God's Return

[yoitsnashville]

So.......

Let me start by saying i am a firm believer in god and the higher powers. In the bible, it says that there will be two comings (correct me if im wrong)

1) jesus

2) the antichrist

my questions to u is..

when do you think He will return?

what do you think he will do?

will it be a spiritual coming or a physical one?

once again just putting this out there to see what other people think.

this was not written to offend simply to connect with other spiritual people and talk about it.

let me know what you think

with all love, sincerity, and care,

nashvill

[Mikko-kun]

What'd be the point of just physical coming? If they come, I think it'll be spiritual. I've not read bible, but it should be obvious?

[yoitsnashville]

idk....I think both.....

my main question is how will we know the difference between His coming and the antichrists.

its in the bible that the antichrist will come portraying something good. the direct quote I remember is "there will be peace for seven years on earth and then he will reveal himself"

how in the heck can we know?

it scares the heck outta me...

were told not to bow down to false prophets......

I'm not the most knowledgeable but.....idk......

this is something that weighs on my mind daily. I'm just trying to see how Others feel about it...

[SHaYap]

I think i better go make us all some coffee ~

`

[+Paranoid Android]

Hey there, yoitsnashville, welcome to the forums, I hope you enjoy it around here

Your information about the whole seven-year anti-Christ thing is from a piece of apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic literature is steeped in imagery and metaphor. The "seven year" reign of the anti-Christ could be taken symbolically, not as a literal seven-year reign of an individual who will eventually set himself up as "god on earth". I'm a Bible-believing Christian here (one of the few you'll meet on these forums, the place is mostly filled with godless heathens fun-loving folk who just don't believe the same thing we do), and I subscribe to a theory of Eschatology (study of the End Times, if you haven't heard that word before) called Amillennialism - Link. In this theory there is no literal end of days, one day things will simply change and Jesus will return. The idea of a single specific human ruler who sets themselves up as anti-Christ is more a part of Eschatology in the sense of Premillenialism (another theory of how things go down).

So to answer your question I think Jesus will just return and usher in a new era. It will be a physical resurrection and a physical return in order to judge the living and the dead, but after that judgement will come a transfiguration of the elect into new incorruptible spirit bodies, and then the heavens and the earth shall be destroyed and replaced with a new heaven and a new earth (don't ask me what that even means, I have no idea what life in the afterlife will be like, having a spirit body will be vastly different to the body I currently live in - as I said in another post recently, I don't know exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that God will be there and that is enough for me). I have no idea when this will take place (Jesus taught that no one knows the day or the hour except God himself), so when it happens it happens.

So again, welcome to the forums, and enjoy your stay

~ Regards, PA

Edited September 12, 2015 by Paranoid Android

[yoitsnashville]

it makes me feel better to know that

thank u for ur input

and thank u for not grilling me for asking

[Redefining Success]

Maybe the second coming is not on a world wide level, but on a more personal level?

You learn about god and religion at school and in the community, could that be considered the first? If you choose to follow the religious path, or, as my father did, decided to follow the bible later on in life, could that be considered the second?

Its an idea that just popped into my head, I'm not closed to the idea of a higher being, but certainly don't follow religion.

[coolguy]

If God did not come back by now he will never come back. All these preachers allways say we are in The end of times

And God will come back, they been saying this for hundreds of years, just saying

It would be cool to witness this when and if he does come back sky's open horns blowing

Cool stuff

I HOPE I DID NOT OFFEND ANYBODY BY SAYING THIS

[SHaYap]

One of the best things I've heard from someone well under the influence of intoxicating substances tantamount to being mentally altered :

What if god is already here and we don't know ?

`

[Grey Area]

Okay, I am not a believer in any way shape or form but...

My understanding is that Jesus is not God. He is the son of God, and Divine. Further to this, God has never left, surely even if the almighty had gone to a different neighbourhood, his omnipotence would mean that he were always there, otherwise what the hell is everyone still praying for?

[Border Collie]

God gone somewhere?

