Regarding sex; condemnations against homosexuality has to be seen as in the context of the Bride and Wife of the Lamb, who is made up of many men.
Great point!
The sexual/gender references in the Bible refer to a mystery revealed by God to those who would hear it.
It is not a people issue at all. It tells of God's desire for a companion, that come together as One...just as He prescribes it in marriage-- which was His plan, and has nothing to do with would-be sexual preference. It's about God's love for us.
Regarding time; Jesus says he is coming soon and very soon. See Rev 22:7, 12, 22. At another place, he says his return is before this generation will pass. It is under obvious that the Apostles thought the End Times, the 2nd Coming of Christ would be in their lifetimes.
To resist the concerns of these points, is IMO, like the wind against a kite - the
cause of the disbelief to rise, to be reinforced and solidified. While Christ followers seem to find it easier to address the concerns over sex, the tendency is to defend the concerns over time, which either goes against
2 Corinthians 1:13 or is condescending of their "understanding", such as
a day is like a thousand years to the LORD. (This side steps the point of
the timing for us humans.)
Rather than defend HOW Scripture is right and our understanding it wrong, I think it would be more effective at persuasion to concede that these are concerning matters (you understand their concerns) and that like them, you too don't fully understand all of Scripture (without going into specifics), then turn attention to why you do believe and why they should believe also.
IMO, this is an opportunity to build a relationship with other image bearer's of God rather than deepen the divide over theological minutia - compared to helping to bring another soul to Christ. Thoughts?
Another great point!
No, "
soon" and "
very soon" (or "
quickly")-- do not mean there is a mysterious "gap" in Jesus' plans for returning, or that obviously He had no idea, and it was therefore wrong of Him to state it as such.
But ask a thousand preachers, and you will get the same lame answer explaining away what Jesus apparently had wrong (according to them). It's just crazy-- they don't even "
believe" Him, or take Him at his word!
So, no,
it's just most people's way of explaining what they do not understand-- and Jesus' way of doing exactly what He said:
"But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two(*) and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 24:48-51
The question then becomes...
What then could Jesus have possibly meant, if "soon" was actually true? And from there, again comes a thousand more ways of explaining away "
soon" not actually meaning "soon", and a thousand ways of wrongfully believing anyone and everyone but Jesus. Don't believe it!
And the correct answer?
"
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels."
Matthew 16:27
...And what is "
the glory of the Father?" "--
God is spirit." Meaning [duh!], He comes
in the spirit. Which, of course is just too off for those born of the flesh to bear--so they don't, and therefore resort to their own understanding. And here we are.
For those who can receive it, Paul goes on then to explain that the timing then, is not one massive future event, but that it occurs "
each in his own order." Which is "
that day and hour no one knows", of which there are only two
(*) that come "
each in his own order" --birth and death. That is, physical death for "
the dead in Christ", and spiritual birth for "
the living in Christ."
Of course, the gospels and the rest of scripture and the details therein, will then read considerably different than the teachings of men.
