Quote Adstar:
“Well the first time around he offered an invitation that was rejected by most. That invitation is still open today but it is still being rejected by most.”
* To whom did he offer this invitation? What exactly did he offer? Lets not forget he was a Jew talking to Jews.
“Jesus will not be offering any invitation upon His Second Coming. He will destroy all opposition and establish a kingdom for all those who accepted His former invitation.”
* Why is/has he waited so long? If it all hinges on the FIRST acceptance of the invitation, what is the point of the second coming? Why did he not destroy all opposition 2000 years ago?
The First Offer is best viewed as an Amnesty. Over the millenia various theological layers of interpretation have turned the clarity and sharpness of the original offer into mush.
But everybody understands the concept of an amnesty: Cease hostilities, come out of the forest, and lay down your weapons, and return to your homes and villages. No charges will be laid, nobody will be arrested. A ceasefire is declared, and restoration to pre-war conditions can be achieved in the most efficient way possible.
It's value and effectiveness are based upon the fact that it's a one-time offer: there will be no second offer. Those who refuse to stop and surrender but continue stubbornly fighting, will be destroyed.
The threat of destruction must also be real, and the power of the party offering the amnesty to destroy must be believed, or else the rebels ignore the amnesty as unnecessary.
The honesty or at least reliability of the party offering the amnesty must also be believed in, or else the rebels cannot surrender. No one would knowingly fall into enemy hands only to die.
In the New Testament, we have the ideal Amnesty. The Offerer is God, who is presumed to be honest, or at least above corruption, influence, or cheap tricks. His power by definition is undisputed, both in His authority to offer the amnesty and power to grant it, and his authority and power to destroy those who refuse to accept it.
Finally, it has a simple twofold condition:
STOP : Stop sinning, stop committing the crimes against your fellow citizens of the world, and offences against God. Stop lying, stealing, murdering, blaspheming etc.
START: Doing good, helping your neighbour, building and rebuilding, providing food, clothing, shelter, medical aid and education to those in need. Be useful, rather than a burden. Bear the burden God has set for you, which is light, and gives abundance and quality of life to all.
PUNISHMENT: Utter and final destruction or torment, without appeal. There is no higher authority, no alternate power to call for aid.
All that remains is: Is the offer real? Did God make the offer? Do those who presented the offer really represent God? Are we able to meet the conditions? Are the ones referred to in the offer? (rebels, backsliders, criminals).
One can see from this that the Second Coming is utterly necessary. It cannot be a bluff.
The period of the Offering of the Amnesty can appear to be quite long, but for individuals it is not. Your lifetime has already been fixed to be quite short.
So the EFFECTIVE period of the Amnesty Offer is only one lifetime. The circumstance of man's lifespan fixes the Amnesty for individuals to be quite short, allowing God to extend the Age or Period of Acceptable time to be quite long.
If the Offerer of the Amnesty were merely human, than in theory you could escape judgement, wrath, or punishment by simply dying. Obviously you cannot punish someone for commiting suicide if you are a mere human judge.
But since the Offerer of the Amnesty is God, there is no escape possible, even through death. Although the earth may be given a few thousand years for the gospel to penetrate the far reaches of the planet, individuals only have one short lifetime to hear the message, understand the essential details of the offer, and accept or reject it.
Whether you die now or later, or happen to be alive upon the Second Coming, i.e., the Return of the Christ (King) to earth, it makes no difference. You only have one hand to play, one life to live, and one judgement to follow.
Danger Number 1:
It is important not to fall into the nonsensical Calvinist/Protestant trap of thinking you only need to 'believe in Jesus' or recite a few prayers, or that your salvation is assured or predestined. This garbage theology is worthless, and simply makes a mockery out of the very act of God stating His own view of things, and demanding your response.
The New Testament (as opposed to Calvin and Luther) makes it clear that the amnesty offered by God is CONDITIONAL: What are the actual conditions demanded by God?
In a word: REPENTANCE. you have to stop the crimes you are committing, or no amnesty.
Danger Number 2:
Another error would be thinking that since Jesus isn't returning today, or next week, you have plenty of time to ponder the offer, and decide if you want to stop. This also is complete nonsense.
God deals with each individual on an individual basis. While you are a child learning to read and write etc., there is obviously a grace period under God's and man's instruction.
As an adult you will be confronted with the offer, at a time that God thinks is appropriate, not a time that you think would be convenient to you. You will be given an appropriate amount of time to consider God's offer of amnesty, and accept or reject it. You will not be given *more* time than you need. You must hand in your answer in time. You won't have a second more.
God destroys people every day. Don't doddle.
