Bella Vista Church of Christ
LIFELINES
June 27, 2001 Randall Caselman
As We Wait For His Coming
The Bible is filled with His coming. The Old Testament speaks of His incarnation. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John write about His dwelling among men. And the rest of the New Testament tells us how we are to live until He comes again. The next big event on God's calendar is His coming. This event is mentioned more than 300 times in the 260 chapters of our New Testament. Statistically, one out of every 25 verses refer to His return. How should this impact our daily walk?
First, we should expect His coming.
The early church expected Him to come in their lifetimes. Do we? Luke says,
Blessed, happy are those whom the master finds watching for His return. The truth is, we are caught up in everything BUT His coming. We are so concerned about the things of this world that there is no room for us to be thinking about Jesus' return. Peter speaks of those who had forgotten that God destroyed the world once, and will destroy it again at His coming. Question: Do we believe Jesus will come again? Are we expecting Him in our lifetime, this year, today?
Second, we should long for His coming.
The first century church looked forward to Jesus returning. They wanted, waited, anticipated, prayed for His coming. The word on their lips was
“Maranatha” which meant,
“Lord come quickly” or
“Come, Oh Lord!” This word became a Christian greeting, similar to the Jewish “Shalom” meaning “peace.” Who would have thought that we would prefer to live at 19 Lesbury Lane, Bella Vista rather than 19 Golden Street, Celestial City? His coming means our going home to heaven, and this was the utmost thing on the minds of the early church. Do we really want Him to come back? God help us to restore a genuine anticipation of Christ’s return.
Why hasn't He come already? We don't know for sure, but I believe one reason for His delay is so that those who are not in Christ can turn to Him.
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3.9, NIV) The only real reason to dread Christ’s return is if we are not in a proper relationship with Him.
Third, we must prepare for His coming.
Some do not want Jesus to return because they know they are not right with God. Remember what happened at Belshazzar’s feast?
“Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lamp stand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.” (Dan. 5.5-6) Belshazzar had good reason to be afraid; he was not right with God. Those in Revelation chapter six are pictured as calling upon the rocks and the mountains to cover them, because they were not prepared for Christ’s return. Are we ready? What kind of preparations must we make? Be sure of your salvation so that you may be ready for His coming.
Fourth, we should proclaim His coming.
Jesus said that we are to carry His message into all the world. I believe one of the reasons that Jesus gave us the Lord’s Supper, was as a weekly reminder that He is coming again. Paul also understood this, for he said, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor. 11.26) We proclaim to ourselves and to the world around us that we are confident that Jesus will come again. His supper keeps us reminded. Scripture tells us that the early church met weekly to proclaim His coming.
Do we expect Him to come today? Are we looking forward to this promised event because we are ready? Are we proclaiming His coming? Just how does His return impact our daily walk? It will, make us different, peculiar people if we will carry the thought with us.
RANDALL CASELMAN
