Word by Radim Passer
MARANATHA
The word "Maranatha" means "the Lord is coming".
By founding the Maranatha Association we want to give an idea of the revelation of God in order to benefit contemporary society. The hope of personally meeting with Jesus Christ as the awaited Messiah is the thread through all biblical prophecy. The very end of the Bible says: "Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what they have done. I am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End... He who testifies to these things says: "Yes I am coming soon." "Amen, come Lord Jesus!"
In effect however the purport of "Maranatha" also expresses a prayer because in the original Aramaic form we can translate this plea as "Lord, come!" The first generation of Christians already anticipated Christ's soon second coming. As well, it is the greatest event the history of our planet looks forward to. Two thousand years since the resurrection & ascension of Jesus Christ have already passed & it could seem that that "soon" coming isn't that soon. But we human beings who are limited in time & space must realize that God's existence is beyond space & time. The apostle Peter wrote: "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8). If we look then at the prediction of Christ coming soon from the perspective of the average human life we can then realize that it was near for the first generation of Christians just like for later generations.
The coming of Christ & our meeting Him isn't either dependent on the development of history but also on the end of our lives. Believing and unbelieving people most probably agree on the fact that the single real certainty in our earthly lives is death. Only the question of when, where and how remains. The Bible unambiguously answers speculations as to what happens after death. "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6). In other words it is possible to say that from God's perspective death is only unconscious sleep. When we fall asleep, we don't have the notion of time. It is possible then to comprehend that for Christians living in antiquity or in the middle ages the nearness of Christ's coming is perceived from the perspective of the length of life.
However after death comes resurrection: Jesus Himself, when He describes the event of His second coming, says: "...a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out -- those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned."(John 5:28-29). When will that happen? "He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority." (Acts 1:7). God, in His foresight, hasn't shared with us the time of Christ's second coming. "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:32-36). However when Christ was still on the earth He shared with us the circumstances & events that will precede His coming. Jesus shared with His followers that it will be possible to know when the end of history approaches & also his glorious second coming according to the development of society.
In roughly the last 175 years the news of the nearness of Jesus Christ's coming has been progressively preached, continually more intensively throughout the whole world. This fulfills what is prophesied: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14). At the same time this end will be a new beginning - the beginning for all who through faith accepted the gift of God's grace & the gift of eternal life. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus said: "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).
I believe it and that's why the "Maranatha" Association originated. Our mission is to help people to search for & find the way to God, the giver of our lives. He is the Creator of everything in heaven & on the earth. Regardless, it was for us that He came to this world in order to pay the highest price for our guilt & so He became our Redeemer & Saviour. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12).
We live in a special time. For the time being only a small part of biblical prophecy remains unfulfilled. Vitally following Christ remains the best choice. This is the experience of millions of people in today's world and it is also my personal experience.
Radim Passer
