Rapture and End Times

Since the beginning, people have looked up to the night sky with questions. Some of these questions are as old as Mankind, and others are relatively new, due to our recent, clearer scientific understanding of the way things work.

Ground-breaking discoveries from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in 2022 NewsBytes, Dec 21, 2022

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the biggest space telescope ever constructed.
NASA’s $10 billion observatory, which took over 30 years to build, is also the most expensive and most complex mission that has been put together.
Here, we take a look at some of the ground-breaking discoveries scientists have made in 2022 all thanks to the super telescope.
Webb’s first image reveals the farthest we have ever seen

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The JWST’s first image called Webb’s First Deep Field revealed a galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which lies 13 billion light years away, the farthest we have ever seen in the universe.
One of the studies based on the image revealed that a large number of distant galaxies were disc-shaped and suggested that there were up to 10 times as many distant disk-shaped galaxies.

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The telescope revealed unseen details of the Pillars of Creation
The observatory captured stunning details of the Pillars of Creation which lies in the Eagle Nebula, 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens.
Owing to its infrared capacity and remarkable sensitivity, the telescope unveiled details, including star-forming regions, that were previously obscured by the dust in interstellar space.
A more recent composite image unveiled several more new stars present in this region.

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Webb unveiled more information about the Cartwheel galaxy
Webb snapped a stunning picture of the Cartwheel Galaxy revealing more details about star formation and its central black hole.
The picture also provided information on the changes that took place in the ring galaxy over billions of years. It lies 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation.
The galaxy’s unusual shape results from a galactic collision that occurred 400 million years ago.

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Exoplanets have not been seen in infrared wavelength before
JWST’s first image of an exoplanet was HIP 65426 b, a young giant whose mass is seven times that of Jupiter’s. It was also the first time that an exoplanet was captured in infrared wavelengths.
Most exoplanets are difficult to capture due to the brightness of their parent star, but Webb used an optical mask to block out the host star’s glare.

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Webb revealed earliest galaxies formed right after the Big Bang
Recently, the orbiting space telescope discovered two of the earliest galaxies which formed right after the Big Bang, which took place 13.8 billion years ago.
Out of the two, galaxy GN-z11, which formed 350 million years after the Big Bang is the current most distant galaxy known to date.
The other galaxy is expected to have formed about 450 million years ago.

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Newborn stars, which haven’t been spotted before, were discovered
With the help of its onboard infrared instruments, Webb pictured the Tarantula nebula, which is home to the brightest and most massive stars ever known.
The image reveals tens of thousands of young stars, which could not be captured before using Hubble telescope because they were buried beneath layers of cosmic dust.
The nebula lies 161,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.

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The Holy Bible has answers to these great unsolved problems, including: “Why is there something, rather than nothing? How did life originate? What is the ultimate fate of Man, and the Universe?”

The Lord took care to guide the Scripture writers in knowledge that remains hidden to unbelievers. In this message, we identify the questions and explore the Biblical answers:

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Why is there something rather than nothing?

Before the Big Bang, all of the laws of the Universe were set in place by the Lord. The universe was finely tuned for us. The degree of fine-tuning of these laws, at the quantum level, is difficult to imagine.

For example, the four key elements for life are Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen. When a typical star explodes, it produces these elements more than any other, with the exception of Helium.

In other words, the Universe is engineered for promoting life!

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created
that has been created. (John 1:1-3)

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At the Human scale, all of the world seems solid to us. We sit on a chair, which is held in place on the floor. But, if we were to see the Universe with the Lord’s eyes, we would know that everything we see consists of only vibrations.

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Each subatomic particle acts as a wave, and each atom is just a collection of waves. As solid as it appears, all of the Universe is only made up of vibration, frequency, and energy. The electron cloud that circles the atomic nucleus is just a wave.

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In other words, what we consider to be “something” is actually nothing – but vibrations in space-time. In the beginning was the Word – the VIBRATION is He who spoke everything into existence.

