The way to prepare for Christ’s Second Coming, is found in John 3:16-19: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Our Bible reminds us that getting religious does not prepare us for death or for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We also read in chapter 3 of John’s gospel about an especially important religious leader in Jerusalem coming to Jesus one night to question Him about His power to do so many amazing miracles. Jesus sensed the man’s hunger for spiritual truth, so His first words to Nicodemus were, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Jesus is the only way to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). We cannot earn our salvation by our good works; we are all sinners, but Christ died for our sins. To be “born again” we must ask His forgiveness and turn from our sins—that is called repentance. We are saved by God’s grace when we have faith in Jesus and believe that He is the son of God, who died on the cross to pay our debt of sin, and that He was resurrected and is seated at the right hand of our Heavenly Father hearing our prayers. We are now adopted into God’s redeemed family and ready to live the Christian life. Of course, this includes a life of prayer, reading our Bible, taking time to worship God, growing in faith, and finding a body of believers for fellowship.
Our Bible does not tell us what church to attend, but we need to go where the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached and where we can learn to understand the scriptures that we read. It is important to study scripture with a pastor or teacher who understands both the Old and the New Testaments and is prepared to answer our questions.
Growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is essential to our being ready for death or for the Second Coming of Christ. The faithful Christian will go to heaven when death comes or when caught up to heaven when Jesus comes. No one on earth knows when the Second Coming will happen. It is God’s secret, and we are warned that we must be ready. We read in our Bible that God has decided to delay the Second Coming. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).
Closing Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray for those believers in Jesus Christ who are struggling, tempted, discouraged, and confused. Help them realize that when they trusted in Jesus as their Savior, the Holy Spirit came to indwell, enlighten, empower, and guide them in living as a believer. I pray that they will allow the Holy Spirit to help them learn to pray and to overcome temptations. Satan always feels a loss when people decide to turn to Christ, and he will do his best to win them back. But may they make up their mind to fight the good fight, learn more about how to live in the power of the Spirit, and be prepared when the Christ appears to call them home in either death or the Second Coming. I pray for them in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Note: All scripture is from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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