Earlier this week, Ruth and I visited the cemetery where the remains of my parents, grandparents, and several of my aunts and uncles are buried. It was a bit sobering to reflect on their past lives now etched in bronze and marble. I know my parents (and a sister who died at age 3, before I was born) are with Jesus in Heaven and I very much look forward to seeing them.
As for us, as weary saints who continue to traverse through this wicked and lawless world, there’s no greater joy amid our struggles and sorrows than looking forward to the astounding joys of Heaven. It will be a paradise that far exceeds even our most fanciful imaginations.
In 1 Corinthians 15:47-54, Philippians 3:20-21, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, the Apostle Paul describes the event that we today refer to as the "Rapture." It's the time we receive our glorified bodies, meet Jesus in the air, and return with Him to glory, or Heaven (see Colossians 3:4). Even if you are young, strong, athletic, and in excellent health, the glorified body Jesus gives to you on that day will still be a vast improvement. If you are older like me . . . let's just say I’m looking forward to my imperishable body and not a day goes by when it doesn’t fill my heart with joyful anticipation of the future.
I often write about the signs of the rapidly approaching seven-year Tribulation, which are converging like at no other time in history. We surely live in biblical times. I cannot stretch my imagination far enough to conceive of a scenario that would change the course of this world and delay the rapidly approaching Day of the Lord.
My purpose here, however, is not to expound further upon the many reasons why we live in in the season of Jesus' appearing, but rather to explain why it's a cause for great jubilation regardless of our circumstances.
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