"Waiting for a Savior" and "The Direction East in the Bible"
[first posted 4/1/06]
http://ichthys.com 
 
Question #1:  
I am a 'Christian in waiting'.  I believe in God, but, am still trying to feel the re-born feeling.  My question is:  Why did God the Father send Jesus to earth way back then?  What was so horrible back then, while people were living in almost caveman conditions?  We need Jesus here today! From my point of view.  Why does HE take so long to send a Savior?  When we need one, we don't get one.  I am confused about why they needed a savior 2000 years ago, but, now with all  this chaos, we have to wait for the next coming. 
Response #1: 
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ.   
I can assure you that God the Father sent His Son at exactly the right time.  Hebrews calls it "the conjunction of the ages" (Heb.9:26).   Having accomplished atonement for the sins of the world on the cross, Jesus has now risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father (Heb.1:3).  He is waiting there until the Father shall bring history to a close, "making His enemies a footstool for His feet" (Heb.1:13).  Jesus died for the world at exactly the right time, in exactly the right place, and in exactly the right way.   His sacrifice cleansed the sins that had gone before and all those that would come (Rom.3:22-26; 1Jn.2:2).  We stand here today on the cusp of the end times, and it will not be long before His return (according to the proper interpretation of the Bible as I see it; see especially:  The Satanic Rebellion, part 5: Judgment, Restoration and Replacement).  
But you don't have to wait for Jesus to return in the flesh to have your Savior.  He is right here, right now, waiting for you to respond to Him (cf. Rev.3:20).  All who put their faith in Him for salvation are accepted and immediately become one with Him now and forever more (please see the link:  Salvation: the free gift of God).   

Let your heart not be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.            John 14:1-3

The world is indeed a place of chaos - but such has it ever been since Adam and Eve were evicted from the garden of Eden.  This is the devil's world, and will continue to be so until our Lord returns.  Until then, it is not the material things of this world that count, not the suffering or the misery or the pain, or the pleasures or joys of this world, but rather it only that which is truly spiritual that counts for anything, because only what we do in Christ and for Christ has any enduring meaning (Jn.6:63; cf. Jn.4:23-24).  All the "blessings" of this world are nothing but dust that collapse at the slightest touch, but the joy we have in Jesus is boundless, and endures forever.  All who embrace Him in faith and follow Him in faithfulness are in fact as close to Him now as they will ever be, for He is in us as Christians, and we are in Him (Jn.14:20; 14:23; 1Cor.5:17; Col.1:27).  He may invisible to the eyes of the world, but we keep on seeing Him with the eyes of faith (Heb.11:27; cf. Heb.11:1), so that He is our great joy and our great peace even in the midst of these short days of trouble we now endure: 
Though you have never laid eyes on Him, yet you love Him. And though you cannot see Him at this present time, yet you have faith in Him. For this reason you rejoice with an inexpressible joy that bespeaks the glorious future to come, when you shall carry off in victory the ultimate prize - the deliverance of your lives [in resurrection] - which is the very purpose and objective of this faith of yours.           1st Peter 1:8-9

         Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.    John 14:27a NIV 

I appeal to you as one unworthy to be called an ambassador for Christ, be reconciled to God through His Son (2Cor.5:20-21). 
In the One who is the only way, the only truth, and the only life, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Jn.14:6).
 Bob Luginbill
 
Question #2:  
I have a question on e.g. Psalms 103:12, Ezekiel 44:1-3, and Matthew 24:27. It seems that the Lord favors the direction east.  Why?   I also wanted to let you know in regard to my personal tribulations that truly the grace of God as it says in 2nd Cor 12:9 has proved sufficient. I find myself waking up each day one after another making it through to the next one, then week after week and month after month - thanks to the grace of God!
 May the Lords face shine upon you.
Response #2: 
I cannot tell you how encouraged I am to hear how your faith is standing strong in Jesus Christ.   I have known and know of so many people who immediately start to falter under pressure, and even some who have fallen away completely (or at least been completely neutralized in their faith) when truly serious pressure and adversity has come their way.  Your continuing walk of faith is an incredibly heartening thing, because it is a tangible demonstration of the grace and power and goodness of God, and of the sufficiency of Him for all who truly and continually make Him their hope.
In my life I have I have known a lot of people in a lot of different venues and circumstances and places, but since I decided to get serious about my relationship with Jesus Christ many years ago, I haven't met very many people whom I could see as kindred spirits, because they didn't have the same dedication to the Word of Truth.  Not that my dedication is perfect or anything of the sort, but most Christians, even good and serious ones, seem to me to put their focus and trust in specific churches or specific individuals or specific systematic formulations rather than in seeking Him through His Holy Word.  That's one of the things I have always appreciated about you, namely the fact that you are a person who is truly seeking God in the only sure way, namely, through diligently seeking out what He is saying to us in the Bible, and leaving no stone unturned in the process.  In the course of my life, I haven't met many people like that.   And the fact that you are persevering through very difficult circumstances only serves to show just how genuine your faith and your love for the Lord and His Word are.  So I draw great encouragement from you - from your love of the scriptures, your faith, and from your perseverance.  And I am humbled by your continued belief that this ministry has something positive to offer in furthering your understanding of the Word.  
As far as "east" is concerned, yes I quite agree.  We could add the fact that in the encampment order of the tribes of Israel, the eastern position and order of march is supreme (cf. Num.2:3-23).  The reason for the east being the preeminent direction is that this is the direction from which the Messiah will return (Is.41:25; 63:1; Ezek.43:4; Zech.14:4; Mal.4:2; Lk.1:78; 2Pet.1:19; Rev.19:17 - that's the basic symbolism of Ezek.44:1-6; cf. Ezek.44:1-4 where He enters in the Theophany to Ezekiel).  For this reason, the temple faces east, towards the rising sun which is symbolic of the Light of world as He will return in glory on that day of days, so that just as we were collectively expelled from Eden and driven toward the east, so when the Son of Man, the Last Adam, returns, He will come from that same direction and restore to the earth blessings beyond what we can now anticipate. 
Whatever happens between now and then, you and I will see that day in resurrection, and all our present worries, problems, and infirmities will never again be called to mind.
In that hope of our bless reunion with the Lord who bought us.
Bob L.
http://ichthys.com