[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 18/Nov/2018]
Last Sunday’s service was very moving as we thought of the Armistice 100 years ago to end the First World War, and remembered the sacrifice of those who died in that war and subsequent wars to give us peace today.
We shall soon have our thoughts on Advent and the coming of Jesus. One Old Testament prophecy that is often quoted is Isaiah 9:6 – 7 and is relevant to our thoughts of war in the past. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus came 2000 years ago and yet our world is still full of wars and death but He is still the Prince of Peace.
The Old Testament has two sets of promises about the coming Messiah, Jesus. First as a Suffering Servant and then as a powerful, worldwide king. He fulfilled the first prophecies when he died on the cross and as we believe in Him He gives us forgiveness and cleansing, and peace with God. But after He came back to life and went to be with His Father in heaven, there are many prophecies in the Bible that He will come again. Then He will fulfil the other prophecies about His coming to be King of Kings when we shall see Him as truly the Prince of Peace.
At the Ascension two men in white said to the disciples, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11) Jesus himself said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3)
Paul describes this momentous event in 1 Thess. 4:16 – 17.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
Following this, Jesus will again stand on this earth and begin His reign of peace over all those remaining in the world who had not been raised. If taken literally, this will last for a thousand years as we see in Revelation 20:1 – 6 and by His grace we shall reign with Him. He will restore creation and there will be no wars, no poverty, no famine and not even global warming nor plastic pollution. In fact, He will show us how we should have been caring for this world for the past few thousand years. Here are some of the prophecies in the Bible that point to what it will be like in His coming kingdom.
“In his days the righteous will flourish: prosperity will abound till the moon is no more. He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” “All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.” (Psalm 72:7 – 8, 11)
“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.” (Isaiah 11:6 – 7)
“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)
I haven’t room for more verses about His kingdom, or even to talk about the new heavens and a new earth which follow after.
As we remember the past let’s also look forward to the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus, coming again to reign. At the end of the Bible, Jesus says
“Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
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Contributed by Michael Goble; © the Author
