๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Do you like surprises? Why or why not?
โข Are you the type who skips to the end of books or movies to know how the story ends? Why or why not?ย
โข Why do you think much of the world is obsessed with โthe end times,โ using it as a theme in books, movies, and TV series?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ?โ ๐๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐น๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ข, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ.โย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ฒโ๐ด
The end times and the Second Coming of Jesus stir controversy, anxiety, and fear among people. Some try to predict when these will happen or anticipate the judgment that will come. The disciples wondered if Jesusโ resurrection meant He would free Israel from its oppressors. But Jesus pointed them to a bigger realityโGodโs kingdom and plan is beyond any humanโs. Today, Jesusโ admonition remains: we ought not to be concerned with the details of His return or the fulfillment of Godโs redemption plan, but to be faithful with what He calls us to do. Letโs look at two truths about the fulfillment of Jesusโ promise to return in power and glory.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐๐น๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ.ย
๐๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ?โ ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ฒ
(Read also ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฑ:๐ฑ๐ฌโ๐ฑ๐ด.)
Throughout His time with the disciples, Jesus had been alluding to the time when God will restore creation and the Son of Man will come to judge the living and the dead and establish His kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:50โ52). They thought that Jesusโ resurrection would also fulfill the restoration He talked about. Indeed, Jesus has come to restore the world, but He will do it according to the plans and timing that ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐น๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ. Because of this, we can live with hope, instead of anxiety and fear, knowing God will restore all of creation and make us new when Jesus returns. What else may we look forward to when Christ returns (1 Corinthians 15:55โ58)?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.ย
๐๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐น๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ.โ . . . โ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ? ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ.โ ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ:๐ณ, ๐ญ๐ญ
Some people claim there are signs that we are living in the last days, as they try to calculate when Jesus will return.ย While we may not know exactly when He will come, we know for sure He will return the same way He ascendedโvisibly, personally, and physically. While we wait, we shouldnโt be concerned with the โwhen,โ but to live according to Godโs plans and purposes for us. This includes obeying Godโs greatest commands to love Him above all and to love one another and the Great Commission to be His witnesses to the entire world. As we wait in hope, we can invite others to wait and put their faith in Christ by preaching the gospel. Why is it more important to obey God and live in Christlikeness than know when exactly Jesus will return (1 Thessalonians 5:1โ2, 9โ11)?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What mindsets do you have about Jesusโ Second Coming that need to be changed in light of what weโve learned? Talk to someone and ask them to journey with you through this.
โข What was your initial posture about the Second Coming? How can you grow in and live with hope, knowing that Jesus will come back in power and glory?
โข How will the way you live and relate with others change in light of our discussion? With whom can you share the hope we have in Christ?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for the hope we have in Christ, despite the chaos in the world. Thank Him for His plan of redemption and restoration when Jesus returns.ย
โข Ask God to help you be faithful to obey Him and for the grace to be more like Christ, even as you wait for Jesus to return. Surrender any areas and mindsets that you may struggle with.
โข Pray for opportunities and open doors to proclaim the gospel to others. Ask for the words to say as you share your hope in Christ.