Looking Forward with Hope: Tied to Faith

By Nathan Jones

What is our hope as Christians?

New Year's greetings to all of you! To ring in this new year, Dr. David Reagan, Dennis Pollock of Spirit of Grace Ministries and I discussed on television's Christ in Prophecy why you should be looking forward to the future with great hope.

Hope and Faith Connected

Nathan Jones: Our hope is that there is something beyond this wretched, miserable life. There is something beyond the pain and suffering that people have to endure every single day. The Bible gives us the hope that this life is more than just a breath, telling us about a never ending future of glory and wonder.

We can go through a list of different topics about our future with Christ, but we can know for sure about our hope for the future. The Bible in Hebrews 11:1 says that, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see." Hope, faith, and love go together so that we can have that excellent hope for the future.

Dennis Pollock: As you know, in the Christian world hope has gotten kind of a bad rap in a lot of cases. A lot of people see hope as for the wimpier believers and faith for the strong believers. So, if you are really strong in the Lord you've got faith, but if you are not so strong you can at least hope for a few better things.

Dr. Reagan: I didn't know I was a wimpy believer!

Dennis Pollock: Now, I didn't say I agreed with that. I just said that's how a lot of people see hope. Actually, the reality is that hope and faith go hand-in-hand.

Hope is very close to faith, but is not quite the same. The Bible says that Abraham in hope believed, so for him there was faith, but there was also hope.

There are two characteristics about hope. First, it's future. The Bible says hope that is seen is not hope, so hope is always a look forward.

Secondly, there is an emotional context to hope. The Bible uses several different scriptures to speak about rejoicing in hope. The Bible says we become partakers of Christ if we hold fast to the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm to the end. Then Paul says we should be rejoicing in hope and be patient in tribulation.

So, faith says its mine. Faith looks at the promises of God and says they're true. Christ's death on the cross, the shedding of His blood, and His resurrection means I can have eternal life. Faith believes it and marks it down as done, but hope does more than just believe it. Hope gets excited about it. Hope says, "Man, I just can't wait until it happens!"

Hope also gives you the courage to endure. That's why the Rapture and hope are tied so closely together, because they say no matter how bad the world is, no matter how bad our situation is, there's a glorious coming of Christ that's going to make everything good. Peter said, "Set your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Peter was writing to a suffering and persecuted people. Life for them was not really very much fun, and they were not very happy. But, he said to take our hope and place it entirely on the glory and the grace that's going to come to us as Christ is revealed and will one day soon appear for us.

In the next part of this series on looking forward with hope, we'll delve into what our hope in Heaven actually means.

Looking Forward with Hope: Absence Leads to Death

By Nathan Jones

Can not having hope kill you?

New Year's greetings to all of you! To ring in this new year, Dr. David Reagan, Dennis Pollock of Spirit of Grace Ministries and I discussed on television's Christ in Prophecy why you should be looking forward to the future with great hope.

Hopelessness Kills

Dr. Reagan: One of the things that impressed upon me many, many years ago concerning the essentiality of hope for life was the book called Man's Search for Meaning. It was written by Viktor Frankl. Viktor Frankl was a psycho-analyst who spent World War II in a Nazi death camp. All of his family members including his wife were killed in that death camp. He was the only one who survived.

Out of Frankl's experiences he came up with a whole new concept of psychotherapy called Logotherapy. Until that time psychotherapy was built upon the Freudian concept that the fundamental motivating factor in life is the sex drive, but he came out of the death camp saying, "No, not at all." The fundamental drive in life according to this man, who by the way was not a Christian and so was looking at it from a secular worldview, is the will for meaning. He believed we are fundamentally motivated by the desire to find meaning in life. People must find meaning, and if they cannot find meaning then life becomes meaningless. When life becomes hopeless, people die.

Frankl noticed while he was in the death camp that as Christmas approached the Jewish people would say, "We are going to be released at Christmas." He admitted there was no reason or rationality for that claim except for the fact that they knew that all of their captors claimed to be Christians and that Christmas was an important day to them, so they assumed they were going to be released at Christmas. That news would spread all over the camp and everybody would get their hopes up that they were going to be released at Christmas. Christmas would come, Christmas would pass, and he reported that by the hundreds the people would just lie down in bed and die. They gave up. They had no hope. That's how important hope is to life just going on.