[owf]

How about considering "God' never left?

[+DieChecker]

God isn't coming back, because He's here already, everywhere and all the time.

It is Jesus who will return and lead humanity into a golden age.

Here is the generic Christian timeline for the End Times.

[Stubbly_Dooright]

I think this is a good question, well for me to reflect. Mostly so, since I grew up secular and became New Age in my later teen years, ( with a break of Atheism in my young adulthood)

I do not know all the info about this, because, well, you know I never learned it. Why come back, if this higher power is watching all of the time. I feel, my higher power is watching, doing their part in the world, and hanging out and chilling in the mean time. Of course, this is me, but I don't think there is a need to have some form of violent cleansing to bring about something.

Again, that is me. :shrugs*

I think i better go make us all some coffee ~

`

A good amount cream and lots and lots of sugar............... I mean.................. fake stuff no calories............. Please! thanks.

it makes me feel better to know that

thank u for ur input

and thank u for not grilling me for asking

PA wouldn't do that.............. he's a gentleman........................

And that's why these forums, with the various themes are here, to ask questions, to read posts and points, and to reflect!

You learn about god and religion at school and in the community, could that be considered the first? If you choose to follow the religious path, or, as my father did, decided to follow the bible later on in life, could that be considered the second?

I would consider it not a given that everyone learns about religion at school and in the community. I'm gathering the OP is here in the states, and trust me, it's not a given that you do in the secular section. I didn't.

One of the best things I've heard from someone well under the influence of intoxicating substances tantamount to being mentally altered :

What if god is already here and we don't know ?

`

[WoIverine]

.

Edited September 17, 2015 by WoIverine

[Hyades]

I think that God (Water, Air, Earth, Fire, Sun, Aether) is all over us, we couldn't live without it.

As per the content in the Bible, first it was written by yesterday scholars who stand as Victors of War, and could write what some seers of their time had viewed! I would rather read the beautiful story of a family raising intelligent kids, there are lessons to be learned there.

I have read Extraterrestrial intelligence created us, one may read the Clay Tablet of Sumer to find out their names and approximate time of their presence on Earth. May they come again, I guess they might come if it advantageous for them, they surely act like humans, at least they created us.

Love to everyone.

[Podo]

He will descend in the heavenly colander, showering us with his blessed noodle-water before touching us with his noodley appendage. With his coming will return the pirates from days of old, and thus will climate change be reversed. The faithful will feast from his heavenly meatballs made from the flesh of the heretics.

[Sundew]

If God did not come back by now he will never come back. All these preachers allways say we are in The end of times

And God will come back, they been saying this for hundreds of years, just saying

It would be cool to witness this when and if he does come back sky's open horns blowing

Cool stuff

I HOPE I DID NOT OFFEND ANYBODY BY SAYING THIS

Offend no, but you have unwittingly, perhaps, fulfilled prophesy by your statement:

II Peter 3:3-10

3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

[Lumpino]

Everything are mere human guesswork. What about meditation about a God name. Like it as it is done for example bhakti-yogis or some mystics. And ask a god (or goddess) what he (her) thinking about.

Like in history for example Ramakrishna.

http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/gospel/introduction/the_first_vision.htm

[Shibolet]

So.......

Let me start by saying i am a firm believer in god and the higher powers. In the bible, it says that there will be two comings (correct me if im wrong)

1) jesus

2) the antichrist

my questions to u is..

when do you think He will return?

what do you think he will do?

will it be a spiritual coming or a physical one?

once again just putting this out there to see what other people think.

this was not written to offend simply to connect with other spiritual people and talk about it.

let me know what you think

with all love, sincerity, and care,

nashvill

I wish I could participate in this friendly discussion to explain that to return implies from a definite place and God is not subject to space. But since my views are Jewish views, I am not allowed to express them in this forum, or I will be banned again.

[Jack Skellington]

I wish I could participate in this friendly discussion to explain that to return implies from a definite place and God is not subject to space. But since my views are Jewish views, I am not allowed to express them in this forum, or I will be banned again.

