Blog Search Results

The Gospel of Jeffrey Dahmer

...face the judgement of God, just as we all will, for “it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgement” (Heb 9:27). Looking also at what Paul writes to the Corinthian church, he speaks of God’s judgement on “the Day” as a fire which will burn up all our works and leave behind whatever good works we did through Christ in us as the foundation (see also Malachi 3:2–3). 1 Corinthians 3:14–15If what has been built on the foundation [of Jesus] survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire. I suspect Dahmer will suffer loss on th...

The Coming of Jesus: Our Future Hope - What Now?

...onouncing judgement on the nations. This judgement came by the hand of other nations with their armies, used by God for His purposes – and what Jesus spoke of was no different. God used the Roman armies to sack Jerusalem and burn the temple to the ground, as prophesied, and did this as punishment upon His own people for the rejection and death of the Messiah (Mark 12:1-9) and for all the blood of the prophets the nation of Israel killed over the centuries (Luke 11:49-51).   Examining the Olivet Discourse in some detail alongside contemporary historical accounts by Josephus revealed that the Great Tribulation foretold by Jesus certainly was great and terribl...

Armageddon Is Not A Battle Plan: What Revelation Actually Says — And Why It Matters Right Now

...of divine judgement, not a literal battle report. Ezekiel 39 employs similarly extreme imagery to the same end. This is how apocalyptic literature works: it uses visceral, overwhelming imagery to convey the finality and completeness of God’s judgement, not to describe the mechanics by which it is carried out. And crucially, John himself holds the tension in plain sight — the robe of the rider is stained with blood before the confrontation even begins (Rev. 19:13). It is the blood of the cross, not of conquest. The imagery is paradoxical by design, because the entire theological argument of the book is paradoxical: the Lion conquers as a slain Lamb. To fl...

The Problem of Suffering and How We Approach it

...under any judgement or that they were any worse than another person — though there are certain times where God's judgement was on someone, but these things are explained in Scripture so we can expect them (see: Acts 12:22-23 and 1 Cor 11:28-32). We can infer consequential suffering from Jesus’ teaching when he speaks about a local tragedy of a tower collapsing and killing some people: Luke 13: 4-5 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No […] Can we do anything about it? Christianity isn't about trying to philosophise about why...

The Coming of Jesus: The Olivet Discourse – Part 1

...he coming judgement and destruction of the temple. The Olivet discourse is the prophecy given by Jesus in the Gospels of Mark 13, Matthew 24, Luke 21. Most Christians are probably more familiar with the Matthew 24-25 version than the others, though they are all the same prophetic message of impending judgement. If you're at all familiar with any doctrine or teaching on the "Second Coming" or "End Times", then these passages in the Gospels are most often quoted and used to say that Jesus is talking about a terrible time that is coming in the far, far, far off future, usually interpreted to mean within our lifetime (for some reason). I, too, used to believe...

Who is the New Jerusalem?

...after the judgement etc. – then who are the people outside of it?   There is one passage in Revelation which talks about reigning on Earth, though. But it isn’t Jesus doing it, not physically at least. Revelation 5:10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.   Who are the “they” mentioned in this verse? All those who were “redeemed for God by [Jesus’] blood” (Rev 5:9, cf. Rev 1:6)! This is also a fulfillment of what Daniel foresaw in his visions: Daniel 7:18 But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever, yes, forever and ever.   But it doesn’t stop...