At the end of this age, the Bible states, God will reign in His kingdom on this earth:
“We give thanks to You, the Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.
The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding Your servants, the prophets,
Your saints and those who fear Your Name,
Both small and great,
and for destroying those who destroy the Earth.” [Revelation 11: 17,18]
But how do we recognise who are God’s servants, prophets, saints and those who fear His Name?
His servants are those who do what God asks of them.
His prophets are those who speak what God speaks to them.
His saints are those who are holy as God is holy.
Those who fear His name are those who do not do what God does not do.
To whom do we look to see and understand who has done these things in the past?
We look to Jesus, the Author of our faith and the visible image of the invisible God, and the Firstborn of all Creation. He served His Father faithfully and completely. He spoke the words of God. He lived a holy life as God is holy and He did not do what God commanded not to do.
We also look to the Apostles, to see how they imitated the Saviour, so that we may copy their example.
Christ died so that we might live. The Apostles died to bring us this hope of life in Christ.
They did not live in order that we may die, nor did they live to destroy life itself.
Anyone who claims to serve God by murdering others is not following the example of Christ, who is God incarnate. But the devil seeks to steal and destroy. So, who are the murderers serving?
If a man or woman truly wants to receive God’s reward, they must choose to serve the true God, not a false god whose demands are contrary to the commands of God.
The Lord bless you all,
Graham Ford
President – Jesus Christ for Muslims