Post by Michael James Stone on Jul 26, 2012 13:22:21 GMT -8
The Redeemer's Return
Chapter One
The Need of the Redeemer's Return
Is there any real need for Christ to return?
So far as God's children are concerned only one answer is possible to this question. There is. Christians of every shade of religious belief are agreed that there is an imperative need for our Lord to come back again. As to the precise character of that need, as to the particular urgency of that need, opinions may vary, but concerning the need itself this is universally admitted.
Even post-millennarians teach that Christ must come back at the end of time to judge the wicked and reward the righteous. But we hope to show that the need for His return is much deeper and much wider than the reason put forth by the post-millennarians.
Suppose Christ never returns--then what? Has this alternative been weighed as it deserves? The present order of things cannot continue indefinitely; such a supposition is unthinkable. No one is satisfied with present conditions. Even those who despise the teachings of God's Word, hope for a better day, a Golden Age, an era of blessedness, such as this earth has never yet witnessed. And pre-millennarians believe that this Golden Age can be ushered in by nothing short of the personal return of Christ Himself. Here then, in general, is the reason why we believe the Redeemer must come back again. We say "in general," for in the remainder of this chapter we shall seek to show there is at least a tenfold necessity for our Lord's Second Advent.
Chapter One
The Need of the Redeemer's Return
Is there any real need for Christ to return?
So far as God's children are concerned only one answer is possible to this question. There is. Christians of every shade of religious belief are agreed that there is an imperative need for our Lord to come back again. As to the precise character of that need, as to the particular urgency of that need, opinions may vary, but concerning the need itself this is universally admitted.
Even post-millennarians teach that Christ must come back at the end of time to judge the wicked and reward the righteous. But we hope to show that the need for His return is much deeper and much wider than the reason put forth by the post-millennarians.
Suppose Christ never returns--then what? Has this alternative been weighed as it deserves? The present order of things cannot continue indefinitely; such a supposition is unthinkable. No one is satisfied with present conditions. Even those who despise the teachings of God's Word, hope for a better day, a Golden Age, an era of blessedness, such as this earth has never yet witnessed. And pre-millennarians believe that this Golden Age can be ushered in by nothing short of the personal return of Christ Himself. Here then, in general, is the reason why we believe the Redeemer must come back again. We say "in general," for in the remainder of this chapter we shall seek to show there is at least a tenfold necessity for our Lord's Second Advent.