#46 THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST 8-28-26
When you know that someone you love is coming to see you it brings very positive feelings. You may not know the exact hour. You may not know exactly how everything will unfold. But you know they are coming, and that knowledge changes the way you live while you wait.
The Christian lives with that blessed expectation. We are not simply waiting for an event. We are waiting for a Person. We are waiting for Jesus Christ.
The early church lived with this expectation, and the Bible calls us to do the same. “Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
We should be looking for His coming. There ought to be an expectancy in the heart of every believer. We should lift our eyes beyond this present world and remember that this world is not our final home. Jesus promised, “I will come again” (John 14:3). His coming is not a possibility resting on human speculation. It is a promise resting on His word. The Christian does not have to wonder whether Christ will keep His promise. He will. And because He is coming, we can face today with hope. We look for Him because we love Him.
We should be living for His coming. Looking for Christ should affect the way we live before Christ. “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). The expectation of Christ’s coming should produce holiness, faithfulness, and obedience. We should not spend our lives trying to squeeze everything we can out of this present age. We should live as people who know that eternity is ahead of us. We should work while it is day. We should love people. We should preach the Gospel. We should forgive quickly. We should keep our hearts clean. We should be found faithful when our Lord comes.
We should be longing for His coming. Paul said that he had a “desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (Philippians 1:23). There is something in the redeemed heart that longs to see Jesus. We may love our families. We may enjoy our work. We may be thankful for every good gift God has given us. Yet beneath all of those blessings there is a deeper longing. We want to see the One who saved us. Faith will become sight. The One we have trusted without seeing will one day stand before us. The One whose name we have spoken in prayer will be the One before whom we stand.
And we should love the thought of His coming. The world may dread the thought of Christ appearing, but the church should rejoice. Paul spoke of a “crown of righteousness” that would be given “to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). Notice those words. Loved His appearing. Not merely tolerated it. Not merely believed it. Loved it. There should be something in us that says, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). We do not love His coming because we are eager to escape responsibility. We love His coming because we love Him.
The best thing about heaven is not streets of gold, reunion with loved ones, or freedom from sorrow. The best thing about heaven is Christ. The goal of redemption is not merely to get us out of hell. It is to bring us into the presence of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. So we look for Him. We live for Him. We long for Him. We love the thought of His coming. Until that day, let us keep our lamps burning, our hearts tender, our hands busy, and our eyes fixed upon Jesus.
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Lord Jesus, teach us to live with our eyes upon You. Give us hearts that look for Your coming, lives that are lived for Your glory, souls that long to see You, and hearts that rejoice at the thought of Your appearing. Keep us faithful while we wait. Keep us holy while we work. Keep us hopeful while we suffer. And when You come, may You find us watching, loving, trusting, and ready. Amen.
BDD
