The Beginning and the End

John 1:1-2 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God... 

I came across the following description of Jesus:

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the Child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. 

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His Divine manhood. 

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a Cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was His coat. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. 

Such was His human life—He rises from the dead. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the Centerpiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life. 

James C. Hefley

Jesus is a Man that still stirs hearts and causes controversy. Yet He cannot be diminished, no matter how much the world wants to see that happen. He is risen and is alive today. I can't imagine what He thinks about what is happening today in the world. I wonder sometimes if He's chomping at the bit to receive the word from His Father to return. And He WILL return one day. All knees will bow and all confess Him as Lord (either out of reverence to Him or in humiliation). Whether a person believes in Him that day or not, they will bow. In a way I hope to see this happen in my lifetime. His return will be heaven on earth for one thousand years.

Revelation 20:1-6 - Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not His on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Day by day we see evidence that this world is imploding. Prophetic signs are more and more recognizable. We cannot even imagine just how bad things must become before Jesus returns. I  ask that you open your hearts to Christ. My prayer is that your hearts would turn to the One who matters most. As the world crumbles around us, He remains our Rock and our solid ground. He never changes. All that has been prophesied will be. He alone is our refuge. He is the Tower we can run into for safety. Allow yourself to be changed for the better and for eternity. 

We just cannot imagine what the world will be like under the Kingship of Jesus Christ. One of my favorite songs, I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me, gives me goosebumps when I hear it. To think that only a small percentage of this world will embrace the only Way, Truth and Life is sad. Consider Him because... 

As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?...And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last." (Psalm 18:30-31, Revelation 1:17)