"God With Us--Merry Christmas" Prophecy Chat by Sharon L. Clemens

Special note: There are well over 40 specific scriptures linked to BibleGateway.com, with in the study below.

GOD NOT ONLY CAME TO BE WITH US AT BETHLEHEM
[Matthew 1:23],
HE PROMISED TO NEVER LEAVE US NOW THAT HE HAS COME.
[John 14:16-18]
HE SENT HIS HOLY SPIRIT TO INDWELL US SPIRITUALLY
[Acts 1:4; Acts 2],
UNTIL HE RETURNS TO EARTH AGAIN, BODILY.
[John 14:3--"...I will come again..."]

OUR IMMANUEL, GOD, IS WITH US--AND HE IS COMING AGAIN.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS IS YET TO COME.

    The battle to defend the Christ of Christmas has been going on for many years. It began with a gentle reminder that "He is the reason for the season," and "Wise men still seek Him." Now, we defend our Christian territory by wishing store clerks and passers-by "Merry Christmas," even though it is not politically correct.

    But there is another growing omission I have noticed to the point where I must point it out. We defend His first coming, but Christ's return is being conveniently left out of the story. To me, that's like leaving the happy ending out of the book. It also denies Him His earthly birthright--His throne, and His day of victory. LET IT NOT BE!

    * In Christian churches and programs where Christmas is celebrated, Christ's coming to the earth to take on human flesh to become "God with us" is rightly remembered.
[Matthew 1:23]
    * His return to heaven to reign at the right hand of the Father is rightly remembered.
[Acts 1:9-11]
    * But the blessed hope of the church that He is coming again is rarely mentioned.
[Titus 2:13]
    * It is as if Christ will be sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven forever, His suffering over and His work completed. But we have more to look forward in the work of Christ. WATCH OUT WHEN THE LAMB STANDS![ Rev. 4 and 5]

    * Our champion warrior King is returning in wrath to destroy all who oppose Him and to take what is rightfully His!

* AT HIS FIRST COMING, CHRIST CAME HUMBLY AS A BABE IN BETHLEHEM [Luke 2:4] AND PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR SIN.

* AT HIS SECOND COMING, HE WILL DESCEND TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES IN GREAT GLORY, AS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
[Revelation 19:16; Zechariah 14:4; Acts 1:12].

* WHY WILL HE RETURN? TO TAKE POSSESSION--BY FORCE--OF THAT WHICH HE PURCHASED WITH HIS BLOOD AT HIS FIRST COMING. [Psalm 2]

* THE COMINGS OF CHRIST ARE TWO STAGES OF ONE EVENT. THE STORY IS ONLY COMPLETE IN BOTH.

    It was Dr. J. Vernon McGee who first brought the truth home to me that there are two comings of Christ to the earth--and that they cannot exist one without the other. This was completely unknown to me as I was raised in an a-millennial church that does not interpret Bible prophecy literally or future. The Revelation and other prophetic portions of scripture that reveal God's full plan for the redemption of both man and His creation--and to reign on earth over it--were rarely read, let alone interpreted as LITERAL events. Except for a vague judgment by God at the "end of the world" to separate the good guys from the bad, God's plan seemed to end with the Church triumphant, not Christ's triumphant return and reign.

    I COULD BEAT THIS TOPIC OVER THE HEAD, AS IT IS NEAR AND DEAR TO ME. INSTEAD, LET ME SHARE SOME COMMENTS FROM OTHER SCHOLARS ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHRIST'S SECOND COMING AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO HIS FIRST COMING, WHICH WE REMEMBER THIS TIME OF YEAR. IT IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT I COULD GIVE YOU--HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

ISAIAH 61:1-2 AND LUKE 4:16-21 by J. Vernon McGee

    Dr. McGee, in his commentary on Isaiah, states that the theme of Isaiah 61 is the first and second comings of Christ, with particular emphasis upon the results of His second coming. BOTH COMINGS OF CHRIST OFTEN APPEAR IN THE SAME PASSAGE, AND YET HIS RETURN IS OFTEN OVER-LOOKED. Dr. McGee begins:

    "This chapter [61] is of peculiar interest in view of the fact that the Lord Jesus opened His public ministry in Nazareth by quoting from it...Here in the first three verses we have one of the most remarkable passages of Scripture, and it helps us to correctly interpret the Bible.

