I’m Not Afraid of the End

One of the most controversial & mysterious themes of the Bible deals with eschatology, the study of the End-Times. When reading the book of Revelation, many people fear the series of events that will unfold in the end & rightly so. I just want to point out what the Lord has been graciously revealing to me to bring encouragement to you in 2012.

First of all, I am not afraid of the end because I know the End is a Person, Jesus Christ. I am not afraid of Jesus. Jesus said

that He is the Alpha & the Omega, the beginning & the end. Because I am secure in my faith in Christ Jesus, I am actually looking forward to the day of His Return. Looking forward is actually an understatement. I’m longing for His Return.

The correct title of the book of Revelation is the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The last book of the Bible is not a book on the revelation of the end-times, even though it reveals the events of the end-times. It’s a book about Jesus. Because many Christians have this misunderstanding, they skim through the parts about Jesus & focus intensively on the events that will unfold. When I read the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, I fall more in love with the Man Christ Jesus. This final book of the Bible is about Jesus. Knowing Jesus prepares me for the end-times.

One of the primary assignments satan has against mankind is to bring blindness to the reality that Jesus, the Son of God, came in the flesh. The Bible calls this the spirit of the anti-christ. If he can do this successfully, those that do not believe in Jesus will go to hell. I believe one of the biggest assignments satan has against the Church is to bring confusion &/or apathy concerning the End-Times.

In the Western world, when most people come to faith in Jesus Christ, they are approached with a watered down gospel. What’s being preached is, “God has a wonderful plan for your life, He’ll forgive you, & ask Jesus to come into your heart.” While all these things are true, this is not the way Jesus approached His disciples when He first met them. He told them, “come & follow Me.” Christianity is all about following Jesus. What He also told His disciples was that in order to be His disciple that we have to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, & follow Him. This is true Christianity. Right after this, Jesus tells His disciples that if they lose their life that they would find new life in Him. If they save their life, then they will lose it. What Western Christianity teaches us is to keep our lives & add Jesus into our hearts. Christianity is not adding God into your life. Christianity is losing your life for the life that matters most.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NKJV)

With this Biblical framework of Christianity now in mind, every Christian needs to know the Jesus who is, & who was, & who is to come.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8 NKJV)

The Jesus who is refers to the daily relationship you have with Him. The Jesus who was is who we meditate on in Scripture, what we read about who Jesus was & what He did & what He said. The Jesus who is to come is about His Return.

You cannot only focus on the Jesus who is. I believe Charismatics & Pentecostals focus on this more. The Jesus who was (what He did) is what Conservatives & theologians focus on more. We need to understand that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, & forever. We need to know what He did as equally as what He is doing presently as equally as what He will be doing in the future.

I want to encourage you to ask the Father of glory for the spirit of wisdom & revelation of the knowledge of Him. Take the time this year to make it a priority to learn about Jesus’ Return. I believe as you study this that you will be stirred & your hunger for Jesus will deepen. Please search the Scriptures daily like the Bereans in Acts 17. The Holy Spirit will guide & teach us just as Jesus promised.

For the past two years, I & many others in the Body of Christ have been talking a lot about shakings (Hebrews 12:25-29). God is revealing what is on the heart of man. He’s doing this out of His kindness. He’s bringing to light all of the junk that is in us so that we can be better prepared to meet Jesus face to face. The Father wants His Son to marry a Bride that is not walking in compromise. He’s exposing our hearts so that we will be prepared for His coming. Jesus put it in another way.

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. (Matthew 7:24-27 NKJV)

Be a wise Christian this year & build on the rock. Don’t just believe whatever you’ve been told to believe. Be prepared to even be offended by the Word of God. Be humble & stay humble. Let the Word of God read you! Invest in deep study of the Word & invest heavily in your prayer life for 2012. The way you worship God will explode!

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