Dennis, you once mentioned to me a story that I think Chuck Colson told about the Nazi work camps. What was that story?

Dennis Pollock: Yes, it's a fascinating story which goes exactly along with what you've been saying. Colson tells of a concentration or work camp where the prisoners were forced into working for the Nazi machine. They were prisoners, so they didn't want to, but they had no choice but to work. The workers had their particular jobs to help the army out with whatever it was they were making.

One day the Allies came over on a bombing raid and blew up the whole place, and so they had no more machinery to do any kind of work. The leaders of the prison camp were determined to keep these guys busy, though, but they had no more machinery to do anything. So, they told them, "Alright, tomorrow you are going to go out and you're going to dig this hole." The guards had them working on a huge pit which they dug out for that particular day. There were a lot of prisoners, so they could make a huge gaping hole. They went to bed wondering, "Why in the world did we do that? What's the point of that? Maybe we are going to hide in it during the next bombing raid."

The next day comes along and the commander tells them that they are going to go fill the very same hole up. They just went out and undid what they had done the day before. The following day they are told they are going to dig a new hole somewhere else. The Nazi's just had them digging holes and filling them up.

In some ways you might think digging useless holes would be superior to building war materials as at least they weren't helping the Nazis anymore. They were just doing meaningless work, but despite that small comfort the prisoners began to crack. Some of them committed suicide and some ran for the fence so that they were shot down and electrocuted. They just couldn't handle the reality that what they were doing had no meaning whatsoever.

If you don't believe in Christ and in the coming of Christ and His future reign of the world, then life is meaningless. If life is meaningless that's when a person begins to do these kinds of irrational and suicidal things.

Dr. Reagan: I was reading an article by Dave Hunt recently and he was talking about the Atheist view of life. He said, "Stop and think about it for a moment. How disheartening it must be for an Atheist. The Atheist greatest hope is that there is nothing after life."

Dennis Pollock: Yes, that's the best he can hope for.

Dr. Reagan: What kind of hope is that?

Nathan Jones: It reminds me of Hebrews 6:19, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain." What a great thing it is to be a Christian! We have that anchor to our soul that gives our life while here on this earth purpose, and that purpose is to do good works for the Lord until His return (Eph. 2:10).

In the next part of this series on looking forward with hope, we'll plumb the depths of how hope and faith are connected.

Looking Forward with Hope: Essential to Life

By Nathan Jones

How important is hope to life itself?

New Year's greetings to all of you! To ring in this new year, Dr. David Reagan, Dennis Pollock of Spirit of Grace Ministries and I discussed on television's Christ in Prophecy why you should be looking forward to the future with great hope.

Hope's Necessary For Life

Dr. Reagan: The Bible says that the Creator of this universe is a God of hope. The Apostle Paul wrote, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has the mind of man conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."

But, we live in a world characterized by increasing fear and despair. People fear such things as terrorism, war, cancer, bankruptcy — the list goes on and on. Perhaps I could sum it up by saying that people fear the uncertainties of life and the certainty of death. The bottom line is there's an overwhelming need for hope, and most of mankind seems to be seeking that hope in all the wrong places.

How important is hope to life itself? Is it essential or not?

Dennis Pollock: I think the answer to that can be found when you look at where people are and what the situation is when there is no hope, when for them things seem utterly hopeless. Probably the worst and ugliest thing that a person can do to themselves is to kill themselves. Suicide is always the case when Satan is lying and whispering in someone's ear, "Your life is bad and it's going to be bad tomorrow and it's going to be bad next year. It will never improve." But, no matter how bad your life is, if you get the idea it will get better, eventually you can get through the hard times. It's when you're convinced not only is it terrible now, but it will always be this way, that's basically hopelessness and that's when people start to think about suicide.

