Hi Jan,
Thanks for your reply.
You wrote: Only a very short reply, since the "list" will most likely not be
interested.
I'm starting to have a hard time figuring out what subjects "the list" might
be interested in and what subjects are considered "politically correct" to
discuss here.
You wrote: Also, I do not have time for a lengthy discussion if we do not
start from the same premises, and we don't as someone else already said.
We don't? That's news to me. My beliefs about Christ's return are pretty
"mainstream" and are certainly not chiseled in stone. I'm still growing in
this area of Christian learning like most other areas.
You wrote: Only this, I read in the Bible as well, that all nations will have
heard God's word before the end comes.
You are probably referring to Matt. 24:14 which quotes Christ as having said,
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
There are a few things to consider here. Such as to whom Christ was then
speaking and to which "end" he was primarily referring. Of course, we know
Christ was then speaking to His first century disciples. The "world" in which
they lived, and the only world they knew, was the Roman world of which the
Jewish world was then a part. The "end" to which Jesus then referred His
disciples most likely understood to be the end of the Jewish age, since that
is what Jesus had clearly then just been speaking of (Matt. 24:2), and since
that was "the end" His disciples had clearly then just asked Him about.
(Matt. 24:3) Christ's first century disciples had no knowledge or
comprehension of the "world" as we know it today. It is also certainly
possible that Christ was using hyperbole, as He often did. (His referring to
the mustard seed as being the smallest of all seeds and to a rich man as
having a harder time getting into the kingdom than a camel passing through
the eye of a needle are some examples which come to mind.)
Considering such things, the apostle Paul's words in Col.1:23 make perfect
sense. There he wrote that by the latter half of the first century "the
gospel" had "been proclaimed to every creature under heaven." Thus it seems
that Paul probably understood Christ's prophecy in Matt. 24:14 as having both
a less than global meaning and a first century fulfillment.
This is not to say that I believe Christ's words recorded in Matt. 24:14
applied only to the first century. Though "preterists" understand Christ's
words in such a way, I am not a preterist. At least not a "full preterist"
anyway. I believe Christ's words were intended to have a secondary and larger
fulfillment prior to His as yet future return. However, even with that being
true, we should keep in mind that Christ only said that the Gospel would be
preached to all nations, not to every person in all nations. There are now
Christian missionaries preaching the Gospel in all nations of the world. With
this fact in mind, I believe Christ could return tomorrow to judge the world
and his prophecy in Matt. 24:14, even if applied to our day and to our modern
much larger world, would be found fulfilled.
However, all that being said, from my reading of the scriptures I still think
that Christ is, most likely, returning to judge only the Christian world.
My opinion, for what it's worth.
Mike
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