I love watching the 400 meter relay race in the Olympics. The one where they pass the baton at each round of the track. If I had to pick which lap I would run in, it would definitely be the final lap. It's make it or break it time. Who wouldn't want to be that runner?
When you think of all the time slots or dispensations where we could have been born, which era would you have preferred to live in? What are my options you ask?
Let's look at it like this - Consider a top five list of the most desirable time slots to be alive on the earth. Now, we are going to exclude anything that is prehuman creation as shown in Genesis 1. We are just talking about the past six thousand years as recorded in the Bible. We will also throw the next millennium into the discussion. This list is my own order of preference. We're not going that deep to the point where we need to bring in actual surveys. I am just trying to make a point.
Here are my top five:
5) The time of the acts of the apostles after Jesus ascension. That would have been a pretty cool time to live in helping start the roots of the church.
4) The turn of the twentieth century and the spark of the industrial revolution.
3) The time of the formation of the United States 1776
2) The time of Jesus ministry on the earth.
1) The time we live in right now.
There is only one sliver of time where a remnant of people will not experience death. That is us right now! Our bodies will be changed because we are alive on the earth at the time of his appearing. Not to mention all of the comforts and conveniences that we get to experience in this time because of technology and knowledge being increased.
I think a majority of people really don't realize how privileged we are, that God would place us in this time slot! We are the ones that get to do the greater works! We are the ones who get to see his signs and wonders. We are the ones who get to play a part in this last bout of the spiritual battle for the souls of men. What a privilege! Gear up my friends! Gear up!
Here are some scriptures that let us know how privileged we are:
'These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. '
Hebrews 11:39-40; 12:1-2
'Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; '
1 Peter 1:10-23
' Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” '
1 Corinthians 15:51-54
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