THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN
THE SIGN OF
YAHSHUA COMING WITH CLOUDS & EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM
©
Carlos Padilla, April 2013
Jesus Christ took the apostles by the hand since the day of
His resurrection, until the day in which He ascended, received in the clouds,
and told them about three relevant events. The first was when He gave them the
Great Commission. the second was His promise to send the Holy Spirit to be with
them always, even to the end of the age. The third was the hope of His return,
in the same way as He was taken up before them. That hope is a legacy for future
generations, like ours, until the end of the world, the promise of a new
creation, new heavens and new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Ever since Christianity has searched for the end times and
the great event of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Prophecies are all almost
fulfilled. Wars and rumours of war, the global nuclear holocaust, westerns
society separating more and more from Christ, and with its churches drying, at
the same time as in Africa, South America and Asia, thousands convert to Christ
on daily bases, as the fruit of the missionary evangelistic work. At the same
time as Israel lives surrounded by enemies, some threatening to destroy it. But,
how shall a Christian really live while he seas that Day coming?
THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN
Fist of all we must make clear, to part of Christianity and
of the world, what the Bible actually sais about the coming of the Son of Man.
What information does it provide about when it will be, how He will come and
what the Son of Man will actually come for. The Word of God tells us in
1Thessalonians 5:20: ...Do not despise prophecies... and this it says because
they are the road map of the history of humanity. Biblical prophecies are the
light in the way of events, the ones that give us assurance of what is really of
God, and allow us to know what to expect without being deceived by false
prophets.
When will He come?
No one know the day nor the hour, but we know the
characteristics of the end of times and the order of
Bible prophecies. Therefore we
know that every time the end of the world is announced for a particular day, it
is dome by a false prophet. The gospels tell us about His coming after the great
tribulation, but we must understand that the Church, even though it will see the
tribulation and/or pass through it, it will not affect her, as we see in the
comparative story of Noah. The Church is waiting for the sign of the Son of Man
in the heavens.
...Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall
the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall
fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. 31And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32Now
learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth
forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33So likewise ye,
when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the
doors. 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till
all these things be fulfilled. 35Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36But
of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my
Father only. 37But as the days of
Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that
Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew
not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of
the Son of man be. 40Then shall two be in the field; the
one shall be taken, and the other left.
41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the
one shall be taken, and the other left. 42Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43But know
this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would
come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken
up. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Matthew 24:29,
Mark 13:24.
This, to me is the great revelation about the time of the
Great Tribulation, the
story of Noah. Noah built the ark and was in it while the world was being
destroyed by the flood, he was with his people in the midst of the cataclysm,
and even though was saved. The Church will be taken up in the clouds while the
Lord comes in the clouds, while the heavens and the earth pass. Noah was in the
midst of the great tribulation of his time, and even though was saved from the
consequences, because he had faith and acted, he did the work that he was
commanded and obeyed God. The same is commanded to us, that when He comes He
will find us doing the Great Commission, each Christian in particular.
But as well as the Texts of the gospels of Matthew and Mark
tell, also Luke does. John on his part would leave to us the prophetic
encyclopaedia of Revelation instead of the story in his gospel.
...And there shall be signs in the
sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26Men’s
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are
coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27And then shall they see the Son of man coming
in a cloud with power and great glory. 28And when these things
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption
draweth nigh. 29And he spake to them a parable; Behold the
fig tree, and all the trees; 30When they now shoot forth, ye see and
know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31So
likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of
God is nigh at hand. 32Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33Heaven and earth shall pass
away: but my words shall not pass away. 34And take heed to
yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged
with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day
come upon you unawares. 35For as a snare shall it come on
all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36Watch ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these
things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:25.
How will He come?
As we have read in the gospels, in the
same way as he ascended to heaven and a cloud received Him from their sight, He
will come with the clouds, and every eye shall se Him.
...Behold,
he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which
pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Even so, Amen. 8I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Revelation 1:7.
What will happen at the end to the people of Israel?
...And I will pour upon
the house of David, and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of
grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me
whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him,
as one mourneth for his only son,
and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn. Zechariah 12:10. ...But one of the soldiers
with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and
water. 35And he that saw it bare record, and his record is
true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36For
these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him
shall not be broken. 37And again another scripture saith, tThey shall
look on him whom they pierced. John
19:34-37.
Regarding mourning for the firstborns I
think they who know better are the people of Israel and Palestine in their war
for the Promised Land, but they will mourn for the Son of Man when He comes in
the clouds to establish His eternal Kingdom. It is time to seek for Yahshua,
Jesus Christ, the Son of God our savior in Jerusalem, him whom they pierced. The
guilt of the death of Jesus of Nazareth is as much on Jews as it is on Gentiles,
we are all guilty because we are all sinners. It was the Sanhedrin and the
Romans who crucified Christ, and in them we are all represented, of all nations,
peoples and tongs, tribes or ethnics, for this is why He came, to pay for the
sins.
Him whom they pierced
raised, and he did it as a Jew, to
save all the ones who are called of all gentile humanity, because salvation is
of the Jews:
...Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at
Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22Ye worship ye know not what: we know
what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 14:21.
Remember that the people of Israel was
created by God, it is the only nation that God created and to the only one He
provided a land. The rest is human creation through wars and imperial conquests,
or latter alliances. The Son of Man is the Lam of God who takes away the sin of
the world, in those who believe, He is the fulfilled Passover. He is the Messiah
who will also save His people of Israel when they face the battle of Armageddon
announced in Revelation 16:16.
