Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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Today is a transition day between the last installment of my old book (1993) The Biblical Case for the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact (BCSCAF) and the first installment of the my book (2026) The Implications of the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact (ISCAF). Once this second book is completed, the two books will be paired in the same way as two previous books I’ve written: The Biblical Case for Everyone Going to Heaven (1993) and The Implications of Everyone Going to Heaven (1994).
I wrote BCSCAF in 1993. It didn’t occur to me at the time to write an “Implications” book to follow it. There are several likely reasons why this idea didn’t occur to me, but explaining them to you is not worth your time. What is worth your time is to know that I had the opportunity this year to read BCSCAF again closely as I was breaking it into daily installments for you. While I was engaged in this project, it occurred to me that I wouldn’t have written the book much differently if I were writing it from scratch today. The Scripture and logic I used all those years ago has held up well. I could wish I was a better writer and a better proofreader, but the essence of the book was worthy of the subject. I only wish more people would read and consider it.
In 1993, the idea of the Second Coming as accomplished fact was new to me. I was excited about it, and wanted to share it with others. It explained so much! It showed how we should have trusted Jesus more. It showed why end-of-the world predictions have been so many, so varied, and so…wrong. But I have learned that people don’t mind believing something that is wrong as long as there’s group that thinks it’s right, that has social status, and that can be joined.
I urge you not to follow people in this way. Rather, think through truth as though God is the only audience that matters. Decide what is right and wrong in His sight…and no one else’s. Truth is not determined by majority vote. It’s determined by God and recognized by conscience. Note in Jeremiah’s passage below the difference between a man who trusts people and a man who trusts the Lord.
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the LORD,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the LORD.
Jeremiah 17:6 “For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD.
Jeremiah 17:8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
If Jesus Christ did not come again in the 1st century as He promised (Matthew 10:23; 16:28; 24:34), then we today are in the same predicament the apostle Paul said we’d be in if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion according to the Scriptures – which is that we would be “of all men most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:1-22). In other words, if Jesus’ Second Coming didn’t occur in the 1st-century, we’re all fools for believing Him. But it did occur then…so let’s dig into it so we can learn more about what it means for us in the 21st century. See you tomorrow for the first installment of The Implications of the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact.
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