Sounds like you carry a typical amount of Jewish baggage. Stop whining and participate. Or don't.

Yo Nashville--

There are a great many Christians who try their best to treat the bible as if it was a literal road map with a written schedule designed to transport you from Point A to Point B right on time. All you would have to do is read the Left Behind book series to get a glimpse of how ridiculous it becomes, trying to massage scripture into a preconceived pretzel shaped literal truth. If you think the bible is a hammer, then every problem in life becomes a nail that you can pound with that one hammer. When presented with something that isn't a nail at all, they still beat it with the hammer, and they hammer harder when it doesn't work and then what you end up with is a mess. A pulverized mess that has little resemblance to whatever small bit of truth you may have started with.

So it is with the study of "end time events" --or "eschatology" as Paranoid mentions.

"God" didn't leave. God is personal, but not a person-- and certainly not a person with a bus pass who comes and goes. God is in us and in all of creation and more properly-- all of creation is in God, including us-- and all that is, is in Him. Split a rock...

But--- because God loves us and because God is personal we can know "who" God is even if we can't really comprehend "what" God is. We know "who" God is by what has been revealed to us. All of this "revelation" has come to us by way of personal interaction with God at various times throughout history to individuals and this nature of God is then conveyed to the rest of us by way of stories. "Some" of these stories have been collected into books and some of these books have collected into what we call the bible-- certainly the books of the bible are not all of the books and most certainly not all of the stories to be told are in those books. The fact is that EVERYBODY has a story to tell because God is a personal God and everyone encounters God in life whether they realize it or acknowledge it at all.

Throughout history God "shows up" in these individual stories.... Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Joseph. Moses... the Jewish experience. God-- or what little we know of Him is revealed to us through the experiences of these few as told through the snippets of stories of their lives. Other stories are told of people who had some kind of special relationship and communication with God where God revealed Himself to them through dreams and visions and conversations and visitations and via messengers (angels) and such... These few people who then relayed what they learned and discovered of and from God directly we called prophets and priests and judges and kings at different points of history. At the end of the day, we rely again on what remains of their stories to form the foundation of what we say we know about God.

The story of Jesus is the story of another individual who has a unique place in the collection of stories. We assign it a unique place-- but that doesn't make it unique in and of itself-- we SAY it is unique and we TEACH others to say it is unique, but in reality it is not at all different than the many stories of others who came before.

The Spirit of God that communicates to us in various ways at various times and that comes to unique individuals in unique ways at various times in history will again come and reveal to us "God" as "Christ" -- just as Christ has come before-- revealed through individuals, Christ will come again.

AND-- to answer your question directly...

Because people (just as in ages past) do not know what to look for, and because they are in fact anticipating the wrong thing-- they will be deceived when an imposter delivers just what they hope for.

[+Paranoid Android]

I wish I could participate in this friendly discussion to explain that to return implies from a definite place and God is not subject to space. But since my views are Jewish views, I am not allowed to express them in this forum, or I will be banned again.

And once again, just so that there can be no doubt- your ban had nothing to do with you being Jewish or your expressing Jewish belief. Playing the "I'm a persecuted Jew" card just makes you look like you're sulking.

[Shiloh17]

One of the best things I've heard from someone well under the influence of intoxicating substances tantamount to being mentally altered :

What if god is already here and we don't know ?

`

Job 19:25

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

[+DieChecker]

Ah, that takes me back to when I was young(ish) and in the (US) Army in Germany.

[+DieChecker]

Because people (just as in ages past) do not know what to look for, and because they are in fact anticipating the wrong thing-- they will be deceived when an imposter delivers just what they hope for.

People keep forgetting that none shall know the hour of his return.... But when someone comes up with a "End of the World" date, people eat it up like fried twinkies.

Reminds me of the Golden Calf story, where Moses tells the people to be good and wait at the base of the mountain for a short time, and they immediately build a golden idol and start worshiping it. People are the same now as they were then. So easy to misguide. So willing to follow any new trend.