Seeing God

From a Christian point of view, for those who believe the Bible is a communication from God and not simply written by people, there is a belief that Jesus Christ will return to earth a second time.

When God returns to our world, our reality, this earth, there will be a range of reactions. Some will say, “Oh Yes, Finally!” Others will say, “Oh No, not yet! I want to do more!” Then some will say, “Oh NO!” In the Bible, we are told two essential truths, maybe three. God is real. Jesus came a first time, and he will come again a second time. This brings up some discussion from several perspectives.

Some people, maybe a majority, do not believe there is a God or that if God does exist, he is not the God depicted in the Bible. They may or may not believe that Jesus was real and that if he was, then certainly not God. He was simply a good person and possibly wise but was mistaken in some ways. Other people believe that the Bible accurately depicts God: Jesus was God, came a first time, and will return a second time. While I can’t say there is no evidence one way or the other, both of these perspectives are simply ideas people have. The absolute, no-holds-barred, undeniable, evidentiary, “Yes, God and the Bible are factual and true,” will be when Jesus Christ pops back into our world and we are confronted with that reality. When that happens, there will be no deniability.

As an aside, sometimes I will watch a crime show, and it is always interesting to me when someone who has committed a crime and is faced with overwhelming evidence will plead ‘Not Guilty’ in court. Even if there is a picture of them committing the crime, sometimes they will say, “No, I didn’t do it.” They will stand up in court, argue, and never admit they did something wrong. When Jesus returns, that will not happen. No one will be able to say, “Oh no, that’s not Jesus. The Bible isn’t true.” Some people imagine God in a courtroom and think, “I’m going to argue my case. It wasn’t my fault, I didn’t believe it.”

I don’t know if you have ever come face to face with something in life where you had no choice or option except to accept the fact of the situation as it was, even though you did not want to. Some situations leave you in fear of the reality you suddenly find yourself in. We see movies where a monster arrives at the scene, and people scream and run away. But what about, in reality, an actual situation? I have experienced this several times, the latest being an automobile accident. One moment, I’m driving along, and the next, I find myself in an accident. There is this terrible sinking feeling as my mind grapples with what is happening. I don’t want it to be real.

That brings us back to possible reactions when Jesus returns a second time. Some may fall on their knees and cry out, “Thank you, thank you, thank you! We’ve waited for this day so long!” These are people who embrace the Bible as a communication from God, not just the frivolous writings of people. The other reaction, and there are only two, would be, “Oh no! I never thought this could be true!” One thing that will not occur is that there will not be any arguing for your own point of view or defending your ideas or behavior. When God shows up in your life, there is no arguing or defense because, at that point, you are not just faced with overwhelming evidence. You are in the presence of something more wonderful and terrible than you can imagine.

When I had my life/death auto accident, I was involuntarily thrust into a reality where my brain was saying, “No, No, No! Please don’t let this be real!” The car was totaled, I was severely injured, and I knew I wouldn’t walk away from this singing, “La di da.” I was entirely at the mercy of others. I couldn’t move and had to be airlifted to a trauma center. I didn’t like it or want it to be real, but it was very real no matter what I thought or wanted.

When God returns (and he will return), I will either say, “Thank God it really is true,” or there will be a terrible coming to terms with reality, “Oh no, it really is true!”

Where do you fall on the chart?