I believe all the events of the end times encompass what the Bible calls the “Day of the Lord.” This Day of the Lord will begin with the rapture of the church. In this event, Jesus will return partially, coming down to the atmosphere and believers will be caught up in the air to meet the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 describe this event. The dead in Christ will rise first and then those left alive at that time will follow. It says “so we will always be with the Lord.” Christ will take the church to be with himself in heaven.

The details of 1 Thess. 4 accord well with what Jesus said in John 14:1–3 where he describes that he is preparing a place for the church in his Father’s house. He says that he will come and bring the church to be with him where he is. I believe this describes a different event than when Christ returns to set up his kingdom.

When Jesus comes to set up his kingdom, his feet will land on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4). At that point, he is not coming to bring people to be with him where he is (in heaven); he is coming to dwell with people where they are.

Because Christians are promised to escape the wrath of God (1 Thess. 5:9; Rev. 3:10), this rapture will happen before the Great Tribulation which is coming upon the whole world.

Therefore, the return of Christ involves his coming in the air to gather the church before the Tribulation begins (the rapture) and his arrival on earth to defeat his enemies and establish his kingdom at the end of the Tribulation and the start of the Millennium. This return of our Lord is the church's blessed hope (Titus 2:13).

In the last several weeks, the national conversation has shifted away from the pandemic. The issue of race and racism has been at the forefront of our national conscience. What is the church’s answer? What is our only answer? The answer is the gospel.

The Apostle Paul writes: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16). 

We need to think about who is saying this. The apostle Paul was a Jew and a Pharisee. By our definitions, before he met Christ, Paul was a racist of racists. There was murderous hatred between the Jews and the Gentiles. When Paul recounted his testimony to the Jews in Jerusalem at the temple, the Jews were fine with what he said until he said that Christ called him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. It was at that moment that the Jews wanted to kill him. Such was the hatred between Jews and Gentiles.

What was the answer for Jews and Gentiles in Paul’s day? The gospel.

What is the answer to mankind today? The gospel.

If the church abandons the preaching of the gospel, we unhinge ourselves from the very power of God to work in our midst. Paul says he was not ashamed of the gospel. We must not be ashamed of the gospel, as if it is an insufficient answer, as if it is medicine that does not fit the occasion. The good news of Christ is a remedy for every ailment of our soul. 

So how does the gospel address the issue of this day? The gospel says that God is the loving Creator of the one human race. There are not many races. There is only one. The human race. We have one father, Adam, and one mother, Eve. Because our father and mother sinned, all their children and their children (you and me) have been infected with the disease of sin. And sin starts primarily in the human heart.

There is not one person, not one people group, not one nation - not even God’s chosen nation Israel! - who has a special claim or an elevated status that would earn them God’s favor. We are all sinners condemned to hell apart from the grace of God. We need Christ. And Christ met our greatest need by dying on the cross 2,000 years ago for the greatest disease that infects us, the disease within us.

The cross is the greatest leveling ground for humanity. Because when we come to the cross, we all stand on equal ground as wretched sinners in need of the cross. And there at the cross, Christ gave us grace instead of judgment. He gave us peace, peace with God and His favor, by shedding His blood for our sins. 

And guess what?

Christ not only gave us peace with God, He gave us peace with one another. Christ is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). People from all different backgrounds, colors, cultures have been brought together in the church by the blood of Christ. 

And it is not just ethnic diversity that we celebrate. There is diversity of all different kinds. I can tell you from experience growing up in the Korean American church, that there is plenty of diversity within that community.

So, let me ask you, what brings us together? Is it a diversity program? Affirmative action? Is it our multi-cultural initiatives? Is it our ethnically diverse potlucks? Our worship songs in different languages? Our wokeness? 

No! What brings us together is Christ! Christ has accomplished in the church what the world cannot do. The world is trying to accomplish peace by worldly methods. And it is failing.

But Jews and Gentiles, the two ancient people groups who hated each other, Christ reconciled in one body, the church. And by extension, He reconciled all people groups, no matter their ancient hostility, no matter the history of this country. (Ephesians 2:11-22). We are reconciled and we have peace. It was a blood bought unity. It was a blood bought peace. 

This is so important to say because there are those in the church who would disrupt that peace that Christ Himself purchased. They would do so by imposing barriers to reconciliation that Christ has not placed. Christ has brought peace and reconciliation to His church in this country, overcoming the sin of our past. 

This is what the world does not know and cannot know.

Tolerance does not bring us together, the blood of Christ does.

Diversity is not the goal, the glory and fame of Jesus Christ is. 

Worldly philosophy does not guide us, the word of God does. 

And the grace of God brings us peace. It brings us peace with God first and foremost, and then it brings us peace with our fellow man. 

The prophet Isaiah said that one day the nations would come together in a common pursuit.

“All the nations shall flow to [the mountain of the Lord], and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2–3).

What will bring the nations together in their pilgrimage to Jerusalem? The Word of God.

Here’s how the apostle John described worship in heaven. Those around the throne of God cry out,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (Rev 5:9-10). 

Who is the focus on in heaven? Christ. 

I grew up in a Korean-American church with Korean-American friends. Why did I come to Foothill Bible Church as a college student, when the culture here was anything but that? It was because of Christ and His Word. 

We celebrate Christ. We celebrate Christ together, as redeemed, forgiven, reconciled sons and daughters of Adam. And who has reconciled us? The second Adam, Jesus Christ.

