What Comes First?

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. 

Matthew 25:13   

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.  

II Thessalonians 2:1-4 

Christ was clear about His return as a matter of fact. Paul, and others, elaborated upon some of the preconditions to His return. The second portion of our text is one such explanation. Paul says Christ will not return before there is a great ‘falling away’ from the faith and the man of sin is revealed. He goes on to refer to some of the things the Antichrist, or man of sin will do, such as exalting himself as if he is God. These are not the only things by which we recognize the man of sin, but they give us a portion of the whole picture. Thus,  without being specific about the exact time of the return of Christ, we can point to some indicators to enable us to be wise concerning what we see transpire in real time. It is not really valuable to become excessively absorbed in attempting to draw every detail, however, we should at least be cognizant of what the Scripture says regarding the circumstances existing in the world before Christ does return. These things do not shake our faith but rather reinforce it. All our hope is in Christ and His promise to return. 

Our Great God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that Your timing is perfect. 
We praise You that when You are ready, 
Christ will return, according to His promise. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning