On the Second Coming: What You Can’t Neglect

Forgive me, but there’s something you and I have forgotten.

It’s simply this: Christ will one day return.

When? We don’t know.

We do know that it will be .

And .

Unfortunately, we so often live as if Christ won’t return as he promised.

Often we lend so much of our time and energy and emotions and hope to the things of this world that we end up looking no different than non-believers.

Not surprising.

We live in a culture where we are bred to look no further than the end of our noses. Narcissism is in our bones.

We Live Differently Due to the Second Coming

But Christian: there’s more to our life than that. There’s more to our faith, our hope.

Paul in his  puts it like this:

and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

We live differently because we have a different future. We have a different hope.

A hope that inspires endurance. Holiness. Charity. Love. Gratitude. Adoration of the one to come.

We Are a Waiting People Due to the Second Coming

In one sense, this makes us a people who wait. But what exactly are we waiting for?

We wait for our salvation to be complete. Our innocence to be demonstrated. Our war with sin to end.

We wait for our final gratification and joy. We wait for the death of anxiety and misery.  We wait for the redemption of our bodies and all creation.

We wait for God to finally and fully vindicate his name. For Christ to expose his undeniable majesty to the world. And for every knee to bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

So, what do we do in the meantime? Good question.

We Live Out the Gospel Due to the Second Coming

In the meantime, we give a little six-year-old girl who’s home has burned down new clothes and toys. We feed families devastated by poverty. We dig out parkas and blankets to share with the homeless.

We teach our children to love the lost. We show kindness every minute to our spouses. And we extend God’s grace to mankind.

We pray for the salvation of our brothers and sisters. Mothers and fathers. Sons and daughters. Friends far and wide. Strangers of all stripes.

Most importantly, though, we share the gospel.

We share the hope that through Christ’s death we are spared the coming day of God’s wrath and judgement…

And we tell them that God is graciously redeeming a rebellious people to adopt into his family and that they are invited to join.

Your Turn

That’s what we do in the meantime. Any questions? Any things we are waiting for that I missed? Any more examples of our duties while we wait?

Share your thoughts. Brutal and all.

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