A: Thanks for sharing this thought with us! Let's break this question down a bit and we'll try to answer every little thing here.
First, the reasons of why you want more time on earth seem innocent enough. Who doesn't want to get married, have a family, travel places? I'm sure no one would argue with that. But in comparison to the coming of Christ, I would dare say that those plans (and all of our plans for that matter), pale in comparison to the glory that would be seen with Christ. I know we all want to have our time here and then go home (as in heaven) after we've had our fun. But that's not the way God works. So I would question whether you would want to honor and glorify God through that marriage, graduation or having a family. Or...do you just want to do those things because you feel as though they would bring YOU joy?
Secondm I asked myself where in the world did you get the idea that 2012 was going to be the day that the world would end? A quick google search answered that question! I understand that there are a lot of prophecies and teachings that tell us that this special day (12.12.12) would be the end times. Including a recent event in the news about a Bubble Boy and needing the money to build an undergrad lair to save him and his family. The truth is, is that we don't know when the end times would come. Jesus does not tell us exactly when He will come back.
The Bible is very clear to us as it says in Mark 13:31-33,
32"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.
We wont know when Christ will come. Through the history of time, there has always been these theories that people say will be the end of the world. But if you believe in the Bible, and you believe the Word of God as true, the above passage needs to be your standard. Don't fall for what false prophets are saying. Listen to the one that is true.
If we don't know the time or place that Christ is coming, what is the point of planning our future if there's a possible He could come tomorrow?
First of all, I think it would pain God to see all of His children being sluggards, waiting for Him to come. We have been gifted with so many things in our life...they are most definitely supposed to be used to glorify Him! Second, God's commands and His word still stands, even in our anticipation of Christ's coming. It's kind of like people arguing why we need to stop sinning if we know that we'll always be sinners and God will forgive us. Just because we know that, does that mean we can stop trying to be better Christians or stop trying to strive to be like Christ? Of course not! We still are to aim our lives as models of Christ, even though we know that we'll never achieve that perfect standard. Do you write your test with the aim to just get only 70%? No...you write it with the mentality that you want to get 100%. And when you don't, you just work harder again next time!
You'll be interested to know that in the 1st Century - during the time of Paul - people in his community felt this way also. They had just witnessed the Crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ and had heard His promise that He would be returning. And so they (people during the Apostle Paul's time), believed that He would be coming back within their lifetime. And so they prepared themselves for His 2nd arrival. Obviously, Christ had not come yet, and so they had no choice but to go on with their lives and strives to live in the example of Christ.
[This is one of the reasons why we have the written Gospels and the writings of the New Testament. The Jewish culture is a very oral culture; as in they passed down stories not in writing, but verbally. When the people saw that Christ was not coming back any time soon, they felt it was necessary to preserve the truth in writing, so that the future generations would know what really happened. Hence, we have the Gospels and the Epistles.]
Since we do not know the day or hour in which Christ will come back again, we need to simply follow the commands set out for us in the Bible and also with the example given to us with Jesus. We need to still strive to submit and follow our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Answered by Pastor Kelly J. Tam]
If we don't know the time or place that Christ is coming, what is the point of planning our future if there's a possible He could come tomorrow?
First of all, I think it would pain God to see all of His children being sluggards, waiting for Him to come. We have been gifted with so many things in our life...they are most definitely supposed to be used to glorify Him! Second, God's commands and His word still stands, even in our anticipation of Christ's coming. It's kind of like people arguing why we need to stop sinning if we know that we'll always be sinners and God will forgive us. Just because we know that, does that mean we can stop trying to be better Christians or stop trying to strive to be like Christ? Of course not! We still are to aim our lives as models of Christ, even though we know that we'll never achieve that perfect standard. Do you write your test with the aim to just get only 70%? No...you write it with the mentality that you want to get 100%. And when you don't, you just work harder again next time!
You'll be interested to know that in the 1st Century - during the time of Paul - people in his community felt this way also. They had just witnessed the Crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ and had heard His promise that He would be returning. And so they (people during the Apostle Paul's time), believed that He would be coming back within their lifetime. And so they prepared themselves for His 2nd arrival. Obviously, Christ had not come yet, and so they had no choice but to go on with their lives and strives to live in the example of Christ.
[This is one of the reasons why we have the written Gospels and the writings of the New Testament. The Jewish culture is a very oral culture; as in they passed down stories not in writing, but verbally. When the people saw that Christ was not coming back any time soon, they felt it was necessary to preserve the truth in writing, so that the future generations would know what really happened. Hence, we have the Gospels and the Epistles.]
Since we do not know the day or hour in which Christ will come back again, we need to simply follow the commands set out for us in the Bible and also with the example given to us with Jesus. We need to still strive to submit and follow our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Answered by Pastor Kelly J. Tam]