Let me give you a little illustration. When we were children (and I don't know if it happened to you, but in my case) there were times when we'd be playing softball and choose up teams. After the first inning the score would be 10 to 1 and you find yourself on the losing side. Now, let's say you are playing seven innings and you are thinking after the first inning, "We had a lousy inning, but next inning we'll get it back." So you play one more inning and now it is 15 to 1. That's usually when the realization comes into your mind, "We've lost this game. We don't have what it takes. There's no way." You know you've still got five more innings to play. How does that knowledge affect you? Well, for most kids what happens is you get silly, you fool around, and you daydream. You don't take the game seriously anymore. You don't give it your best effort, because in your mind you're already a loser and there's no hope. The good thing about that situation is finally the game would mercifully come to an end and you could get on, and maybe the next day you would be on a better team.

It's not quite so funny when people see themselves as losers about their very life. Their life is bad. They're a loser already and there's no hope. That's hopelessness, but the Bible has so many good things to say about hope.

Dr. Reagan: That's so true, for Romans 15:13 says point blank our God is a God of hope. But, Satan loves to whisper in people's ears, "There is no hope."

Nathan Jones: I don't think you have to even be a loser to be hopeless. While you were talking about people who feel like their life is destined to be a loser, I thought about Simon and Garfunkel. They wrote a song called "Richard Cory." It's a very famous song about a man who had everything. He was born of a banker. He had power, grace and style, and he had lots of money. The main character is singing about how wretched it was to work in Richard Cory's factory. And then, one day, he reads in the paper that Richard Cory had killed himself. He was aghast, wondering how could a guy who had everything go and kill himself.

Even if we are winners in life, according to how man sees it, we are not winners. There's still that emptiness — that God-shaped hole — in us that needs to be filled. No matter how successful we are in life, we will always despair in the end without the Lord.

Christ's Return Equals Hope

Dennis Pollock: Dave, when I first started working with you I noticed that one of the themes that you would focus on was hope. You preached about hope. You wrote about hope. So, I started to wonder, "What's the connection between hope and the coming of Christ?" How does that work with your main theme concerning the return of the Lord. And so, I began to study the Scriptures, and one, I found hope is a major theme of Scripture, but two, it has a special connection with the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, probably that classic passage on the Rapture — 1 Thessalonians 4 — where Paul says the Lord will descend from Heaven and the dead in Christ will be raised and we'll be caught up together with them, well that entire line of thought is preceded by Paul saying to the Thessalonian believers, "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope" (1 Thes. 4:13). The whole premise of what Paul is going to present about the Rapture is based on the fact that we do have hope.

Dr. Reagan: I was reading 1 Corinthians 13 one time — that beautiful love poem by Paul — and I got to the very end where the last verse says there are three great Christian virtues: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. I started to move on and the Holy Spirit said, "Wait, read this again." So, I read it again and again and suddenly as I began to think back over my life. I grew up in the church. I was there every time the door was open and I could think of hundreds of sermons I had heard about faith. I could think of thousands I had heard about love. But, I could not think of a single sermon I had ever heard about hope, because hope is directly related to Bible prophecy and Bible prophecy is ignored in the preaching and teaching programs of most churches. And yet, the more you know about Bible prophecy, the greater your hope will be because you learn about the promises of God for the future.

Nathan Jones: We had such an instance of hope derived from Bible prophecy sent to me this week. As you know, I get all the email questions that come in and I answer people's questions, which is a blessing. This one gentleman named Christopher wrote, "I live with chronic pain. I can't sleep. I'm in agony all of the time. At three in the morning I get online and I watch "Christ in Prophecy" because your message of the Lord's soon return gives me hope." It's stories like this that prove that knowing Jesus is coming back gives people hope.

In the next part of this series on looking forward with hope, we'll hear some shocking stories about how hopeleness can kill.

Six Reasons For Wanting Jesus To Return: 6

By Nathan Jones

Why do you want Jesus Christ to return?

New Year's greetings to all of you! To ring in this new year, Dr. David Reagan, Dennis Pollock of Spirit of Grace Ministries and I discussed on television's Christ in Prophecy six reasons why all who profess to be Christians should earnestly desire that this year would prove to be the year when the Church will be raptured out of this world.

Reason #6: The Church Receives Its Promises

Dr. Reagan: The sixth reason why we as Christians should all be yearning for the coming of the Lord has to do with the promises that God is going to fulfill regarding the Church. What are those?

Dennis Pollock: He has promised us eternal life, that we would reign with Christ on the earth, and ultimately that we would reign with Christ forever. God always keeps His promises, so when Christ returns we are going to be given an area to reign with Jesus Christ.