If we could stand outside of our Universe, we would see an expanding bubble that contains everything we experience. There may be multiple universes in their own bubbles:

The Lord told us about our expanding Universe from the very beginning. Over and over in the Holy Bible, the Lord speaks of “stretching out” the heavens:

A declaration of the Lord,
who stretched out the heavens,
laid the foundation of the earth,
and formed the spirit of man within him. (Zechariah 12:1)

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There is much more to the Universe than humanity is able to comprehend. What is the hidden wisdom?

I, Wisdom, share a home with shrewdness
and have knowledge and discretion.

“The Lord made me
at the beginning of His creation,
before His works of long ago.

I was formed before ancient times,
from the beginning, before the earth began.

I was born
when there were no watery depths
and no springs filled with water.

I was delivered
before the mountains and hills were established,
before He made the land, the fields,
or the first soil on earth.
I was there when He established the heavens,
when He laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,
when He placed the skies above,
when the fountains of the ocean gushed out,
when He set a limit for the sea
so that the waters would not violate His command,
when He laid out the foundations of the earth.

I was a skilled craftsman beside Him.
I was His delight every day,
always rejoicing before Him.

I was rejoicing in His inhabited world,
delighting in the human race. (Proverbs 8)

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How did life originate?

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths… (Genesis 1:2)

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We know, from the fossil records, that life began in the Earth’s oceans.

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The Genesis story describes an extinction level event, just like many that are documented to have occurred in Earth’s history, including Noah’s flood. We don’t know what caused the event, but it could have been an asteroid or climate change. It could have been caused by a cosmic battle.

We do know, from the Genesis account, that the Lord had to quickly restore the Earth, so He could place Man there.

The first thing the Lord did was heal the waters – the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

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Then, step by step, in six periods of time, the Lord restored the Earth. Only the Creator can perform this miracle. The Holy Spirit showed Moses what actually happened, and he wrote an accurate account in the Book of Genesis:

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

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Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.

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Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the third day.

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Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars. God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

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Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So God blessed them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

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Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

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Then, He performed one additional act of 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.”

So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female.

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.” God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day. (Genesis 1:2-31)

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What is the ultimate fate of Man, and the Universe?

The Lord completes His plan for the Universe by joining with the Body of Christ. This includes our transfiguration at the Rapture.

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)

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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)

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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)

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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. The Body of Christ consists of individuals that are joined together to form the “body.”

Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. (Romans 12:4-5)

Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? (1 Corinthians 6:15)

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He uses the example of the human body to try to explain the concept of being an individual in Christ as well as a part of a larger “superorganism” – the Body of Christ:

For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. So the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? Now there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12:12-20)

Paul goes on to explain that the “head” of this “body” is Christ Himself:

And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. (Ephesians 4:12-16)

Paul also explains that the Gentiles have been included into the Body:

The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:6)

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Paul shows that the Rapture will be of the Body:

God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? …But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him… Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? (1 Corinthians 6:14, 15, 17, 19)

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As a part of the Body of Christ, the Lord fulfills His promise to make all things new…

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” 
(Revelation 21:5)

What “new” is included in His promise?

Our salvation as a new creation:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

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Our new spiritual bodies:
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
(Philippians 3:20-21)

And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. (1 Corinthians 15:49)

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New heavens and a new earth:
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; 
      And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
(Isaiah 65:17)

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New Jerusalem:
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:2-4)

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And so, even with all the troubles we are experiencing with the trauma of these End Times, we can look forward to our Transfiguration into a new, eternal life as the Body in the Lord’s kingdom!

We will rule the Universe with Christ!

When I observe Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You set in place,
what is man that You remember him,
the son of man that You look after him?
You made him little less than God
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him lord over the works of Your hands;
You put everything under his feet. (Psalm 8:3-6)

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If you are not sure that you are a member of the family of God, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”.

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Spread the Word:

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