Advent Question of the Day
We at EDN are in a period of reflection and contemplation for these important seasons of Advent and Christmas. Over the next few weeks, our attention will be on raising certain questions that we invite you to comment on. We will return to our series probing controversial questions on January 4th.
Advent looks forward to two arrivals. The anticipation of Jesus coming into the world, and to his return. We live in this “in between” time.
TODAY’S QUESTION: How does the notion of the 2nd coming influence your life, or does it?
Jesus’ many promises of His return, especially in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, influence my life probably more than anything else! Just as the cross preceded the resurrection, this present darkness precedes the LIGHT of His glorious return!!! Lift up your eyes, for His redemption draws nigh! HALLELUJAH! Have a blessed Christmas, and keep your eyes on the eastern sky!
Love in Yeshua,
Nancy
The blessed hope of the Second Advent causes me to realize that I am, like Abraham, a pilgrim and stranger in the earth. Like the heroes of faith, I have here “no lasting city, religious center–not Takoma Park, MD; nor, Salt Lake City, Utah; nor, Rome, Italy; nor, Mecca in Saudi, Arabia; nor, Jerusalem, Israel. We look for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Thine eyes shall behold the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is very far off. Ellen White: “The heavens parted and rolled back. Then we could look up through the open space in Orion, whence came the voice of God. The Holy City will come down through that open space.”
Through the telescope we may like John Bunyan’s Pilgrim catch a view of the “glory streaming from the gates ajar. There we SOON shall enter never more to roam; Here the Angels singing, We are NEARING home!” Christian glimpsed this glory on the delectable mountains, through the “spyglass” of the shepherds. Astronomers tell us that Orion is brightest spot in the heavens. It has also been reported that the nebula is increasing in size and brightness.
“To us in the common walks of life, Heaven may be very near. Heaven and earth today are no wider apart today than when shepherd’s listened to the angel’s song. Angels from the courts above attend the steps of those who come and go at God’s command.” (From Ellen White, in “Desire of Ages.”)
I would like to share a poem which I wrote in the 70,s.
I long to behold Him in Whom my soul delights
Coming down through the ramparts of space
In celestial beauty and loveliness
To rescue the remnant of Adam’s race.
Deliverance He has promised from temptation and death,
Deliverance from sin’s deadly reign;
Look up, ye saints, fresh courage take,
Your Saviour comes again.
Through Orion’s vast vaults, a small black cloud,
The waiting saints their sign of rescue see;
Life’s vanities are crumbling, the earth is giving way,
We have waited for Him, He will set us free.
(Note: This comment was sent to me by my sister Betty Rae and I’m posting it here with her permission. Betty Rae is author of EnerPower Press title Words of Life, Light, and Love. — Henry Neufeld)