Maranatha. “Our Lord, come!”
Each time my feet touched the floor during the night, the light of the moon shone in through the windows of our home. With the moon’s light, there was no need to click on a light, for the Lord’s nightlight illuminated the areas I needed to walk. Even in the darkness of the night and early morning, the steady and faithful lights (the day’s sunlight and the night’s moonlight) remind us who commands and controls the world.
Solomon, in all his wisdom given to him by the LORD wrote:
“Let them fear You while the sun endures,
(The Psalms 72: 5-6 NASB)
And as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
May he come down like rain upon the mown grass,
Like showers that water the earth.”
We who read the Word of God study to learn what is to come, what some call the “signs of the times.” Maybe you and I have years to live, maybe months. Possibly, we have mere days, hours, minutes or even seconds before the Lord returns for us. Truthfully, Christ could come at this very moment, and He could just return for me, for you, or collectively for all who believe. Whenever AND However Christ returns is God’s exact timing to determine; nonetheless, to be ready for when the Lord Jesus Christ rises from the throne of grace and steps forth from heaven onto earth—the readiness and responsibility is ours.
Friend, are you ready?
If Christ came at this very second—for you—are you prepared to meet the Lord?
Are we each ready for His Day of Judgment?
These are not words of fear but words of preparedness, of readiness, of God’s Love.
In the final book and in the final chapter of the Bible, of God’s Holy Word, the apostle John wrote these words to show us heaven’s realness:
“There will no longer be any curse;
(The Revelation to John 22: 3-6 NASB)
and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;
they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
And there will no longer be any night;
and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun,
because the Lord God will illumine them;
and they will reign forever and ever.
And he said to me,
“These words are faithful and true”;
and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets,
sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.”
There is a word, one that has been spoken into our ears since the day we were conceived: Maranatha. This is Aramaic, one that translates “Our Lord, come!”
Heaven is Real.
It is a real, physical place for all who choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross and in the grave.
Hell is Real too!
It is also a real, physical place for all who choose to live throughout their lives in disbelief, who have repeatedly said, “NO” to the prompting of God’s Holy Spirit.
Human beings are in desperate need of rescue. We need a Light, one that pierces the thick darkness of Sin and Death.
WE NEED DELIVERANCE and WE NEED THE ‘BRIGHT MORNING STAR’ of the LORD JESUS CHRIST!
For generations, pastors and Sunday School teachers, deacons, faithful ones, parents, grandparents, and those who love God and who have given their hearts to Jesus have proclaimed the second coming of Jesus. Maranatha is a profound expression, one of Hope, of Prayer, of Anticipation for the second appearing of Christ Jesus. This is repeated in the wise words of Solomon, as well as within countless other biblical passages.
“If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.
(The 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 16: 22-23 NASB)
Maranatha.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.”