One Visitation, Two Purposes

In The Quiet Place by Nancy DeMoss, she starts out with Scripture from 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8. “..when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his might angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obeyed the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”. There will be two things that happen when Jesus returns to earth for the second time. One will be to rescue those who have believed in Christ, to deliver them from death and consummate the salvation of their souls. But His other purpose will be to being judgment and punishment on the wicked, to call the unredeemed to account. Our world wants to believe that everyone will be saved in the end, that God’s jsutice will ulitimatley be waived in favor of a sweeping, free pass. But sin has its “wages” and those who reject His savation will not excape eternal judgement.

It really doesn’t matter what we believe or not believe, God’s “will” will be done. It so saddens me when I go to funerals that I know that they did not believe and they rejected God’s gift of eternal life. But we can hope. We really don’t know what happened at the very end. Were they like the thief on the cross that cried out a the very last minute? Maybe….. Is their a “special” provision for the mentally ill? Maybe…. But only God knows for sure. The Bible says that we will be surprised at who is in heaven and who is not. Yes there may be even some that we thought would be there but they were wolves in sheeps clothing. When a person has died and they have rejected Christ it brings hurt to those that are left behind. There is really no hope. And that is sad.

I don’t know when my time will be but I sure hope that by my life, people will know without a shadow of a doubt where I am. So my question is for you…
Based on your relationship with Christ, do you have reason to eagerly anticipate or anxiously dread His return? Whether you meet him at his return or face to face there will be judgement. I want to be ready.