How Will the World be Different When Christ Returns? (Part 1)

The world’s history has been one of oppression, warfare, famines, disease, and other evils that have plagued mankind. What the world needs is a new kind of government, a government not of Satan, nor of men, but of God, the benevolent Creator, and author of every blessing, including life itself (James 1:17-25; Acts 17:24-25). The time when that happens may not be far off, although no one on earth knows for certain the exact time when it will happen (Matthew 24:30-36).

How that future world will be different is the exciting and profoundly encouraging subject of a series of sermons, of which this is the first.

“How Will the World be Different When Christ Returns (Part 1),” by Rod Reynolds, COGMessenger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How the Feast of Tabernacles Reveals God’s Grace

What is pictured by God’s Feast of Tabernacles reveals a richness, depth and magnitude to God’s grace far beyond what most have imagined. Among the gifts to be given: salvation, liberation, just government, an end to evils such as crime, fraud, theft, etc., long life, abundance for all, and these are just the beginning of blessings God will pour out on mankind.

“How the Feast of Tabernacles Reveals God’s Grace,” by Rod Reynolds, COGMessenger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

What Does God Require?

The ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah were destroyed because the people were not faithful to their covenant with God. The physical Temple was destroyed multiple times because of unfaithfulness. God is now building his dwelling place, a spiritual temple. What does God require of those involved in that process?

“What Does God Require?” COGMessenger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Right and Wrong: Who Decides?

When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States on March 4, 1861, seven states in the South had already declared their secession from the Union. Despite what you may have heard or read to the contrary, the reason for secession was the question of slavery. Lincoln stated it in his inaugural address: “One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute.”

While whether slavery should be extended or not was the immediate political issue of the moment, the contention actually went deeper. There were many abolitionists who felt that slavery such as it existed in the United States at the time was a moral wrong, an evil that should be not just limited but abolished. Many abolitionists had in fact supported the proposition in the 1840’s that states favoring the abolition of slavery should separate from the South (en.wikipedia.org, “Secession in the United States,” retrieved July 17, 2020).

There were two starkly different views, as Lincoln said, of right and wrong. Who is to decide what is right and wrong?

Continue reading

God of Justice

Scripture prophesies that Jesus Christ, who is God, is coming soon as this age draws to a close to administer his government over the entire world.

Note the following prophecy concerning the second coming of Jesus Christ: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” (Revelation 11:15).

And in the book of Daniel: “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

Among the qualities of that government to rule all nations, we are assured, is justice.

A prophetic psalm proclaims: “The Lord reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad! Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne” (Psalms 97:1-2).

… the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him” (Isaiah 30:18).

Let’s examine what the Bible tells us about God as the “God of Justice.”

Continue reading