IN A FLASH
24 “But in those days, following that distress,
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. Mark 13:24-27
Contrary to current teaching about the end times, Jesus’ arrival on earth will be visible and noisy, not secret and silent. This will be preceded by cataclysmic events in the sky, according to Jesus. The natural universe will react violently to the Creator’s return to earth. Whatever seems permanent and unshakeable will be shaken.
When God appeared on the mountain in the wilderness, His voice shook the earth and the people shook with terror. When Jesus returns to the earth to establish His reign forever, His voice will shake the heavens and everything that is temporary will be shaken and consumed according to Hebrews 12, and only that which is eternal will remain.
What are the things that are eternal and what is temporary and shakeable? According to Hebrews 12:27, what is temporary, shakeable and passing away are created things or, according to Paul, the things that are seen – 2 Corinthians 4:18. That which is not seen is eternal. Jesus said, “My words will never pass away.” The word of the Lord endures forever. God’s kingdom is unshakeable and remains forever, and the man who does the will of God will live forever ‑ 1 John 2:17.
In the midst of the mayhem of the destruction of everything temporary and perishable, Jesus will return to claim His elect. He will dispatch His angels to the ends of the earth to gather those in whom His Spirit dwells, who fear and know God, who live for Him, in whose hearts the kingdom of God has been growing. They will be confident and unafraid in the midst of the destruction, protected from the consuming fire of God’s holiness, purified by the blood of the Lamb from all sin and fully alive in Christ through the purifying fire of God’s Spirit at work in them.
If people are foolish enough to think that they can put off the day of their repentance until that moment, they will have missed it. It will happen faster than the speed of light. There will be neither time nor opportunity to rethink. The day of grace will be over forever.
51.Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — 52 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. 5 1 Corinthians 15:51-53