“Christ will appear a second time, not to bear
sin, but to bring salvation to those
who are waiting for him.”
(Hebrews 9:28)

Thoughts… The Bible is full of promises—hundreds, perhaps thousands of them—that God has made to his children. Not all of them have been fulfilled, but none of them have been broken. Nor will they ever be. Every promise in God’s book will come true!

Prominent in the Word of God is the promise of Christ’s coming—a first coming and a second coming.

The Old Testament foretold the birth of the Messiah. For hundreds of years, the Jewish people yearned for the promise of Messiah to be fulfilled. And then, as Paul wrote in Galatians 4:4-5, “when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

God fulfilled his promise. Jesus came and bore in his body our sins so that we could be adopted as God’s children.

Prominent also in the Word of God is the promise of Christ’s second coming. As Jesus was ascending into heaven 40 days after his death and resurrection, the angels declared to the disciples looking on, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

God will fulfill this promise as well. Jesus will come again, not to bear sin in his body-he’s already done that—but to bring completion to our salvation as he ushers us into his eternal kingdom.

As surely as God broke into our world the first time through the birth of his Son, the sound of the archangel’s trumpet will pierce earth’s atmosphere announcing the appearance of our Risen Lord and Savior once again, and we who believe will be ushered fully and finally into his eternal, literal, physical, forever rule. It is going to happen—no doubt about it!

The only question is when. Just as God had a perfect time for Christ’s first coming, so he has a perfect time for his second coming.

And that could be today!

Are you ready? Are your bags packed? Are you ready to go home—to your real home in glory?

Let me suggest that you try something today: Live today like this will be the day that Jesus will return. Let’s say by midnight today, he will come again. Try it—as best you can—and see what happens. See how your life is different today—how you think, interact, decide, work, spend money…

You know what? We really should be living like that everyday, so give it a shot.

And maybe the next time I see you, we will be in heaven. You just never know!

Prayer… Maranatha—even so, come Lord Jesus!

One More Thing… “He whose head is in heaven need not fear to put his feet into the grave.” — Matthew Henry

“For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return
will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.”
(I Thessalonians 5:2)

Thoughts... Both Thessalonian letters devote a great deal to Christ’s return. Paul concludes this first letter by reminding his readers that this great event will happen when people least expect it—“like a thief in the night.” So as believers, we must therefore live each and every moment expecting the unexpected. We are to live with our bags packed, so to speak, ready to leave for our true home—heaven—at a moments notice.

What does it mean to live in such a way? Paul gives a checklist of sorts in the final verses of this letter. Perhaps you’ve used a checklist to make sure you have the right things packed in your suitcase before going on an extended trip. As you prepare for the journey home—which by the way, will be an extended trip with no return—here is your spiritual checklist:

• Verse 6: Be alert—be on the lookout; remain on guard as to Christ’s return and the evil conditions of the time in which it will take place.
• Verses 6 & 8: Be self-controlled—keep your life, your passions, your desires and fleshly drives in check.
• Verse 8: Be armed—put on the armor of faith (conviction), love (self-sacrifice) and hope (the assurance of your salvation).
• Verse 11: Be encouraging—instead of finding flaws in others, build them up and help them to be ready for Christ’s return.
• Verses 12-13: Be respectful—treat your spiritual leaders—ministers and lay leaders—with high regard and love. Give them respect not because of their position, educational achievements are popularity, but because of the nature of their work.
• Verse 13: Be at peace—seek peace actively, not passively, with fellow believers.
• Verses 14-15: Be involved—get involved with others by warning the idle, motivating the timid, helping the weak, being patient with everyone, and exhibiting kindness rather than retaliation toward those who’ve hurt you.
• Verse 16: Be joyful—maintain an attitude of joy no matter what.
• Verse 17: Be prayerful—stay in God’s presence continually.
• Verse 18: Be thankful—not only in good times, but even in bad times exhibit an attitude of gratitude.
• Verses 19-20: Be sensitive—develop a sensitivity and an appreciation for the work of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ; especially as it relates to prophecy.
• Verse 21: Be discerning—be knowledgeable of the Bible so that everything can be tested against it.
• Verse 21: Be obedient—understand what the Word of God says, and be quick to obey it.
• Verse 22: Be pure—moral purity should continually characterize your life.
• Verses 23-24: Be dependent—be wholly dependent on God and cooperative with the Holy Spirit to bring about sanctification and blamelessness in your life—body, soul and spirit.
• Verse 25: Be an intercessor—regularly intercede for others before the throne of God.
• Verse 26: Be friendly—love and affection must be demonstrative, and an outward expression of your inner affection for fellow believers.
• Verse 27: Be unselfish—take responsibility to share with other believers the truth of God’s Word.
• Verse 28: Be gracious—live in the light and reality of God’s grace, personally and relationally.