And as Scripture says in Zechariah 8:20:
...Thus saith the LORD
of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the
inhabitants of many cities: 21And the inhabitants of one city shall
go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek
the LORD of hosts: I will go also. 22Yea,
many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in
Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. 23Thus saith the
LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold
out of all languages of the nations, even shall take
hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying,
We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with
you.
Although in Christ there is no difference
between Jew and Gentile, Romans 2 and 3, Bible prophecies use references about
time and nations so that we can understand the history and the coming of the Son
of Man. Nations need the blessing of God, and they don't have it because they
don't seek Him nor obey Him, and so we see the world going adrift by the enemy
of humanity, to whom time is coming to an end. Nations will go with the Jews at
the end of times because God will be with them when they shall see Him in
Jerusalem as prophecy, when they will say: ...Blessed is
he that cometh in the name of the Lord...
"Baruj
Haba BeShem Adonai". Matthew 23:37-39, Psalm 118:26.
What is He coming for?
The Christian already knows the answer to
this question, What is the Son of Man coming for? but for the first time reader,
or just to remember the order of the times, it must be made clear that the Son
of Man, Jesus Christ, is the King of the Kingdom of Heaven that will be
established eternally, and every soul will recognize Him as the eternal King. He
is the only one who has the right over His creation, and He has also won our
souls through His death on the Cross of Calvary so that through His
resurrection, our bodies will also experience resurrection in the day of His
coming, the coming of the Son of Man. This is the hope of the Christian in the
promise of God who was, is and will be faithful to His Word. We can read it in
Daniel the prophet:
...I saw in the
night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and
they brought him near before him. 14And there was given him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and
languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13.
Lastly Jesus himself tells us what He is
coming for: ...And, behold, I come quickly; and
my reward is with me, to give every man according as
his work shall be. 13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last. Revelation 22:12.
If you would like to go deeper into the
order of prophetic events in history, especially about the last prophecies, I
recommend our site on Bible
Prophecy.
CHRISTIAN LIFE IN
THE END OF TIMES
The Christian that has understood the Word of God to this
respect, does not live worried about the events of the end of the world. His
life is first of all centred in Christ, in living for God, in a personal
relationship with God. Second of all is his family and his Church, in serving
them. Third is to make disciples by preaching the Gospel and teaching the
Scriptures to those called to the faith. For this it must keep in spiritual
shape through the spiritual disciplines that include prayer, worship, Bible
study, the mission of his ministry to serve God and the Church, and good works.
Regarding the end of the world, the way of humanity, and
regarding the expectations of the end of the world through the hand of man,
through wars or destruction of nature, we must point out that the world will be
finished by God, not by man. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End, says the Lord. He is the Creator, who has promised a new creation, a
new Paradise, a kind of return to Eden.
The hope of the Christian for the last day
...But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope. 14For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him. 15For this we say unto you by the word
of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord
shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first: 17Then 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.
18Wherefore comfort one another
with these words. 1Thesalonians 4:13.
The reward of Jesus in Revelation 21:12 according to our
works, is clearly about what we have done in our lives with regards to serving
God, the family, and the Church, and especially to making disciples. If we have
honoured God and have given Him glory with our daily lives. If we have loved our
people, and the brethren in the faith in the fraternity of the people of God. If
we have preached the Gospel and helped those who have believed to grow
spiritually and make them part of the Body of Christ, and if we have done good
works to help those in need, not only in physical matters, but with our time,
friendship, help and brotherly kindness and love of God. These works are the
difference between keeping watch and not doing so. In no case they can save us,
for salvation if through faith in the work of Christ entirely, but they are
works that will tell about us if we have given fruit worthy of someone who has
been born again, who has been saved by the Son of Man in His death on the Cross
of Golgotha.
CONCLUSION
Many Christians and Jews look into the heavens waiting for
the coming of the Messiah, the coming of the Son of Man. Others anguish with the
expectations of wars and rumours of wars, Mark 13:7 but the
end of the world, will
not be thought a human event, but a supernatural one, it will be the Creator who
will give and end to the days, the same way as He gave them in the beginning.
Yahshua says of Himself He is the Alpha and the Omega,
beginning and end, says the Lord, Who was, Who is, and Who is to come, the
Almighty. This is such a relevant Text as it is clarifying of Who Yahshua, Jesus
Christ is: "The Almighty".
When is the end of this world as we know it, it is evident
that will be after the fulfilment of several
Bible prophecies pending, but
that we are in the end times, there is no doubt. Israel is about to be
70 years, a generation in
his Promised Land given back after the Diaspora, and the first world is socially
destroyed. But our worry as Christians must not be when is the end. Many are
worried about a nuclear third world war, but they don't worry about their
personal relationship with Christ, but they should: ...For as a
snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
35Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye
may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:35-36.
Our worry must be who still does not know
the Gospel of Salvation, who around us can still be saved from eternal hell, who
will hug us in the Day of Judgment because we spoke to them about the love and
the forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ, to whom they shall wait for, and they
changed their lives while they waited for Him, weather in life to be cough to
the eternal Kingdom of God, or in
Resurrection to live in
the eternal Kingdom of God.
We don't know if we will live one more
day, but if we can give testimony of the Gospel to one more person, let's do so.
The last day is not our problem because for us it is a day of great joy, the day
of the beginning of our true and complete life, the Day in which Jesus Christ
comes to establish His Kingdom in a new creation, in new heavens and new Earth
in which righteousness dwells. Amen.
Have you shared the Gospel today with a soul, have you shared
your Christian life experience with a brother in the faith? Have your shared
with your neighbour the hope of the Kingdom of God, the coming of the Son of
Man, that will bring new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells?
The end, is the end of the Bible, the two last verses of
Revelation 22:
...He who testifies to these things says,
Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
|