Dr. Reagan: Are you going to be a mayor, or governor, or what?

Dennis Pollock: Well, I haven't yet decided. I thought I might be talking with the Lord about just where I would best fit in. But, on the other hand, He may have His own ideas. [chuckle]

Dr. Reagan: You know that God said there is going to be some of the degree of reward based upon our works in the kingdom now, and that some during the Millennial Kingdom would be put over one city, and one over two, and one over five or whatever number.

Dennis Pollock: Yes, the Master said in Matthew 25, "You have been faithful in a few things, I will make you ruler over many things." Now, a lot of people think Heaven is where you play the harp, you sit on a cloud, and if you're lucky someone comes over to your cloud and enjoys a little harp time in a duet with you. But, the Bible does not say we will play harps forever, and doesn't say we will sing forever either. It says we will reign with Jesus Christ forever.

Dr. Reagan: One of the things I'm really looking forward to is the promise to the Church that we are going to receive glorified bodies. I'm ready for mine, I really am! My left knee hurts every time I take a step from arthritis and all that sort of thing. I'm just looking for that day when there's not going to be any of those pains and I have a glorified body. I can hardly wait!

The Lord has made so many, many wonderful promises to both Israel and to the Church. We don't need to claim their promises, and they don't need to claim ours. He is going to fulfill all of these promises.

Dennis Pollock: God's gotten very specific about those promises, too. When you look at Revelation, John describes this New Jerusalem that will be our home for all of eternity. He gives all kinds of details about it. We know it'll be made of a transparent gold. We know there will be gems. The gates will be made of pearls. We actually know the dimensions of it which is around 1,500 square miles and then 1,500 miles high. These are truths. This is God saying to His people, "Hang in there! You may not be doing too well right now. You may be living in some little shack, but I have something amazing for you and I am going to give it to you." And, God always keeps His Word.

Dr. Reagan: Praise the Lord!

Personal Reasons For Wanting the Return of Christ

Dr. Reagan: Do you have any personal reasons why you are desiring the Lord's return in this year?

Nathan Jones: Well, for me, it hits rather close to home. My elementary age son Zachary has autism. He still can't talk. He will never be able to do the things a normal boy does. He will grow up and be a kid in an adult's body, as there is no cure for autism. Concerning the promise of having a glorified body, I know when I go up to Heaven one day that my son Zachary will be whole again, and the whole of the millions of people in Heaven will be celebrating and glorifying God for that transformation. That's the day I live for!

Dennis Pollock: For me there are so many reasons, but there's this one reason I sometimes think of that might be a little unusual. When you are born again your love for Jesus is so strong and there is a euphoria and you just feel like all you want to do is live in His presence, but then you come down to earth and you find you still have this nature that wants to say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, and wants the wrong thing. You realize there are these two natures in you at war with one another, and so you never feel quite comfortable no matter how spiritual you can get. I've sometimes been in the most anointed spiritual states and yet suddenly the flesh will just put a thought in my mind or an urge and I will think, "Where did that even come from?" But, when Christ comes and gives us our new bodies, He is going to do an extraction. He is going to take out that sin nature so that we are going to serve Him in purity without that ugly sinful nature that we have.

Dr. Reagan: I agree. I have a grandson who is afflicted. He just doesn't know who he is or who I am. You can't hold him. You can't touch him. He can't even have a haircut without being put to sleep. I dedicated two books to him because he is a constant reminder to me that we live in a fallen world where the innocent suffer. I look forward to that day when Jason will be able to talk with me, I'll be able to throw a football to him, and we will be able to have fellowship with one another. That's going to happen when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back.

I'm also looking forward to a reunion with family members and church members who have gone on before me.

Concerning Bible characters, I can hardly wait to meet David, and to see David lead a worship service. Boy, that will be something! Or, can you imagine sitting in a Bible study where John is teaching the Book of John? Oh, there are so many wonderful things that I look forward to!

Grabbing Hold of God's Promises

Dr. Reagan: The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, "Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting?" Only a Christian can look death in the face and sneer at it with such words, and that's because our Savior Jesus has conquered death. He has promised that those who put their faith in Him will also overcome death. Here is how He put it in John 11:25, He said, "I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me shall live even if he dies." You can be assured of eternal life.

