Return To Sender

It is the day after Resurrection Sunday and what does that mean for us the believers? We just witnessed what we hope is a Sermon regarding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All religions claim to be authentic in a relationship with God, but only Jesus came through.

But what now? We have been called to be sent out to the world but…what do we have to look forward to personally now?

Each of us has our own relationship with Jesus Christ, this means an adventure when lived out with Him at the helm of our lives. However, when it comes to events such as the first coming of Jesus Christ, what do believers have to look forward to? For that I would encourage you to examine Jesus own words. He first identifies believers as,

John 10:27-30 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given [them] to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of My Father’s hand. 30 “I and [My] Father are one.”

For those who are born again, they understand and know the passage is clear and vibrant to us today. As we go about our day, God speaks to us through His word. There have been times in my own life that I was in doubt regarding what I should do, and suddenly the Bible verse and the clear and encouraging voice of my Heavenly Father directing me on my actions. Yet, this section of scripture is also giving us a glimpse to something Jesus and later the apostles will build on.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” This means exactly what I said earlier, but also that in an event that the Lord calls to us, we will hear Him and follow Him. This is a promise!

Second promise is “and no one is able to snatch [them] out of My Father’s hand.” This means we cannot lose our salvation if we are truly saved. Praise God, because otherwise we are doomed. No human is good enough to keep God’s commandments, no human is good enough to attain the needed righteousness for God to say we are good. It is in Christ alone we are saved and kept saved. Thus, for those who are not saved and act as a follower for a time and than turn away, they have not lost their salvation but rather have only gone back to being what they were inside. However, this promise also builds on the first promise. If we know God’s voice and will follow Him, He is promising that no one will be able to stop us from following Him. This is spiritual in nature right now but as we will see, this is also in the physical realm.

John 14:1-6 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if [it were] not [so,] I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, [there] you may be also. 4 “And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus is making a very clear and unequivocal declaration that He is coming for the Church and will take them to be with Him. Naturally, Thomas cries out, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” And Jesus answers, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

This seems strange to us as if Jesus is giving an answer that does not make sense. Unless you had read chapter 10. Believers know His voice, and when He calls; we follow Him and cannot be snatched, thus He is the way, His voice is the truth, and His promise of keeping us safe is life!

Now we have to ask ourselves, does Jesus in His own words say anything else to us regarding this event? Ironically, He does. Let’s examine Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

Here we see God making a promise to believers saying, that He will keep us from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. For the believer, the test is over. We are saved, no one can snatch us from Jesus’ hands, we know His voice. For the Church the test is accomplished in present age. Yet, the world and those who are not saved have a global test coming, one that will finally make people decide once and for all, are you following Jesus or Satan.

So, Jesus’ own words have shown us that we who are saved right now, know His voice, and when called we will hear it and come to Him. This calling no one, not even ourselves mess up, when it is time and Jesus calls, we will go to Him. He left to prepare a place for us and for two thousand years, He has been doing just that. He promised He would come back to get us and promised it would happen prior to a global event testing the world on who they would follow.

Simple and yet powerful. At this moment as believers, we have only read Jesus Christ’s own words. From this alone, I can be patiently waiting, knowing that Jesus is preparing a place for me, to be with Him and the Father in Heaven and when He calls me, I will know His voice and will come to Him without obstacle. He will do it before a global trial comes to the earth. What a promise! This is the next event for the believer in the Church age today.

See how simple it is to read God’s own words and see that if we take away all of the preconceived ideas and just examine Jesus Christ’ own words we can be expectant of a future event?

Now let us see what Apostle Paul says regarding this event and see if it matches up with what Jesus said.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive [and] remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

If you know Jesus Christ’ words then this section of scripture by Paul expounding on the next future event for the Church makes complete sense. This event is commonly known as the Rapture of the Church. The term Rapture is Latin for the Greek word to be “snatched up”. Someone plucked up. You might envision a giant hand plucking someone from the ground, how ironic is it that Jesus said in John 10:28, “and no one is able to snatch [them] out of My Father’s hand. 30 “I and [My] Father are one.”

Paul tells us to encourage each other with these words. Some quickly say because of the death brothers and sisters in Christ. But when we reflect on Jesus’ own words again, we see that He is keeping us from the hour that is coming on the whole world to be tempted. This is an encouraging moment that Paul is giving us more information on what Jesus had been speaking of already.

Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God has gone back to Heaven to prepare a place for you and I. He has promised to come back and take us to where He and the Father are. He is doing this to keep us from the hour that is coming on the whole world. Based on this alone, we can assume the Rapture is next for the believer in the Church. We need to be ready. We need to be about His business and preaching the gospel, teaching God’s entire Word and encouraging one another to stay the course.

So even though it is one day late, Happy Resurrection Sunday Christian! Keep your eyes on the work God has sent us to do and be ready to hear His voice, which you will recognize and go to Him without obstacle and all before the hour of trial comes to the world. We will return to the Sender.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,

JL