|
|
Interesting Article
on the Rapture A
while ago Tim Blackford gave me an article titled “Signed, Sealed,
Delivered.” To understand the article one must understand the Premillennial
Doctrine and the Rapture. Let me first try to define the rapture doctrine. By
rapture they mean the truly righteous will be taken up to be with Jesus and
every body else will be left behind. Hence we have the “Left Behind” books
that were popular a number of years ago. Supposedly this will be sudden and
without warning. The righteous will just disappear and everyone else will
eventually realize that their loved ones are gone. According to this theory
there will be seven years for those left behind to become believers. During this
time the anti-Christ will appear. At the end of the seven years Jesus will
appear again and there will be this battle to end all battles called Armageddon.
The
point of this article is that there is an enterprising group that for a service
of $40 will allow you to set up an email account. When the Rapture occurs and
all of those that are left behind realize they have really been left behind,
those of this company that also are left behind will send out all of these
emails. What will these emails have in them? The article suggest leaving
documents that will allow your love ones access to your bank account, places you
have hidden valuables, or the power of attorney. Why will all of this be
necessary? Because there will be no bodies and it will take seven years before
the courts can declare you legally dead. Of course at the end of the seven years
Christ comes back and you won’t need the bank account, aunt I
found the article to be both humorous and sad. It just goes to show that someone
is always trying to figure out a way to make a dollar. What needs to be proven
from the scriptures is the whole “Rapture Doctrine.” You see this doctrine
is based upon a false doctrine which is, Jesus came to set up a physical
kingdom. When the Jews rejected Jesus, then God had to substitute the church in
place of the kingdom. Eventually Christ will come back and set up the Kingdom.
This will restore the The
problem is none of this is actually taught in the Bible. First of all Christ
came not to establish a physical kingdom but a spiritual one. To Pilate, Jesus
said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My
servant would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My
kingdom is not from here” (John 18.36). Ironically the Jews were willing and
ready to fight for a physical kingdom. After feeding the multitude in John 6 we
are told Jesus “perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force
to make Him king” (John 6.15) it was at this time that Jesus withdrew from the
people. If Jesus had intended to set up a kingdom He would have done so. Can
anyone possibly believe that the Son of God, the one with the power to calm the
seas, the one that fed the multitude with a few loaves of bread and a few fish,
the one that could raise the dead did not have the power to establish a physical
kingdom? Jesus was not crucified because He came to set up a physical kingdom
and failed, but because He came to set up a spiritual kingdom. Jesus
did establish His kingdom and it still exists today. “He has delivered us form
the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love”
(Colossians 1.13). Before anyone can be in the kingdom it must exist, therefore,
those people being in the kingdom proves its existence. Secondly,
Jesus intended to die on the cross for our sins. Those preaching the
Premillennial Doctrine must say that Jesus was surprised that He was rejected by
His people and crucified. Obviously this means that God, the Father, was also
befuzzled by His Son’s rejection. Yet we can turn to many prophecies in the
Old Testament that point toward the very things they said God did not plan. For
instance, Psalms 22 as it describes the pain and agony of Jesus on the cross.
Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and later on that payment was
used to purchase potter’s field as is spoken of in Zechariah 11.12ff. Jesus’
death, burial, and resurrection were all prophesied in the Old Testament. It was
God’s plan for Jesus to die for the sins of mankind. A
simple but important question is this: “Why
did God allow Jesus to die on the cross if Jesus came to set up a physical
kingdom?” The only reason for Jesus’ death on the cross was to pay the debt
owed by man, Romans 6.23b. If Jesus had set up a physical kingdom and not been
crucified, then man would still be lost in sin. If Jesus died to pay for man’s
sin then setting a physical kingdom would have had no purpose. Thirdly,
Jesus will come back one time and everyone will know about it. The
Premillennialists have Jesus coming back at the Rapture, and then seven years
later. However, the Bible says Jesus will return and all those in the graves
will come forth. At that time the kingdom will be delivered to God and the earth
will be destroyed, see 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18. Both the
righteous and unrighteous will know when Jesus returns. Both the righteous and
unrighteous will come from the grave and both will appear before the judgment
seat of God, John 5.28-29 and 2 Corinthians 5.10. Do
not worry about what will happen to your bank account or who has the power of
attorney; we need to be concern about what will happen to our soul. –Dennis
Tucker |