Living in These Times - Part 5

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).
 
This is the rapture generation. Our earnest expectation should be seeing our Bridegroom come to gather us to Him so that we are completely one in Him. Joel Richardson captures the heart of the Bride in his book, Sinai to Zion. The book explores the connection between the Exodus and the return of Jesus, some of which does not take into consideration the chronos timing and the kairos signs. Yet the author’s longing to recover the “Maranatha!” Cry echoes the cry of the Spirit and the Bride.
 
“From the beginning of the Bible to the end, the return of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom is the primary focal point of all expectation, longing, and hope. This is why the apostle Peter urged us to ‘fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter 1:13). This is also why, at the conclusion of the book of Revelation, the apostle John declared that ‘The Spirit and the Bride’ (and anyone else who has ears to hear) are crying out, ‘Come!’ (Rev. 22:17). This is also why the cry of the early church was not simply ‘Hallelujah’ (Praise the Lord), but also ‘Maranatha!’ (Come Lord Jesus).
 
“If the biblical prophets, the New Testament, the Holy Spirit Himself, and the early church all placed such a high level of emphasis on crying out for the return of Jesus, why then does it receive such relatively little attention within the modern Christian church? Why have we made it such a secondary and even negotiable matter? Why do we give it so much less attention than the Bible gives it? While the hope of Jesus’ return and the glories of His kingdom should be the primary focus of all believers, to most modern Christians, it is much more of a side note. Without question, this much change.
 
“As the writer of Hebrews said, ‘This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast’ (Heb. 6:19). When the storms of this life test us, the good news of His coming will become our unmovable and rock-solid foundation. Christians today, instead of having our minds stuck on the endless daily news cycles highlighting the latest tragedy, outrage, or injustice, must learn to redirect our attention to the good news that when He arrives, this wicked current system will come to a decisive end.” [pp. xi-xii]
 
To this we add that part of this hope of glory is that we have a role to play as joint-heirs in Christ in bringing down that wicked and evil system. The rapture is not escapism. It’s being made complete in Him. It’s being delivered from the wrath of that Day. And it’s about ruling and reigning with Him to bring the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21).
 
Scripture says that knowing the chronos timing and the kairos signs encourages us. It urges us to share our faith in Jesus with others so that times of refreshing can come from His presence through the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah! Maranatha!