The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Maranatha - Come Lord Jesus

Evangelical Universalism
#1

I was in chapel today and as we worshiped God I thought of the saying, “Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus”. And it struck me that whenever in worship or prayer that concept came to mind I always said it with some reluctance. In my heart I was reluctant to cry out for Jesus to return because if He returned I believed that many of my loved ones would go to Hell. His coming involved judgment and the separation of the saved and the unsaved.

Today though, for the first time in my life I spoke those words with my whole heart! Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus! And I was able to do so because of believing that His coming fully reconciles all, fully establishes the Kingdom of God in all of creation. Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus! It is the same cry expressed in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven!” It’s the fulfillment of righteousness, the restoration of all things, the reconciliation of all to God and one another, good triumphing over evil, love succeeding in reconciling all!

Maranatha! Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

#2

“Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

“When two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.”

“You are the body of Christ.”

“The Kingdom of Heaven is within.”

“I will never leave you or forsake you”…

If Jesus never left us, how can he return?

#3

You have a point, Allan,

but I’m still holding out for something a little more, um, successful. I’m pretty sure that WE as the church, the body of Christ (sans visible head) are EVER going to get it together enough to persuade the world of love. So . . . Maranantha! from me as well – please DO. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

#4

this is an important sentence, showing that God is not weak, showing that he is choosing just few people right now,
because Satan is more powerful than us, but not powerful than the Father.

“who overcomes I will give him the Crown of Life (1000 Years Life Bonus)” :laughing:

I believe there are two Kingdoms, first one is the one in our life, in the narrow gate if we are able to find it by hating the things of this world,
as he said love not the world, and the second one is the Millennium reign,

Amen

#5

Amen!

Come quickly, Lord Jesus – may the world be filled with the knowledge of You!

Sonia

#6

If we’re hanging out for a visible, powerful, political leader who floats down from heaven in a cloud, who uses unassailable force to right all wrongs, how are we any different to the 1st C Jews?

The sun has enough fuel for another 5 billion years. Human evolution (God’s preferred method of creation) has barely begun. The Kingdom will rise like leaven in the lump. The rock will grow until it fills the whole earth. The tree will reach the very heavens, and all the birds will roost in its branches. These images are of slow, steady growth, not of cataclysmic, supernatural intervention.

Folks, there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy, and 100 billion galaxies. This is “the earth” of Gen 1, our inheritance. It is ours to possess, and to care for. The world’s not about to end any day soon. Humanity will exist for thousands, perhaps millions, more generations, until we are as numerous as the stars in heaven. And when all is put right, when all the enemies of Christ are defeated, then the End of Time will come.

#7

Not to be unkind, but I honestly don’t think I could come up with anything more depressing than that scenario. When are the dead raised then? Or is it all a hoax? Do we really live on only in our genetic code? Yes – to me, very very depressing. I was hoping that perhaps one day things might be better – I mean personally – for me. Not to be selfish or anything. I do want things to be good for everyone else too – all of us, together. I very much hope you’re mistaken, Allan. I couldn’t handle that being true.

#8

Please note the disclaimer in my sig line! :slight_smile:

If I’m right, the very next thing we’ll be conscious of, after we die, will be Humanity at the height of her glory, spotless and perfect, Queen of all creation, a collective entity capable of being united forever to the eternal Mind of God. All us little people will be part of Her, just as my cells are all part of me. Be it 10 minutes of earth time, or 3 billion years, it will make no difference to us. We will sleep in peace until the dawn.

#9

From what I’ve seen, you’d have to work quite hard to be unkind!

This new and radical view of mine re. the second coming is about, hmmm, let’s see now, 3 hours old? I’m expecting a call from Christianity Today any minute now.

#10

Except for the 3 billion more years part (maybe a few thousand more years), I agree with Allan. :slight_smile:

#11

Hey, that clinches it! :slight_smile:

As for times, Aboriginal people have been in Australia for more than 40000 years. And that’s a mere blink on the geological scale…

#12

Whatever it is that He has planned, I bet it’s going to be amazing. :smiley:

Sonia

#13

If you want to be boggled by some thoughts about the end of the universe, you might like this… theophysics.host56.com/deutsch-e … verse.html

Deutsch is the heavy-duty physicist who dreamed up quantum computers. No one dares call him a crank. Tipler is another big-gun who has attempted to show that God’s existence, the resurrection of the dead, miracles etc are all necessary, being derived from the basic principles of modern physics. Lots of people call him a crank, but Deutsch does not share their opinion… Well worth a read, if you’re interested in this sort of thing. :slight_smile:

#14

An aspect of the kingdom of God is expressed in the phrase “Now and Not Yet”. We now have the kingdom of God within us, and yet we are not yet fully in the kingdom of God. We are now reconciled to God and one another and yet not yet fully reconciled. We are now redeemed from slavery to sin and yet not yet fully experiencing that redemption. The kingdom of God is now and not yet and thus we pray “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” and the cry of our hearts is “Marantha, even so come Lord Jesus”.

How all this works out, I don’t know. The kingdom of God is leaven that permeates the whole lump of dough. It is the tiny mustard seed that grows into a tree. Does this come through cataclysmic change of God’s intervention or the slow steady growth/death seen in nature? How about both! Jesus’ coming was certainly a cataclysmic chage, radically quick move of God in the earth, a tipping point that was building for generations. Our hearts cry out for things to be better for us and all whom we love - “Peace on earth and good will towards all humanity!”

Pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib, a-millenialist, pre-millenialist, post-millenialist - I don’t know. I suppose I’d classify my beliefs a pan-millenialism - “It’s all going to ‘pan’-out in the end!”

#15

My view entirely.

Thing is, lots of Christians believe the world is going to end very, very soon, For them, there is no call to worry too much about environmental issues etc. It’s not as if their children or grandchildren will be affected. Jesus will return and fix everything by magic!

If instead, they believed Jesus would return when every enemy had been overcome, and that we were called to fix the world (not simply to exploit it), and that God would work his miracles only through the faithful labor of our hands, and that this task may well take 100000 years, perhaps they would have a more realistic and responsible attitude towards things.

#16

Yes, for a long time now I’ve leaned towards believing that the Lord’s second coming is not imminent, but might be generations or thousands of years off.