Chapter One: Introduction
From the days of the Apostles until now, there has existed among Christians a sense of living "between the times," that is, living between Jesus' first and second comings. The Apostle Paul told the believers in Corinth that when they met together in fellowship they were to remember Jesus' first coming and "proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Cor. 11:26). They were to look back to him who walked the roads of Israel, called many to follow him as disciples, began a powerful movement he called the Kingdom of Heaven, and finally died and rose from the dead. Paul also encouraged believers to look forward to the time when Jesus would appear and "transform our bodies of humiliation so that they will be like his glorious [resurrected] body" (Phil. 3:21).
Like the early disciples, we are still called to look back to the work of salvation Jesus performed for us on earth, and to look forward to his return. By carefully looking back we prepare ourselves to look forward with understanding, and in looking forward it is imperative that we know and understand what Jesus himself had to say about his return. We cannot do the one without the other:
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