The creation is groaning and travailing in pain today. Each edition of the newspaper tells of some new tragedy, some new abomination, some new destruction of mankind and the environment. Will deliverance ever come? Yes, according to the unchanging Word of almighty God.

Deliverance will come to the material creation at the hand of the Son of God working through and with the sons of God. But first the Son had to be prepared. Now we who would appear with Him must be prepared.

We must be prepared by having the spirit of the present world driven from us.

We must be prepared by becoming strong enough in Christ to resist the temptations of Satan.

We must be prepared by submitting to the crucifixion of our adamic nature, our self-will, our natural mind, until we are abiding in Jesus Christ and living by His Life.

Only then are we qualified and competent to appear with the Lord Jesus Christ and restore Paradise to the earth.

Each new disaster that occurs in the world should motivate us to be ever more diligent in seeking Christ and doing His will. He cannot return until His Body has been prepared, for God has decreed that Christ and His coheirs shall inherit the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth. We cannot participate in the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth until we ourselves are doing God's will in the earth as it is in Heaven.

When we consider the enormity of the task facing the Servant of the Lord, that of removing all sin from the earth, and then installing Paradise, we may begin to doubt if such will ever happen.

But remember, our Lord Jesus has been given all authority in Heaven and on the earth. It is the Father who has issued such authority to Him.

And how much power does the Father possess?

This is what God the LORD says—he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: (Isaiah 42:5—NIV)

God is the one who has called each member of the Servant of the Lord. But we cannot walk with God while we are continuing in sin, for God has called us in righteousness—first imputed, and then formed in us as a new creation.

I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, (Isaiah 42:6—NIV)

Our calling as members of the Body of Christ, the Body of the Messiah who is to come soon to the earth, is to release all who are willing to be released from the destructive chains of Satan.

To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah 42:7—NIV)

Therefore let us each day redeem the time, using every minute well, because evil is increasing.

Christ and the world await your decision. What will it be? (from Preparing To Appear With Christ)