Can’t Wait

Jesus might come back today . . . does that thought scare you?

It frightened me when I was a kid. I’d hear a loud clap of thunder and think briefly that this might be it. Am I ready? Am I going to heaven? What if I’m not?

The Bible has a much different emphasis, though, at least for believers. Notice the thread that runs through these verses:

• And be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks (Luke 12:36).
• So that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:7).
• And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
• Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . . (2 Peter 3:11-12)
• Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

Did you notice how often the word “wait” appears in connection with the Lord’s final return?

It’s about anticipation, not dread. Excitement, not fear. Hopefulness, not apprehension. Jesus will come back to make everything right again, to fix a world gone wrong.

He’ll come to give us our final home, to bring his new “heaven and earth.” He’ll come to change this getting-older body into one that doesn’t creak, moan, or break. He’ll rid the world of sin, throw out the old enemy call “death,” and usher us into the presence of Perfection, Holiness, Righteousness. How?

Because of the cross. Because he wiped out our sins there, gave his righteousness to us, and promised us eternity.

We need to make sure unbelievers know that one day Jesus will come to bring “vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

But for those of us who follow Christ, there’s a more appropriate verse.

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20).

That’s a prayer you and I can pray today with confidence.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! —Chuck