    The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

    To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our GOD; to comfort all that mourn [Isa. 61:1, 2].

    "Now here we are given a system of biblical interpretation. If I were to read this without knowing the New Testament, I would not be sure whom he is talking about. Who is it who says, 'The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me?' If He is the Lord Jesus, does it refer to His first or second coming? Well, in the New Testament we have God's interpretation. When the Lord Jesus went into the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth, He read this section: 'And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias [Isaiah]. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" [Luke 4:16-19].

    "Now, my friend, if you will look again at Isaiah 61:1, 2, you will see that He is not even through the sentence. Why didn't He keep reading? The rest of the sentence is "and the day of vengeance of our God"--why didn't He preach that? Notice this: He CLOSED the book. That was a deliberate action. "And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" [Luke 4:20, 21]. Isaiah's prophecy up to that point was fulfilled by Christ's first coming. Isaiah had not made the distinction between the first and second comings of Christ, but the Lord Jesus made the distinction. In Isaiah's prophecy a little AND separates the first and second comings of Christ. You might say that this little AND is more than 1900 years long! The prophets wrote of the first and second comings of Christ; they saw these two great events, but they did not know the length of time that lay between them. The Apostle Peter confirms this...[I Peter 1:10, 11]. Peter says that the prophets spoke of the sufferings of Christ and the glory of Christ--we see this in both the first and second sections of Isaiah.

    "...In one breath how could [Isaiah] say that the Lord was going to bind up the brokenhearted, and open the prisons, and at the same time announce the day of the vengeance of our God? How can both be true? If the prophet had stood where we stand today [in the Church Age], he would have understood...We can look back to the first coming when He came to fulfill Luke 4:20, 21 and to die on the cross as our Redeemer, as we saw in Isaiah 53. Somewhere beyond that mountain peak [of the first coming] is the next one, the second coming of Christ. Before He comes again, however, the church will be removed from the earthly scene. In John 14:3 Jesus said, 'And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also."

    "To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God." When He comes to earth the second time to establish His kingdom, it will be with vengeance. We will see that in chapter 63 [of Isaiah] where He is treading the winepress of the wrath of God. It is not a pretty scene--God didn't say it would be pretty. But Christ is going to put down the rebellion that is here on this earth...He is in control. He is the King, and He is coming some day to put down all rebellion; that will be "the day of vengeance of our God." Isaiah Volume II by J. Vernon McGee. 1981 by Griffin Printing & Lithograph Co., Inc., Glendale, California 91204. pp. 169-171.]

IN NAZARETH, JESUS MADE A CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN WHAT HE CAME TO ACCOMPLISH IN HIS FIRST COMING, AND WHAT HE WOULD RETURN TO ACCOMPLISH IN HIS SECOND COMING.
AND YET, THE PROPHET ISAIAH SAW THE WORK OF CHRIST AS ONE COMPLETED WORK.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SECOND COMING

    The return of Christ is being conveniently omitted from Christian "speak" in another way--it is relegated to the classification of a "non-essential doctrine." This is largely due to the difference of opinion regarding the Rapture of the Church, the first stage of the second coming. Because the issue over when the Rapture takes place--either before, in the middle of, or at the end of the Tribulation--is heated, the second coming as a whole is often allowed to flounder in "non-essential doctrine."

    Is any truth of scripture non-essential? Even the Rapture passages, when taken literally, clearly speak to a pre-Tribulation Rapture. But because the Church is then spared the Tribulation, this offends some who believe the church will reign triumphant until Christ returns bodily to the Mount of Olives. They resist the idea of the Church Age ending and Israel assuming a more central role, even though this is exactly what Paul explained would happen in Romans 11.

