“Homecoming” - are you ready?!

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” 

(Psalm 90: 12)   Death is not a popular topic.  We don’t like to really talk about it.  About the only time we really seem to address it, is at funerals.  But Jesus came preciously because of death!  “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Cor.15: 26).  He came to conquer death - mission accomplished!   The bible reminds us, “Death is swallowed up in victory…thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15: 50-57)   Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)

Life is so fragile.  Most of us prepare and plan to live a long time, but none of us know if we even have tomorrow.  David acknowledged this when he told Jonathan, “truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death” (1 Samuel 20: 3b)  - that is the harsh reality for all of us!   Yes, live the life that the giver of life has given you, but also live in a state of readiness (preparedness) to meet Him face to face at a moments notice!

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed!” (1 Cor.15: 51-52)

That is the hope of the gospel!  What a homecoming that will be some day!  The bible says, “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.  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.” - 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17

“I’m no longer looking for the signs of the times.  I’m listening for the sound of the trumpet!”  Are you ready?!   You have to be part of the kingdom of God now (the kingdom of God is within you) to take part in His eternal kingdom in the future! 

What a “homecoming” that will be!

In Christ Alone,

Pastor Rodney