The second coming - 13 December 2024
By Ben Fourie
Um(Imi)bhalo weBhayibheli
IsAmbulo 22
IsAmbulo 22
First and second coming – these two cannot be separated. Both are equally important to any believer, but we sometimes give preference to one of them. Christmas is usually the day of the year when churches are full. Christmas conjures up images of a manger, a baby, shepherds and wise men bringing gifts. The biblical visions of the second coming conjures up images of natural disasters and other strange happenings. These images are sometimes scary. No wonder that many believers shy away from the visions of the second coming and find the images surrounding Christmas more to their liking.
This, however, should not be so, the two should not be separated. The baby in the manger is, after all, the same One who will come back to reign as King forever. The branch from the stump of Jesse is also the bright morning star of Revelation. We should never make the first coming more important than the second coming. After all, why should we fear the second coming of Jesus? Revelation is not meant to frighten us, but to comfort us.
The image of Christ as the bright morning star is very special. Early one morning, recently, I was looking at the planet Venus, the beautiful heavenly body that we call the morning star. It brought joy to my life as I remembered what the morning star meant to me. It signals the end of a dark night and is a beautiful metaphor about the new life in Christ. I know that all night and darkness in a spiritual sense are gone. When the real Morning Star will appear at the second coming, the darkness of this world, with its wars, hate and so many bad things, will finally come to an end. The light of God will shine everywhere and nobody will live in darkness anymore.
This is our last Verse-a-day for this year. We wish you a very blessed Christmas and may the bright Morning Star shine on you.
We are, God willing, looking forward to see you again on January 20th when our Verse-a-day will be back for the new year.
Prayer: Father, we thank you that the baby in the manger is now the King in our lives. We pray that during this Christmas, you will give us a view of that time when it will be Christmas forever. Amen