    The Bible is not either "milk" or "meat." When Paul spoke to the Corinthians about the milk and meat of the Word, according to John MacArthur, he was not referring to classifications of importance of the Word; he was referring to the Corinthians poor ability to understand it because they did not study it. They were still babies in the Word instead of being able to handle its meat, like mature believers. Paul spoke of the "degree of depth" of the Word that the Corinthians could handle. [The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJ Version. John MacArthur. Commentary on 1 Corinthians 3:2, Word Publishing, 1997. P. 1732.]

    The practice of editing the Word to fit an agenda takes the form of quoting platitudes such as: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, charity." Charity applies to gray areas of Christian maturity in which a mature believer may otherwise offend a weaker brother. But doctrine such as the second coming of Christ is being treated as a "non-essential" so that pulpits do not have to teach it. They call the topic "divisive" and avoid it with vague generalities.

    Listen to what Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson say about the second coming of Christ:

    "THE SECOND COMING of Jesus Christ to this earth is one of the most significant events mentioned in the entire Bible. The New Testament alone includes 321 references to this awesome occurrence, making it the second most prominent doctrine presented in Scripture next to salvation itself.

    "Enoch was the first prophet to mention the second coming in Scripture, as recorded in Jude 14-15. The second coming is referred to in many of the psalms, by all of the prophets, by all of the apostles, and of course by our Lord Himself on numerous occasions. The New Testament teaches it in one out of every 30 verses and in every chapter of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, the first books written for the early church. Moreover, all nine New Testament authors mention it in 23 of their 27 books. Obviously God intended His church to be motivated to holiness, evangelism, and missionary concern by the study of the second coming of Christ.

    "Several key doctrines of the Bible are absolutely dependent on the second coming of Christ. For example, the resurrection of the dead cannot be fulfilled until Jesus comes again. Likewise, Christ's victory over Satan cannot be completed until He returns. Most importantly, His divine nature cannot be vindicated unless He comes to earth again since He promised so many times that He would. He would be guilty of fraud and deceit if He failed to return, and God simply cannot lie. John 14:3 quotes Jesus as saying, 'I will come again.' Therefore, the second coming of Christ is not only a certainty; it is a doctrinal necessity." [The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy by Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson. Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 2004. "Second Coming of Christ," p. 349.]

THE WORK OF REDEMPTION IS FINISHED; THE WORK OF RESTORATION IS FUTURE--ACTS 1:4-8; REVELATION 11:17-18;

    As Christ prepared to ascend to heaven at His first coming, the disciples wondered why He had not established His earthly kingdom as the Old Testament promised to Israel in the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants [Genesis 12:1-3, 22:17; Psalm 89; 2 Samuel 7]. "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" [Acts 1:6] Christ did not answer as to a specific time He would fulfill His promise, but He did not negate it. He ascended to His Father leaving the literal Kingdom on earth yet future. Christ must return to establish His throne as the rightful heir of David. IT IS HIS RIGHT! Both the genealogy of Matthew 1:1-17 through Joseph, his legal father, and the genealogy of Mary in Luke 3:23-38, prove His right to reign as king of Israel--literal king of a literal Israel. This has not been fulfilled as the throne of the Father in heaven is not David's throne. David, himself, serves humbly before the Father in heaven.

    There is a heavenly hill of Zion, which is the prototype of Zion, or Mt. Moriah, in Jerusalem. Yet it is the earthly Zion the Father speaks of in Psalm 2:6--and this is yet future: "Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion...Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel." [Psalm 2:6-9] [See also Revelation 11:17-18; 19:6, 15--He shall reign with a strong hand or rod of iron] Christ is allowing man's pride to lead rebellions against His spiritual kingdom; but when He returns, He will enforce submission and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord [Romans 14:11]. WATCH OUT WHEN THE LAMB STANDS TO RETURN IN FORCE.

He came as Savior the first time.
He will return as conquering King.

THE LAMB HAS COME; THE LION IS COMING.



.. We here at "eye on the sky" wish you and yours a Very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
[Luke 12:35-59]
Sharon

[Prophecy Chat is a weekly commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@verizon.net]