Dennis Pollock: All the religions of the world except Christianity teach that you must earn your salvation through good works. Only Christianity teaches that salvation through good works is impossible. Sinners cannot justify themselves to a perfect and holy God. Jesus was sinless. He died in our place as an atonement for our sins. All you have to do to receive that atonement is to place your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Nathan Jones: You can do that by praying a simple prayer, confessing to God that you are a sinner and that you are sorry for your sins, and that you desire to receive Jesus as your Savior. Salvation is a free gift of God through faith in Jesus. It's not something you can earn.

Dennis Pollock: If you decide to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, let me urge you to seek out a Bible believing church where you can make a public profession of your faith in Jesus. Submit yourself to water baptism and start growing in the faith.

Nathan Jones: You will now have claimed those wonderful promises of God.

Six Reasons For Wanting Jesus To Return: 4-5

By Nathan Jones

Will world peace become a reality?

New Year's greetings to all of you! To ring in this new year, Dr. David Reagan, Dennis Pollock of Spirit of Grace Ministries and I discussed on television's Christ in Prophecy six reasons why all who profess to be Christians should earnestly desire that this year would prove to be the year when the Church will be raptured out of this world.

Reason #4: The Nations at Peace

Dr. Reagan: The fourth reason that I would like to see Jesus return is because I want to see the nations receive what they have been promised; namely peace, righteousness, and justice.

Dennis Pollock: Amen! In Psalm 2 the Father says to the Son, "Ask me." What a nice thing for the Father to say, "Ask me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance." And that is going to happen. The Bible not only says that Jesus inherits them, but we are going to have a part in all of that inheritance.

Dr. Reagan: Yes, and you mentioned Psalm 2. Right before that portion that you quoted it says that all the leaders of the world are in conspiracy against God and His anointed One. Shaking their fists at God they are saying like, "Who are you to tell us what we can do and what we cannot do." Then it says, while they are doing that God sits in the heavens and laughs, because a day is coming when He is going to set it all alright.

Dennis Pollock: Yeah! The thing that makes prophecy so exciting is that when you read this and you say, "You know what? I believe it's going to happen just like it says." It's thrilling!

It's wonderful to think of Christ reigning over the nations. Isaiah 24 talks about how the Lord will reign gloriously in Jerusalem before His elders. Of course, there are some who say, "Surely that can't be." But, what part of "the Lord will reign in Jerusalem" do you not understand? The Lord will reign in Jerusalem. That's a thrilling thought to think about, that Jesus is actually going to come to this earth. Jesus said He would come again, and so He will do that. He will reign gloriously over this earth and He will be Lord.

Dr. Reagan: That's the problem I have with Amillennialists who tell me that Jesus is reigning right now. They say He's reigning from Heaven over all the nations of the world. But, I always respond, "Well, if He is, He's doing a terrible job of it, because every nation of the world is in rebellion against Him." But, what a day that is going to be when all the nations are truly subjected to Him.

Nathan Jones: They certainly haven't read Micah 4 which talks about all of the nations. It declares, "Nation will not take sword up against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." Think if we took the national economies, say something like 50%-60% of some of our budgets are put towards defense, and we put that money towards helping people and building and growing. To top it off, nobody would be killing each other. We would not be losing brothers and cousins and family members to Afghanistan and Iraq and all these other wars. No longer! What a world that would be. All of that money being given to agricultural implements instead of war would mean no more needy, no poor, and no food problems.

Dr. Reagan: What a day that will be!

Dennis Pollock: What's so pathetic, as World War I was coming to a close some of the leaders of the nations said we needed some kind of organization to make sure world war never happened again. They came up with the League of Nation, but that obviously didn't work out too well as World War II came along. As that war was coming to an end, some of the leaders including Roosevelt and some others declared that we needed a new organization and this new one will make sure that war doesn't happen again, and that was the United Nations. Well, we can see how that has worked out. Once Jesus Christ returns there will be that peace that everybody is looking for, but only then when the Prince of Peace comes.

Reason #5: Israel Receives Its Promises

Dr. Reagan: The fifth reason I want to see Jesus return is because I want to see Israel receive what they had been promised. What's that?

