I’ve heard that some people are saying this and I have a real problem with it. I don't believe that God "counts" on us for anything. When He wants something done, He gets it done and He gets it done at the exact microsecond that He intended it to happen from the beginning. To think that we mere humans have somehow messed things up so that the great God who created us couldn't bring us home now, is actually saying that we have more power then God does. It's saying that we have the power to force God to change His plans and I just cannot believe something like that.
There can only be one reason that the rapture hasn't already happened and that's quite simply because God hadn't planned for it to happen yet. The bible says,
Romans 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
If you think about it this makes a lot of sense for a number of reasons. The rapture obviously cannot happen until the full number of Gentiles have been saved. So what we are waiting on is for the last of those that the Father has called to be saved. The moment that last person has accepted Christ as their savior, the trumpet will sound! Once we are raptured, then the time of the Gentiles will be over and God will turn His attention back to the Jews and it will finally be their turn to meet their Messiah!
We cannot say that someone is being stubborn and holding up the works either. As I said before, God knew from before the time He made the earth just exactly when that last person would/will be saved. He isn't hindered by time and space as we are. For all we know that last person might not have been born until 10 years ago and we're just waiting for them to grow and choose Christ. Regardless of that though, as I said, God did and does know so He hasn't changed His plans for anyone or any reason.
1 Samuel 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.”
Psalm 33:11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God knows all things, and He is sovereign. He is in complete control of everything, right down to the smallest detail. To suggest that someone or a group of people have thrown off God’s plans simply isn’t biblically correct. God doesn’t work around us, He doesn’t even need us for anything. Because He loves us though, He does choose to work through us and in us and make us partners in His Work. That doesn’t mean though that He would allow His plans to be interrupted because one or more of us didn’t do our job. I’ve heard people say something similar that if they weren’t able to convince a person to accept Christ then the person wouldn’t be saved, or that they thought that if they didn’t pray for someone then no one would. That’s simply our big egos getting in the way. God always has other people lined up to do the job that someone else has turned down or messed up. (that is, when He’s chosen to work through people anyway). I know for a fact that for many years I thought that no one ever prayed for me, only to find out years later that there had actually been dozens of people all over the world praying for me all those years. I also know that the Lord has had me pray for many people I don’t know and later (sometimes years later) shown them confirmation that they’d been covered by prayer all during their difficult times too. To me, those are simply small examples of how well God takes care of us and how well He orders everything. Knowing that, there’s simply no way I could ever accept that we could do anything that would cause His plans to go awry. Besides which, if we could cause Him to change His plan, then He wouldn't be an all knowing God would He?
There can only be one reason that the rapture hasn't already happened and that's quite simply because God hadn't planned for it to happen yet. The bible says,
Romans 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
If you think about it this makes a lot of sense for a number of reasons. The rapture obviously cannot happen until the full number of Gentiles have been saved. So what we are waiting on is for the last of those that the Father has called to be saved. The moment that last person has accepted Christ as their savior, the trumpet will sound! Once we are raptured, then the time of the Gentiles will be over and God will turn His attention back to the Jews and it will finally be their turn to meet their Messiah!
We cannot say that someone is being stubborn and holding up the works either. As I said before, God knew from before the time He made the earth just exactly when that last person would/will be saved. He isn't hindered by time and space as we are. For all we know that last person might not have been born until 10 years ago and we're just waiting for them to grow and choose Christ. Regardless of that though, as I said, God did and does know so He hasn't changed His plans for anyone or any reason.
1 Samuel 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.”
Psalm 33:11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God knows all things, and He is sovereign. He is in complete control of everything, right down to the smallest detail. To suggest that someone or a group of people have thrown off God’s plans simply isn’t biblically correct. God doesn’t work around us, He doesn’t even need us for anything. Because He loves us though, He does choose to work through us and in us and make us partners in His Work. That doesn’t mean though that He would allow His plans to be interrupted because one or more of us didn’t do our job. I’ve heard people say something similar that if they weren’t able to convince a person to accept Christ then the person wouldn’t be saved, or that they thought that if they didn’t pray for someone then no one would. That’s simply our big egos getting in the way. God always has other people lined up to do the job that someone else has turned down or messed up. (that is, when He’s chosen to work through people anyway). I know for a fact that for many years I thought that no one ever prayed for me, only to find out years later that there had actually been dozens of people all over the world praying for me all those years. I also know that the Lord has had me pray for many people I don’t know and later (sometimes years later) shown them confirmation that they’d been covered by prayer all during their difficult times too. To me, those are simply small examples of how well God takes care of us and how well He orders everything. Knowing that, there’s simply no way I could ever accept that we could do anything that would cause His plans to go awry. Besides which, if we could cause Him to change His plan, then He wouldn't be an all knowing God would He?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please comment so we can grow in faith together and edify each other.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.