EVERY EYE WILL SEE BEHOLD HE IS COMING

EVERY EYE WILL SEE “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, AND EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM, EVEN THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM; AND ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN OVER HIM…I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, SAYS THE LORD GOD, WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY” (REV. 1: 7 -8)

Three Fragments �“The babe lying in a manger…” (Luke 2: 16) �“While He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven…” (Luke 24: 51) �“This same Jesus…shall so come in the manner as you have seen Him go…” (Acts 1: 11) �All from Luke to give a complete picture from cradle to the grave to the resurrection and ascension. �The ascension mentioned twice. Once looks backward. Born to be raised. �The other looks forward. He will come again!

He Who Was… �The birth of a child to a young woman far from home isn’t unusual. �But beneath the surface is the true miracle. �Announced by angels, worshipped by shepherds and wise men alike. �Isaiah 9: 6 -7 �Phil. 2: 6 ff – The eternal God passed into human form to become one of us – Heb. 2: 17 -18 �Only from the stable can we see what God truly did for all the lowly, humiliated people of earth.

And Is… �From the manger to the mountain. �The one born of a virgin cannot decay in a grave. �The place: near where he conquered death for Lazarus, and His eyes filled with tears (Matt. 23: 37), near Gethsemane. �The manner of the ascension: No whirlwind or chariot of fire. A cloud. He floated upward by His own will and power. �Shechinah - Cloud of God’s glory. Tabernacle and Temple. He was received into it.

And Is To Come… �John 16: 28 �The birth and its events lead to the ascension. �Ascension leads to His coming again (John 14: 3). �Surrounded by angels, not as guards but as part of the Divine glory. (Matt. 16: 27)

Threefold Purpose �At birth Jesus showed us what God is, what we were and what we could become because of Him. �At mount of ascension He shows us we are “brethren” (Heb. 2: 11; 7: 25). �Coming back to judge and reward.