Dan the Elder
Well-Known Member
JUST LIKE THAT ~ ~
Some bright morning we’ll wake up to another day. It will be like any other day; we’ll shower, brush our teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, and leave for work. We may wave to a neighbor, call a friend, everything will seem so normal. However, we hear a loud shout – a trumpet blast – and “JUST LIKE THAT ~~”, we’ll be in a totally different environment! With wide eyes we’ll take in unbelievable beauty; we’ll hear beautiful music, we’ll hear people shouting our name and running toward us [loved ones and friends we’ve known during our life]. But there right in front of us is Jesus, smiling, with His arms wide open! “Welcome home my child ~ It Is Finished”. We won’t be able to speak for sobbing and falling into His arms. Still smiling He’ll wipe away the last tears we’ll ever have.
We may suddenly realize how wonderful we feel; looking down we see this young body with strong arms and legs, we feel energy flowing through us, so we try running and jumping ~ then a few cartwheels and flips. Wow!! Now watch this!!
You think I’m crazy ~ watched too many movies ~ have a wild imagination? No – I just believe the Bible! It’s never been wrong and it promises what is ahead for those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ!
Check these scriptures:
I Thessalonians 4:15-18 “We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words”.
I Corinthians 5:51-54 “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:”
I John 3:1-3 “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure”.
Jesus was 33 years old (prime of life), when He was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven. As the angels told the apostles in:
Acts 1:9-11 “After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”
Luke 24:28-36 “By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared”! They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.” Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. [At the time, they were all in the upper room [four walls – doors locked and barred. They were confused and frightened!]
CAN YOU IMAGINE having a body that is like His?? I’m not through yet ~ there is More to the story!! Let me tell you what else He told them that also applies to “All who Believe”!
John 14:1-6 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”
Yes, the One who created the Universe, the sun, moon, and earth has been creating a “place for us” in His Father’s house. Let’s see, He created everything in six days and He’s been working on our new home for two thousand years! What could it be like? Here is Paul’s answer:
I Corinthians 2:9 “That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him”.
Did I hear someone say, “Oh, I’m glad you mentioned that its been two thousand plus years. How come He hasn’t come back before now”? Be careful – listen to what Peter has to say
2 Peter 3:3-9 “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed. But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent”.
What Peter is saying is that God is God – outside of space or time. He doesn’t go by hours, days, years! He has an overall plan for humanity, and it will transpire just as He has planned! Our problem is that we have a “limited time” of life, time to make choices; like believing in Him, asking for His forgiveness, and repenting of our wrong doing! Life can be gone ~ Just Like That ~ ~ Then it will be too late. Your choice will be notarized ~ either you accepted Him and will spend eternity in a place like I’ve described or spend Forever in Hell. I’m praying you’ll make the right choice now!!
