Future Set By God Believable? Series

I recently went on the Internet and Googled the question

“What will the future look like?”

Of course, there was much said but here are a couple of interesting observations from the world:

- no one in this world really knows the future exactly

- predictions about the future are just guesses

- to understand the future, you must know the past

Here are some blogs posted which can not be denied:

The world has changed a lot in the last 150 years, but we humans are driven by the same basic needs as we were 150 years ago, food, sleep, the feeling of being appreciated and loved. Another blogger wrote: Here’s what we will see in the next 50 years: transition from an oil-dependent society, new medicine, further development of artificial intelligence, continued exploration of space, more people to die from AIDS and cancer, hopefully a better state for the poor people in the world, challenges in climate changes, and new inventions to make life easier and more entertaining!

Don Monro, a professor at the University of Bath in England said to NBC News 2 years ago, “I think it’s possible to free us completely from our wallets and keys using biometric technology if that’s what people want in 10 years’ time!”

Today, we have amazing things like IPods and DNA technology; but we also have cancer, AIDS, ethnic cleansing, senseless deaths due to drunkenness, drugs, and hate! We live in exciting and troubling times don’t we? Buckle up your seatbelts!!

More exciting and troubling times are coming!!

What does God say about the future and can we believe Him? The last few weeks we have been looking at evidences which support the reality of God, the validity of the Bible as God’s Word, and Jesus Christ being the only way to heaven and eternal life! And so, the best place to learn about the future is what Jesus says about the future. A good place to start is Matthew 24; please open your bibles there……..

The disciples, like us today, had a question about the future. In verse 3 they asked, Jesus, What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? There are 2 things we can note from this question; the disciples knew Jesus will come back to earth and this age will end.

Before talking about Jesus returning, what is the age that will end? As we can note from Jesus’ descriptions of what will happen, the end of the age is not the end of the world.

Look again at v29-30…..

Jesus will return to earth after a certain age. What is this age that will end before Jesus returns to earth? Jesus came to earth the first time to seek and save the lost, to give the Good News of the gift of forgiveness, and to build His church. The age that will end soon is the Church Age or Age of Grace. We are presently living in the Church Age or Age of Grace which will soon end.

Why will the church age end? The Age of Grace or Church Age will end for the same reason that Jesus must return to earth. Look again at v50-51…..

Jesus Christ will return to earth to judge wickedness.

Let me ask the question: Is the return of Christ believable?

We noted last time the validity of Jesus Christ. Does Jesus need to return to earth? All we have to do is ask ourselves, how wicked has the world become? Based on what you hear in the news, how would you rate the wickedness in the world on a scale of 1-10??

The Evening news is where they begin with ’Good evening’, and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.

Aren’t you tired of the wickedness in the world, including yours and mine? I don’t know about you, but I don’t question the return of Jesus Christ, my plea is “Come now Lord Jesus!” Wickedness must be judged!

Jesus talks about many things happening in the future as birth pains building up till He returns to earth. Yes, many of the things that Jesus mentioned happened right after His death. But again note that Jesus said those things will be happening in intensity till that day when He returns.

Here’s the point, Jesus Christ hasn’t returned to earth yet.

Right now, September 2009, today, we are still living in the Church Age. All the things that Jesus mentioned will happen in intensity until He returns. And so we come to the question, how close are we to the return of Jesus Christ and are those things Jesus predicted believable?

There are many things that Jesus said, let us highlight some of them. We note from Jesus in Matthew 24:4,5,&11 is that many in the future will be deceivers of the truth.