Are you ready to go, or do you need to do some more packing? Jesus may come today, so make sure you’re ready for the journey.

Prayer… Lord, I long to see you. Perhaps it will be today! But whether it is today or a hundred years from now, empower me through the Holy Spirit to live this day in a state of readiness, ready to go home at a moments notice.

One More Thing…“Our deepest calling is not to grow in our knowledge of God. It is to make disciples. Our knowledge will grow — the Holy Spirit, Jesus promised, will guide us into all truth. But that’s not our calling, it is His. Our calling is to prepare the world for Christ’s return. The world is not ready yet. And so, we go about introducing a dying world to the Savior of Life. Anything we do toward our own growth must be toward that end.” —Jeffery Bryant

“They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of
his Son, whom he raised from the dead— Jesus,
who rescued us from certain doom.”
(I Thessalonians 1:9-10, The Message)

Thoughts… Are you expecting? Expecting the Lord to return at any moment, that is.

The believers in the city of Thessalonica to whom Paul wrote these words believed that Christ could come back at any second. They were young in their faith, only about one-year-old in the Lord, and they were already getting a reputation in the region for their action-oriented faith, their love-inspired good words, their unshakable hope in the face of persecution, and their passionate expectation of Jesus’ imminent return.

Their expectation of Christ’s soon return was not some silly pie-in-the-sky sort of wishful thinking. It was not a form of escapism to ease the pain of their persecution. It was not rooted in reality avoidance so they wouldn’t have to carry out the daily responsibilities of being good Christians. It was simply an authentic belief that Jesus was going to do as he promised: return soon and take them home to be with him.

Rather than writing them off as overly emotional or shallow new believers, Paul praises them for this spirit of expectation. Because there was a fundamental sense of the Lord’s return, these guys were turning up the heat up on their Christian living: They were busy doing the Lord’s work. They were paying attention to holy living. They were not shrinking back from their Christian testimony in spite of hardship. They were passionately living out their faith. They were fully engaged in what it means to be Christian precisely because they knew the Lord would come back at any moment, and they wanted to be the kind of church that Jesus would be proud of upon his return.

That is the way believers ought to live. We should be living with a passionate expectation that Jesus could return at any moment. And as a consequence of that belief, we ought to be living fully engaged Christianity so that the Master will be proud of us upon his return.

Let me ask you this: How would you live the rest of this week if you knew Jesus was returning exactly seven days from this moment? What would change about your behavior between now and then? What people would you share Christ with? What relationships would you make sure were reconciled? Would “I love you” be said more often around your house? How about “I’m sorry?” Or “how can I help you?” Would your church attendance, your tithing record, your daily devotions, and the way you relate to people improve between now and then?

The real possibility is that Jesus just might return between now and next week. We just don’t know. But what we do know is that Jesus has called us to live as if he could return at any moment. Paul teaches throughout I and II Thessalonians that since Christ could come at any moment, we are to live:

• In holiness—especially in the area of sexual purity…and he says this with a sense of urgency.
• In harmony—that is the result of truly loving each other…so much that we are willing to lay down our lives for one another.
• In humility—to live in such a way that we draw the attention of others, not because of how sensational we are, but because of how honest, hard working and honorable we are.
• In hopefulness—which occurs when we allow an eternal perspective to permeate the very core of our existence and affect everything we do, say and think.
• In helpfulness—living out faith so practically that our lives are characterized by servant-heartedness and sacrificial selflessness toward one another.

When we live in the kind of readiness that Christ could return at any moment—in holiness, harmony, humility, hopefulness and helpfulness—the natural bi-product will be that contagious faith will exude from our lives in much the same as it did from these amazing Thessalonian Christians.

Are you expecting? You should be!

Prayer… My affirmation of faith, O God, is that Jesus is coming again. He is coming for all who long for his appearance, who have readied themselves for his return. I want to be counted in that number. So again today, I ready myself for that possibility and I pray in my spirit, “even so, come Lord Jesus.”

One More Thing… “God destines us for an end beyond the grasp of reason.” —Thomas Aquinas