We've a story to tell to the nations

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noon-day bright,
And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth
The kingdom of love and light.

Is Christ only victorious in theory?

Christ has given us the victory! But.. has he? Many of us may have a hard time believing this because we grew up hearing that we were helpless. We were acquainted from an early age with Bible stories that portrayed God as a powerful judge that is ready to punish evildoers. We may have also learned from the Ten Commandments that we could not measure up to God's standards and that we deserved hell as the result. However, we heard the good news that Christ, the Son of God, came to earth to save evildoers like us. Finally, we placed our faith in him hoping that God would, perhaps, place Christ in front of us and spare us from our punishment. For us, it was obvious that God only loved the "Christ" part in us, and not really us!

Not only were we taught that God loves us in spite of who we are, but we were also told that Christianity is about to be extinguished, and we must do what we can to hold the last forts. The world keeps getting worse and worse, and no matter what good efforts may be done, they will ultimately die out. "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" commands a resounding "No!" The message that we must spread to the world is that there is a doomsday coming, and it is to their best interests to be counted with the Lord's people before they ultimately disappear from the face of the earth. The worst is yet to come, and it will do us no good to attempt to fix a world that is setting up the stage for the coming Antichrist.

The Bible gives us a more optimistic outlook! The truth is that Christ came to "take away the sin of the world." When we placed our faith in Him, we received the Holy Spirit in his entirety and all of the spiritual resources we'll ever need for "life and godliness." We still sin in this life, but God has ordained that we would "grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," which means that, as we increase in our awareness of who we are in Christ, we will also increase in our love, joy and obedience. Jesus died so he can have all of us: our body, mind, and personality. Your sins were already judged at the cross, and you will only find pleasure, love and grace in your Father's face.

The destruction of Jerusalem
brought about Great Tribulation.

In a wider scale, we know that this world is in need of redemption. What is ahead of us, however, is not a worldwide tribulation of destruction. Christ fulfilled his prophecies of destruction when Jerusalem was sieged and destroyed about 40 years after Christ's death. The last book of the Bible revealed (as the name suggests) the judgment that would "shortly come to pass." The religion of Judaism was judged, its Temple (which kept it going) obliterated, and the Way of Christ emerged from its ashes! The Kingdom of God is here, among us, and Jesus Christ will bring it to "earth, as it is in heaven."

The Bible promises us that one day
every knee will bow to Christ
as the Reigning King!

We must have in mind "that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet." Because of the advent of the Information Age, we are more aware of the depravity of the human race around the world. However, this is not an indicator that the world is becoming worse. The Scriptures provide us with ample evidence that human depravity was seen at its fullest in times past. The truth is that this is the best moment for the church! There are more Christians on earth than there ever were in its 2,000 years of history. Moreover, communications have improved to such a degree that the gospel can be proclaimed in hundreds of countries simultaneously. Christ has overcome, and all nations will one day bow before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who "makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; breaks the bow and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire."