Immediately after the conclusion of the first Advent of Jesus Christ, Acts 1:10-11 records that two angels said, "You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven."
These words introduce us to the Second Advent or Coming of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 24:36-37, Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour (of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ), not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
"As it was, so shall it be!" In Genesis 6, we are told of world conditions in the days of Noah: "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Newscasts presented in the media of our world affirm that it is as evil in our time as it was in the days of Noah. Let me allude to three destructive evils at this moment in our province: (1) We are shocked by the number of deaths in British Columbia caused by the drug, fentanyl. This number will probably exceed 700 after the completion of one year. (2) Child pornography continues to bring its devastating physical, social and psychological effects on children. (3) Since our newly elected government seeks to legalize marijuana, we have no idea how to measure the effects of marijuana upon one's ability to drive safely. These and many other evils indicate that we are living in the days of the Coming of the Son of Man.
To conclude on a positive note, Genesis 6:8 states, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord!"
In spite of the proliferation of evil, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and so it is, and can be increasingly in the days of the Coming of the Son of Man. It is true that "the wages of sin is death," but it is equally true that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
You can be among those with faith in God's grace at the Coming of the Son of Man. Luke 18:8 poses this thought-provoking question: "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
