The Work Of Christ: Past, Present and FutureGaebelein, Arno Clemens
Religion
The Work Of Christ: Past, Present and Future
Gaebelein, Arno Clemens
Jesus Christ -- Person and offices; Messiah -- Prophecies
The beginning of Christ's future work is revealed in 1 Thessalonians
iv:15-18. This Scripture contains a great and unique revelation, unknown
in the Old Testament. The Lord had made the promise to His disciples, "I
will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am ye may be
also" (John xiv:3). He did not tell them in what manner He would keep
this most precious promise. In the first Epistle to the Thessalonians
the Lord gives the details of His coming for His own, and how He will
fulfill the promise given to His disciples. He promises that He will
descend from heaven with a shout. When He accomplished His work on the
cross, He gave a shout, for he cried with a loud voice "Tetelestei"--"It
is finished!" As the risen One, He met His beloved ones and said "All
Hail!" The Greek gives only one word, "Chairete"--"Oh! the Joy!" This is
His resurrection shout, the shout of joy and victory. And when He
ascended He went up with a shout (Ps. xlvii:5). First Thessalonians
iv:16 tells us He is going to descend with a shout. He passed through
the heavens in His glorious ascension and entered into the presence of
God, His Father. Some day He will arise from the place He occupies on
the Throne of God. He will leave the place on the right hand of the
Majesty on high and pass out of the third heaven. Once more He passeth
through the heavens, not upward but downward. He comes to call His
Saints to meet Him. The meeting-place is not the Mount of Olives,
Jerusalem or any earthly place; the meeting-place will be in the air. We
repeat, this is a revelation, which is not found in the Old Testament
prophetic Word, nor did the Lord announce it fully in His earthly
ministry. According to the passage containing this revelation, the shout
of the Lord as He descends into the air will be followed by the
resurrection of the dead in Christ. All the Saints of God will be raised
physically from the graves. This includes the Old Testament and New
Testament believers. When this shout is heard and the righteous dead are
raised, all belonging to Christ and living in that day, will be caught
up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. For the
sake of some, we add, that all who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ
as Saviour, who received eternal life and the Spirit of God, belong to
Him and their blessed Hope and destiny is to be "caught up in clouds to
meet the Lord in the air." Some teach that in order to share this
rapture certain attainments are needed. Such, however, is not the case.
No service, suffering, separation or any works we do, could ever fit us
for such a marvelous event. Grace has accomplished it for us. In 1 Cor.
xv:51 we read: "Behold I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed in a moment, etc." The "all" means all that are
Christ's at His coming, independent of their knowledge about
dispensational truths, independent of their waiting for Him, or any
other thing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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