The World & the Church: where are we heading?
The Bible is God’s direct communication to mankind. From Genesis to Revelation we are told how God’s creation began and, later, how the earth will be replaced with a new heaven and new earth ( Revelation:21:1 ). The Bible also tells us of significant events that have taken place (e.g., man’s disobedience, Christ’s birth, crucifixion, and resurrection to reconcile mankind to God) and what will take place (the Rapture of the church, the Great Tribulation, and the brief establishment of the religion and kingdom of the Antichrist [2] ) just prior to the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The focus of this three-part series has been eschatology, which is what Scripture declares about the last days when Jesus will return to set up His 1,000-year reign on the earth. In last month’s newsletter, I gave examples of how diverse religious groups, many professing to be Christian, are being influenced, even conditioned, to fit in with the religion of the Antichrist...