believers will be gathered.
5. Although not specifically stated, the purpose for the gathering of both the living and the dead believers is for judgment before Christ. (See 2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Corinthians 5:10))
6. Those who are found faithful at this judgment will be rewarded with immortality and given positions of authority in God's Kingdom on the earth. (See Daniel 7:27, Luke 19:17-19, Revelation 5:10)
7. When they are elevated to their position of power, they are said to be "in the air", that is, they are in high places of authority in the political heavens.

As with all Bible Teaching we must understand the passages in their intended context and compare scripture with scripture to ensure our understanding is consistence with Bible Teaching elsewhere. 

As we will also see it is essential that we understand the symbolic language that is used in the Bible as the words used are not always intended to convey a literal reality but a symbolic meaning is often behind the use of such word symbols.

Let's see what we can make of these words of comfort from the Apostle Paul based on a true understanding of the Bible message in its entirety. 

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