It’s been about two-thousand years since Christ walked on our planet. He promised to return but we haven’t seen any sign of his coming. Additionally, the signs Pentecostal denominations claim to be indications of his return are so vague.
So, when will our Lord return? Scripture indicates that God has a set number of those who will be saved. As Jesus prayed in John 17:24 (BBE), “Father, it is my desire that these whom you have given to me may be by my side where I am, so that they may see my glory which you have given to me, because you had love for me before the world came into being.”
I’m sure that some folks will object, saying that Christ was praying only for those disciples gathered with him at that time. But Jesus said in John 17:20 (BBE) that, “My prayer is not for them only, but for all who will have faith in me through their word;”
Some people believe that the offer of salvation is open-ended, meaning that it depends upon us spiritually dead humans to repent and believe on Christ. One scripture they quote is Acts 2:21 (BBE). “And whoever makes his prayer to the Lord will have salvation.” But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t an unlimited number who can be saved.
One word we Christians use to describe this set number of believers is predestination. It means that God picked some folks to be saved before the world was made. As Paul mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:9 (BBE), referring to Christ, “Who gave us salvation, marking us out for his purpose, not on account of our works, but in the measure of his purpose and his grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,”
Even the plan of salvation was decided before time began. As Titus 1:2 (BBE) mentions, “In the hope of eternal life, which was made certain before eternal time, by the word of God who is ever true;”
In one of Christ’s parables, he gave an example of how the end of this sinful age will be. Matthew 13:47 and 48 (BBE) reads, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net, which was put into the sea and took in every sort of fish: When it was full, they took it up on the sands; and seated there they put the good into vessels, but the bad they put away.” Notice that it was only one cast, not many and all the fish in the net were sorted at that time.
This is one topic I’ll tackle in my next book called You Think You’re Going to Heaven? None of us knows who’s predestined to be saved so we need to tell everybody the good news. Some will repent and some won’t. that’s just the way it is.
I’ll be featuring one of my favourite songs on Saturday. Steve Miller recorded one about humanity leaving the Garden of Eden. I think you’ll enjoy it, especially the harmony of the voices.
Bruce Atchison - author 