Dennis Pollock: They have been promised two major blessings. First off, which is the greatest blessing really, is that they would serve God from their hearts. People like to say Israel is a hard-hearted people and that God has washed His hands of them, but God has made some amazing promises to them.

I want to read a Scripture from Ezekiel. This is a scripture that is often misused to apply to Christians, and they'll claim, "When you got born again this is what happened to you." Now, that is true, but it was first promised to the Jews. God says to the Jews, "I will give you a new heart... I will put a new spirit within you... I'll take out your heart of stone... I will give you a heart of flesh... I will put my spirit in you. He says, "I'll cause you to walk in my statues, and you will keep my judgments... you will do them."

Now, God always keeps His promises. God does not depend on whether Israel does this or that, as God Himself is going to do what He wills to accomplish. For instance, God has promised that Jesus will reign. Christ will come and will reign over an obedient Jewish people, but not only obedient, they will be raised up to a place of primacy in the world.

Before Christ ascended His disciples asked Him, "Will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" And, it's very interesting what He didn't say. Jesus didn't reply, "Well, that's a stupid question! Why in the world would you ever think?" No, Jesus didn't say that. He just said, "It's not for you to know the times and seasons when this is going to happen." So, Jesus was indirectly saying it will happen, but you don't need to know about the timing of this right now.

So, there will be a time when Israel will be restored to a place of prominence on the earth. This persecuted people — a people who have been hated and despised like no other people — will be raised up. God always keeps His promises. We have all done various projects that we have just gotten tired of and just put them on a shelf and never finished them, but God's not that way. When God starts a project, He will finish it, and Israel is His project. What He has said He will do, He will do.

Nathan Jones: I think it's exciting that Zechariah 8:23 tells us what the world will finally be like for the believing Israel. It says, "In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of their robe and will say, 'Let us go with you because we have heard that God is with you.'"

Dr. Reagan: Boy, what a promise! Today the Jew is the object of jokes and hatred and persecution, but in that future day in time when the Jews are elevated as the prime nation of the world, everyone will want to walk with a Jew.

Nathan Jones: And, like Dennis said, the important difference is they will love the Lord Jesus as their Savior.

Dr. Reagan: That's the point. In Old Testament times they always ran to Egypt every time they got in trouble. Today they run to the United States. But, we are seeing the prophecies say that in the end times all nations will come against Israel, which includes the United States. We have seen our nation turn against Israel. A day will finally come when there will be nobody for Israel to turn to. At the end of the Tribulation the remnant that is left will finally turn their hearts to God, and they will cry out, "Baruch haba beshem adonai" which means "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," and the Lord will come. He will gather those believing Jews in a third regathering. We've had the regathering from Babylon, the regathering in unbelief going on right now, and a regathering in belief will finally come. They will be established as a prime nation of the world and all the blessings of the Lord will flow through the Jewish people to all the earth. What a day that will be!

In the last part of our discussion on six reasons why believers in Christ should be anxious for Jesus' return, we'll continue on to reason six and then share our personal reasons for wanting Christ to return quickly.

Six Reasons For Wanting Jesus To Return: 3

By Nathan Jones

Did Jesus also die for the redemption of the Creation?

New Year's greetings to all of you! To ring in this new year, Dr. David Reagan, Dennis Pollock of Spirit of Grace Ministries and I discussed on television's Christ in Prophecy six reasons why all who profess to be Christians should earnestly desire that this year would prove to be the year when the Church will be raptured out of this world.

Reason #3: The Creation is Restored

Dr. Reagan: A third reason I want to see the Lord come back is because He is going to fulfill promises He has made to the Creation. What would those be, Nathan?

Nathan Jones: The Bible, especially in Romans 8, talks about the Creation being under bondage. It is under the curse of God. It is suffering just as much as we humans are.

If the Creation had consciousness, which it doesn't, it too would yearn too for the time when it would be redeemed. That time can only happen when the Sons of God are revealed (Rom. 8:19). Believers in Christ are considered the sons of God. We are the ones who will get our glorified bodies one day. The Earth during the Millennial Kingdom of Christ will get you could say its glorified body in a way as the curse will be lifted. That's when we get to those verses where it says the lion will eat straw and the wolf will lie down with the lamb. What a wonderful picturesque time period this will be when the Earth will be restored! Then, afterwards during the Eternal State, the Earth will be totally restored in what's called the New Earth.