Like you, I have been deeply grieved by the events of the past week. We have seen great evils explode onto the national consciousness. While our country has been clawing our way back from the coronavirus shutdowns, we’ve now been thrown into chaos. Events that seemed far away just a few days ago have suddenly landed in our back yard with protests in our own communities.

In the cacophony of cultural voices, we must resolve to care more about what God thinks than any other. He created this universe. He gave us his law. He gets the final say about how we should act and live in his world. Therefore, Scripture, as God’s holy, inspired word (2 Tim. 3:16), must be the primary guide for providing God’s answers in our troubled world.

Therefore, as I process the turmoil surrounding us, I’m drawn to three Scriptural responses.

1. Grieve.

The Bible calls us to weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15) and there are many people grieving right now. We want to come alongside them in their hurt. In addition, we grieve for the sin we see all around us. Lawlessness abounds as people ignore God’s law.

Our hearts rightly grieve the death of George Floyd. His murder is grievous because Mr. Floyd was a man made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27). God takes the murder of one human by another human very seriously (Gen. 9:5–6, Ex. 20:13), and so should we. In the eyes of God, the killing of George Floyd was wrong and evil. Therefore, we grieve it and denounce it as wicked.

We grieve any and all forms of racism, subtle or blatant. The Bible gives no place for what we call racism because every person is made in the image of God and therefore has inherent dignity and value. There are not multiple races of people, but only one race—the human race, who are all descended from Adam (Acts 17:26). Because we share a common ancestry, no ethnic group can claim superiority over another. All are equal in God’s eyes and should be in ours as well.

To treat people with disdain or hate because of outward appearances is an affront to the Creator of those differences. God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11) and for us to do so is to sin against him (James 2:9).

In light of the evils perpetrated, many are calling for justice. And rightly so. God desires justice among his people (Micah 6:8). Justice is defined by the character of God. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne” (Ps. 89:14).

Unfortunately, it is easy for those with power and authority to take advantage of those who have none. The Bible repeatedly calls for leaders to execute justice for the poor and the oppressed. As believers, we want to see God’s law upheld and all people to receive equal treatment under the law. Therefore, we grieve the abuse of power exhibited by those who had sworn to protect the public.

On top of this, there are those who have taken advantage of the situation to commit more evil. We grieve the violence and anarchy being exhibited in cities across the country. While everyone has the right to protest, there is no reason for vandalism, theft, and murder. This is adding injustice to injustice. The destruction and burning of community businesses is wicked and serves no just purpose. To steal or to harm others’ property is expressly forbidden by the Lord (Ex. 20:15), as is repaying evil for evil—“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Rom. 12:17–19).

We grieve the danger, threats, and attacks first responders experience as they seek to protect our cities and neighborhoods. They receive the brunt of people’s anger and hostility simply because it’s their duty to be there and serve.

In all of this, we grieve because of sin. Ever since sin entered the world in Genesis 3, mankind has been perpetrating great wrongs against one another (i.e. Cain killing Abel in Genesis 4). We hate, murder, and oppress because we are sinners.

Sin has manifested itself in every society down through human history. Our country is no different. The United States has a sad history of the oppression, mistreatment, and hatred of other humans. We grieve this lamentable history.

But we cannot let our grief lead us to despair, and therefore we must pray.

2. Pray

We pray because only God is a sovereign Savior. Government is not our savior. The strength of the mob is not our savior. Only God can help us, so we cry out to him, and he loves to hear our prayers (Ps. 65:2).

We pray for the Floyd family as they grieve the loss of George, their beloved family member.

We pray that justice will be served to the police officers involved in George Floyd’s death.

We pray for all corruption that exists in the criminal justice systems across the country to be exposed and rooted out.

We pray for those who have been and are mistreated by ungodly authorities.

We pray for law, order, and peace to be restored to the streets of our cities.

We pray for police officers and other first responders, that they would be safe from harm; that they would respond wisely in each situation, and that they would have compassion for their fellow man.

We pray justice will be served for those who are rioting, destroying property, and looting.

We pray for all those who are hurting right now that they would be comforted in their grief.

We pray especially that the people of the United States would repent of their sins and turn to Jesus as their only hope. He is their only hope of reconciliation with God and each other. Only Jesus removes the just wrath of a holy God reserved for each person. Only Jesus removes the hostility from our hearts so that we can love one another.

Without Jesus and without repentance, there is no hope of peace in our country. We must pray God humbles our nation, and that our nation confesses its sin, and turns to Jesus.

Most of all, we pray God’s magnificent, holy name is glorified above all. We want him to be honored, feared, and worshiped by all people made in his image.

3. Unify

One day, Jesus will return and set up his kingdom on this earth. In that day, there will be true justice and true harmony among all humanity. Until his kingdom is established, peace and reconciliation is manifested in the church (Ephesians 2:11–22).

The church is to be a beautiful expression of God’s ideal for humanity. We are a mix of different ethnicities and those differences capture the diversity God created in this world. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are able to stand unified together. The diversity stays, but the division goes away.

But as we talked about on Sunday, we must seek to preserve our unity together. We have all been forgiven of our sins. The ground is level before the cross. We must love one another. We must listen to each other and learn from one another. Our platform for doing this is our unity in Christ.

Church, these are sad and troubling times. I pray we can love our neighbors as ourselves, engage in honest dialogue with the people around us, seek to understand those who are different from us, and share the gospel unashamedly.

This is a time to dialogue with other brothers and sisters in the church as we process these events together. If you have any further questions, the elders are here for you, so please reach out to us.

May God grant mercy,
Pastor Micah