Feed Your Soul: Hallowed Days {Future Events, Afterlife}

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him,” (Matthew 24:36, 42-44).

 

Jesus Christ is coming again.

He will make known His glory to the whole world.

He will forever eradicate evil and death from among us.

He will be King on the throne.

He will come with His righteous judgment and rewards.

 

Hope Mommies believes in a two-phase second coming of the Lord. The first phase is the rapture of the church, which will happen quickly and without warning—in the twinkling of an eye—and the second phase is His coming at the end of the 7-year tribulation in visible, bodily glory when all will confess Him to be Lord.[1]

 

How sweet are these words about Jesus’ Second Advent for us as grieving mothers!

 

The Bible warns that in the last days, some will mock the church for believing promises of Christ’s second coming saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation,” (2 Peter 3:4). Perhaps others have cast shadows on your hope.

 

But remember, not all things have continued “as they were” since the beginning of creation. Jesus Christ has come to earth for the first time, changing everything about our present and future realities as believers with His sacrificial death and resurrection.  He has left the Holy Spirit to be with us during this age.  Much has changed since the beginning of creation.

 

Even though death, sorrow, and sin are still a part of this earthly reality, mankind – believers and unbelievers alike – has witnessed historical events involving Jesus Christ. We as believers know His coming in history (His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and appearances) means that He is in the business of faithfully fulfilling His plan and promises for us and this world. Because not everything has remained the same, we know that more future changes will certainly come just as He has said.  And when He comes again, all people will see that you and I have been shaped by His very real promises.

 

He is coming again.

 

And He could be coming back for us to meet Him in the air at any moment. Imagine that!

His imminent, any-minute coming means we are a watchful people.

 

We know that our Master could return today, so we watch for Him expectantly.  We are as much looking to the skies as we are looking to our next task on earth.  Jesus says that this perspective shapes our actions rightly.

 

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (Matthew 24:45-51). 

 

Our grief is shaped by His promises. Our grief itself, as we saw in our last post, is something entrusted to us. It is something through which to suffer, cry, lean on others, and ultimately depend upon God.  Through the tears, it is something to offer to the Lord saying, “Here is my grief, will You glorify Yourself in this?” And as we are faithful to His calling upon us to trust Him about His purposes for our lives and timing for the fulfillment of His promises, our actions inevitably and rightly follow. We hear the words of encouragement from Jesus echo in our joyous hearts: “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”

 

Yet, how exactly are our perspectives and actions shaped by His promises when some days, the best we can do is cry and miss our babies? Some days, the sovereign plan of God for us is to pour out our tears before Him. Some days, that is the very best we can do as people facing this tremendous sorrow.  I want to speak to those days now. Those days are hallowed. They hold our tears over our babies, tears precious to God (Psalm 56:8). They also hold the expectation of our hope as our hope is made to feel all the more dear to us because of our tears.

 

Each tear-filled day is hallowed. Waiting upon Him, who could appear at any moment, is hallowed.

 

Each day could be the one of the culmination of His promises and our longings. Let’s look to the skies: watching, trusting, knowing His timing is perfect, and “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” (Titus 2:13).

 

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

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Hope Mommies doctrinal statement excerpts:

[1] FUTURE EVENTS: We believe that the next event in the fulfillment of the prophetic calendar will be the coming of Jesus Christ in the air to receive the believers who have fallen asleep in Him, and those who are alive on the earth (John 14:1-3; I Cor. 15:51-52; I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 3:10). After the translation (rapture) of the Church, the seventieth week of Daniel (seven-year tribulation period) will begin. The whole period of the seven years of tribulation will be a time of judgment on Israel and the Gentile nations (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15-21; Rev. 16:19-21). We believe the great tribulation of the earth will be climaxed by the bodily return of the Lord to the earth. Christ, in great glory, will bring with Him the church-age saints (His bride) as He begins the program to restore the creation from the curse, bind Satan, give Israel her promised land, and fulfill the covenants in a thousand-year reign (Millennial Kingdom). At the end of the thousand-year reign, Christ will give the Kingdom to the Father and all believers from all ages will dwell in the new heavens and new earth with the new Jerusalem at its center. (Deut. 30:1-10; Isaiah 11:9, 65:17, 66:22; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Matt. 24:15-25, 46; Acts 15:16-17; Romans 8:19-23, 11:25-27; I Cor. 15:24; I Tim. 4:1-3; II Tim. 3:1-5; II Pet. 3:10; Rev.21-22)

AFTERLIFE: We believe that at death, the spirit and soul of the believer passes immediately into the presence of the Lord, is made perfect and, at the appointed time, will be rejoined with a new resurrection body in a glorified condition. We believe that the spirit and soul of the unbeliever at death experience condemnation and misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the thousand-year Kingdom. At this final judgment, the soul and spirit of the unbeliever are united with a body and cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished forever with eternal destruction and banishment from the presence of the Almighty Lord of Glory. (Matt. 25:46; Luke 16:19-26; I Cor. 15:21-26, 35-49; II Cor. 5:9; Phil. 1:21, 23; II Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 20:11-15)

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The “Feed Your Soul” blog series takes the bereaved mother through Scriptural doctrines, which are beautiful truths preserved through the ages by God’s sovereignty to be food for her soul as she grieves.

Read the past posts in this series:

Feed Your Soul: God are You Silent? {Bible}

Feed Your Soul: Where Can I Find Rest? {The Godhead & The Father}

Feed Your Soul: Eternity at Stake {Man & Hell}

Feed Your Soul: Between Now and Eternity {The Holy Spirit & Assurance}

Feed Your Soul: From Shadows to Singing {Church Ordinances}

Feed Your Soul: Mothers Suffering Well {Sanctification, The Responsibility of the Believer, & Suffering}

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