Part 2 -
The Heart of Jesus
Let's talk more about this! Learning about the end times shows us a precious part of Jesus’ heart; what He is thinking about and what He is feeling. It helps us to know Jesus. He does not hide His heart if we look for it in the Bible. It is not just the gospels that show us what Jesus is like, but also much of the Old Testament and many other parts of the New Testament. Look at the following Scriptures and answer the question, what do they tell you and I about Jesus’ heart?
“For false Christ's and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See I have told you beforehand.” Matt 24:24-25
It is amazing that God desires to tell us beforehand. When you tell somebody beforehand about an important event that will have great impact in their life, it is because you love them and don't want them to be caught unawares. This is the heart of our Lord!
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24
Here is a glimpse of the heart of the Lord as demonstrated in John 17 in a few words.. God wants you and I to be WITH Him! Emmanuel, God with us, wants us to know, feel and experience what it is to be with Him! He doesn't just want it; he desires it. Obviously a want is something we'd like to have but don't need. Some of the definitions of desire however are: to crave, be desperate for; to long or yearn for. An informal definition of desire is something one "must have." The Lord desires us to be with Him to behold, or encounter His glory, but not from a distance. He desires that we enjoy fellowship in the center of all of His heart and not just a part of it.
“Behold I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book”.
Rev 22:7
How awesome is our God, that He would actively bless those who pay attention to the prophecies in the book of Revelation. In the Greek, the word "keep" means to carefully attend to, observe, even to guard or hold fast to. Why does He care so much that if we "keep" these specific prophecies, He would want to reward us with a blessing? In the simplest of terms, this makes me feel the end times teachings are really important to the heart of God. If they are important to Him, I want them to be important to me. Jesus wants to be with me and I want to be with Him, in other words, to share His thoughts, plans and deepest desires regarding ALL of the things that are on His heart.
He Will Come Again
A day is coming when Jesus will return. The same Jesus who came to Bethlehem around 2000 years ago, will return to this physical world. Only this time He will not be a baby in a manger. This time He will not come to lay His life down and to let the people put Him on a cross. This time He will be coming as the Mighty Warrior King. This time Jesus will be coming as the Gracious Leader and Righteous Judge of the whole earth. He will once and for all set up His government (Isaiah 9:6-7 speaks of the government of Jesus) across the whole earth. Doesn't that sound exciting to you? Wouldn't you want to look forward to that?
Since the resurrection of Jesus, His followers have gone across the earth to make disciples and to teach those disciples to follow His ways. Across the ages since Jesus went to heaven, we who love Him have through prayer and action sought to bring as much of His kingdom as He will release into every sphere of culture and society. His kingdom has grown and increased, however not in fullness and not across the whole earth. We have seen pockets of mercy and glimpses of glory here and there, which have thrilled and inspired us to reach for more! It is only when Jesus returns that He will set up, visibly demonstrate and establish His kingdom absolutely, everywhere and forevermore! We serve Him with all our hearts now, reaching for as much of His ways to infiltrate our spot in society, as the Lord will give us, as we excitedly await His return for the fullness!
Jesus is returning as God and He is returning as Man. The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). The Man returning to rule the earth is the same God who appeared to Jacob (Gen 32), Joshua (Joshua 5), Moses (Exodus 3), Samson's parents (Judges 13:1-18), and Daniel's friends (Daniel 3:25), to name a few. Jesus is coming again to this earth; He is coming as God/Man and we will see Him. We want to know about this because we want to know Jesus in all of His heart. We want to know all that He has for us. We want to understand all the story of Jesus, not just the part that happened 2,000 years ago, wonderful though that is. There is so much more of the story of Jesus that we want to know about and have living understanding of.
The apostle Paul prayed in Eph 1:17, that God would give the people “wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus”. We know His prayer was according to God’s will because it is in the Bible and the Bible is inspired by God. So we know Paul's prayer was inspired by God. We can have confidence that Paul prayed what God wants for us. So we need and want to know Jesus. Jesus is not just the Man of the gospels but He is also and at the same time the Jesus of the whole Bible. What do the books of Revelation, Daniel, Corinthians, Psalms and so many other chapters say about Jesus who is coming, and not just the Jesus who has come? The whole Bible, not just yours or my favorite part, is for us to know, study, love and understand..
Next Time...
What's the Point Part 3
A Unique Generation - Who Can Understand Anyway - Who Will Obey the Lord?