Rapture and End Times

Sometimes we are so focused on what is happening now – all the End Times signs and the imminent Rapture – that we lose sight of what will happen afterward.

Beyond the Rapture, after the Millennium (the thousand years during which Christ will reign on earth), what is next for us? This line of questioning leads to the ultimate question, why did the Lord make us? What is our purpose?

The Bible states in Genesis Chapter 1 that we were made in God’s image, to rule His creation:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28

Adam’s first job was to be a gardener:

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. Genesis 2:15

So we see that Man was created in the image and likeness of God, to rule creation and to watch over it. What else will people do? As Christians, we know that God Himself became a man as Jesus Christ, took on man’s nature, lived, died, resurrected, and ascended as a man, and now is ruling in the heaven:

But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw God’s glory, with Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Acts 7:55-56

We should also know that we, as Christians, are heirs with Christ:

All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. Romans 8:14-17

and…

When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:4-7

The Bible uses our relationship as the Church with Jesus Christ as His “body” and His “bride”. These are symbolic designations for something so wonderful and beyond our comprehension that we can’t fully understand it at this time. But, as a redeemed Christian, know that:

• You are forgiven of all sin (Ephesians 1:7)
• You are predestined, called, justified and glorified (Romans 8:30)
• You are being transformed into Christ-likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18)
• You are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14)
• You are holy (Hebrews 10:10)
• Your spirit is already seated with Christ in Heaven (Ephesians 2:6-10, Colossians 3:3)

The conclusion we can reach through a careful reading of the Bible is that the Lord made us to rule with His Son – over all of the Universe! With Christ, we will be gardeners of the galaxies…

The throne of God and the lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him and see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night, and they will not need any light from lamps or the sun because the Lord God will shine on them. They will rule forever and ever. Revelation 22:3-5

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