Luke 21:25-28 English Standard Version

The Coming of the Son of Man

25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Some of us look to prophecy for signs of this coming. Many will say “It is about time.” Maybe it is or maybe it isn’t but one thing is set in stone that has to end before His coming in this fashion.

He ended verse 24 with this prophecy, not until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. That is another expression for the church age, the conversion of the gentiles into the family of God, the completion of Christ’s bride, His church.

What is important here is our attitude if we indeed believe the time is short. Straighten up.

The events in the world are beating us down. In many ways we feel helpless when the truth is far from it. We, the church, are the only ones with hope. If we do believe the end of the church age is just a matter of time, then straighten up and get back to doing the work left to complete the time of the gentiles.

There is planting to be done and it will not happen if we do not put our shoulder to the plow.

If the battle is about to be won, then it is not time to lay down our arms.

Praise Him who has made all the promises come true.

1 John 2:16 English Standard Version (ESV) For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[pride in possessions]—is not from the Father but is from the world.

This new life in Christ needs a new way of doing things. We have been changed,  transformed. That will not happen easily if we keep looking at things the same way we did when we were in the world and ignorant of the love of God in Christ Jesus.

One of the life ministries of Jesus was to open the eyes of the blind to see the world in truth. When we died to sin and became alive in Christ, He performed the same miracle for us but we were not immediately aware of it.

We take in the world with our natural eye, it is flesh and will instinctively act as our window to the world. It is our spiritual eyes that discern the world for what it truly represents.

What do our eyes naturally follow, focus on? Those things that pleased the flesh of our past. Temptations. The world advertises by presenting images that are distracting. Those images are used to draw us into their trap. The world will use us for their own nefarious reasons.

The easiest observation can be seen in the drive-thru pictures. When we buy the product and open the package, it does not look like the image in the ad. That doesn’t matter now because we already bought the product and our appetites take over. We knew what it would taste like and we did not consider if it was healthy for us, we wanted it. 

That is just one of the easier things to understand. We do not always see the harm in all the things that catch our eye. It is even more difficult to resist those temptations if they have never been a problem in our past. Damage to the body is a natural event, damage to the soul is a spiritual matter. Those can only be discerned with spiritual eyes.

What can spiritual eyes see?

Psalm 13:2-4 English Standard Version

2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

They connect us to see the world the way God does.

Psalm 32:8 English Standard Version (ESV) I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.