Dennis Pollock: I don't know whether Global Warming is a reality or not, but one thing I do know is that the world has a bigger problem than Global Warming, and that is the problem of sin and decay that is all over our world.

Nathan Jones: The Law of Entropy.

Dennis Pollock: No matter what you are looking at, it will decay and it will grow old. It will eventually dissolve and be annihilated. Nature is in bondage to the process of decay. Only when Christ returns will that process be reversed.

It's amazing that in the original first few generations of man you read in the Bible that these guys lived to be around 900 years old. Then, suddenly after the Flood and man doing some more damage to the Earth and to himself, you can look at the life spans and they drop quickly down to 500, then down to 400. Within a few generations when we are down to where Abraham starts, then it became a big deal for him to father a baby at 100 years of age. But, back in Noah's day and before that it was no big deal at all to have a baby at 100 years of age. Those guys did it all the time.

Yes, the very Earth itself and the process of our own growth has all been corroded and corrupted by sin and the process of decay.

Dr. Reagan: The whole of Creation is in bondage to decay. That is part of the curse that came as the result of sin entering this world.

I find that most people are not aware of the fact that when Jesus died on the cross, He died not only to redeem mankind, but He also died to redeem all of Creation. This was indicated in Old Testament times when the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies once a year and he would sprinkle the blood on the Mercy Seat. This was a symbol that one day the Messiah would die and through His blood we would be able to cover the Law of God and the demands of the Law of God. By grace we could finally be reconciled to God.

What most people ignore is that it says the High Priest always stepped back and he sprinkled the blood on the ground in front of the Mercy Seat. That was a symbol that the blood of the Messiah would also make it possible for all of Creation to be redeemed. God loves His creation.

When I was growing up in the church I was taught that when the Lord came back there was going to be a big explosion and the whole Creation would cease to exist. We would go off into a never-never world and exist as spiritual beings floating around on a cloud playing a harp. We wouldn't be tangible nor have bodies or be on the Earth.

But, the Bible teaches just the opposite. Again, God loves His creation. He's going to redeem His Creation. In the original Creation there were no poisonous plants, no poisonous animals, and no meat eating animals which are all part of the curse. The Bible says the lion will eat straw with the ox. It says a little boy will play in the hole of the adder because the snake will no longer be poisonous. I believe those are real promises that God is going to redeem and refresh and return this Earth to what it was at the original time of the Creation.

Dennis Pollock: Yes! Christians aren't anti-environment. Some people have accused us all of being the people who throw our garbage out of the car and just don't care about our environment. We do care and we should care, but we are realistic enough to know that this world and the environment will never be what it should be until Christ returns.

Review

Dr. Reagan: Okay, let's take a moment for review. We are discussing six reasons why Christians should desire the soon return of Jesus and thus far we have mentioned three.

Nathan Jones: The first is that Jesus might receive what He has been promised; namely honor, and glory, and power over all the kingdoms of the earth.

Dennis Pollock: The second is that Satan might receive what He deserves; namely total defeat, dishonor, and humiliation.

Nathan Jones: And the third is that the Creation might receive what it has been promised; namely regeneration, restoration and refreshment.

In the next part of our discussion on six reasons why believers in Christ should be anxious for Jesus' return, we'll continue on to reasons four and five.

Six Reasons For Wanting Jesus To Return: 1-2

By Nathan Jones

Why should believers in Christ want Jesus to return?

New Year's greetings to all of you! To ring in this new year, Dr. David Reagan, Dennis Pollock of Spirit of Grace Ministries and I discussed on television's Christ in Prophecy six reasons why all who profess to be Christians should earnestly desire that this year would prove to be the year when the Church will be raptured out of this world.

Reason #1: Jesus Gets What's Promised Him

Dr. Reagan: The writings of the Early Church Fathers revealed that during the first 300 years of the Church Christians often prayed "Maranatha." That's an Aramaic expression that means, "Oh, Lord come." The enthusiasm for the Lord's soon return, though, seemed to just wane out and die about 400 AD, and for most of Christendom the desire has never been rekindled. Most Christians today seem to be yawning rather than yearning for the Lord's soon return.

I believe that the return of Jesus is going to occur in two stages. The first, which could occur any moment, is called the Rapture. It will take place when Jesus appears in the heavens to take his Church — both the living and the dead — out of this world. The second stage will be the Second Coming, when Jesus returns to this earth with His Church to reign for a thousand years.

I also believe that most Christians are apathetic about the return of Jesus because they are simply ignorant of what is going to happen when Jesus comes back. I know that from personal experience because that was my case for many years.

Think of it this way, how can you get excited about an event that you know nothing about? For example, how can you get all pent up with excitement about a surprise birthday party? You can't; it's a surprise. My personal apathy about the Lord's return rapidly dissipated when I discovered what is going to happen when Jesus returns to this earth.

I want to share six reasons why I'm yearning for the Lord's soon return. The first, I want to see Jesus receive what He has been promised, which is honor and glory and power.

Dennis Pollock: The last time the world saw Jesus He was on a cross being crucified. Now, I'm not talking about the believers as they saw Him after His resurrection. The last time the world saw Jesus, that is the ungodly, it appeared that He had been totally defeated by His enemies. But, when they see Him again at the glorious Second Coming, He will not be looking beaten or bloody or bruised or anything like that. Jesus will come in glory.

There is an expression in the Bible that is used for the Lord's return that is not often used by the Church. I find it interesting that in the Bible sometimes they use certain words that we somehow have never grabbed hold of. One of the words that is used for the Lord's return frequently in Scripture is the word "Revelation," as in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter said to put your hope firmly upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Also, the final book of the Bible is called "The Revelation," but not just a general revelation, it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. That word means "unveiled, revealed," He will be "no longer hidden."

Right now you and I serve a Master whom we have never seen. The world has written books about Jesus. They've painted paintings of what they thought He might look like. But, the truth is we've never seen Him. And yet, on the day when He comes for the Church at the Rapture, we will see Jesus as He truly is. Later at the Second Coming every eye will see Him, and He will be glorified. He will appear in glory. I'm looking forward to that.

Nathan Jones: There are just some great verses in the Bible that explain this, such as Psalm 22:27-31, "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord." All of it! Picture what the world would be like if that was the situation today. "And all the families of the nations will bow down before Him. Even those who go down to the dust will kneel before Him." The Lord will be revealed to the whole world and all the nations will see Him. That is an exciting and victorious moment which we share in as Christians — coheirs of Christ.

Reason #2: Satan Gets the Judgment Due Him

Dr. Reagan: The second reason I want to see the Lord return is because Satan is going to receive what he deserves, which of course is total defeat, dishonor, and humiliation. I can hardly wait for Jesus to crush him under His feet!

Dennis Pollock: In my boyhood the big thing was cowboy movies and television shows. Cowboy movies were big. Nowadays, it's more super heroes. But, they had one thing in common — both in the cowboy movies and in the super hero movies of today the story usually spends about the first half of the movie showing you how despicable the bad guy is. You get to the point that you hate him. You want to see him get crushed. You want to see him be absolutely destroyed. And then, in the second half, usually the good guy begins to engage him and finally overcomes him.

Well, in some ways that's like the history of this planet. We have seen the bad guy. Satan is the most cruel entity that there is in this universe. He delights in misery. He has a good time when children are abused, when women are raped, and when people die prematurely. He loves to see human misery. He is the ultimate bad guy. But, the Bible tells us the good guy is coming. In fact, there is a place already reserved for the bad guy. Jesus said that Hell, also called the Lake of Fire, is a place prepared for the Devil and his angels. It will be at the coming of Christ that Satan will be dispatched and placed in that pit for a thousand years and then ultimately cast into the Lake of Fire.

Nathan Jones: Isaiah 14:12-17 is a wonderful verse about the humiliation of Satan. It reads, "Those who see you stare at you.. they ponder your fate. Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble?" Satan is going to be brought so low and we will get to rejoice over him and see that all happen. It'll be exciting! When Jesus returns Satan's end will begin.

In the next part of our discussion on six reasons why believers in Christ should be anxious for Jesus' return, we'll continue on to reason three.