Tag: end times

Are You Looking Forward to Christ’s Return?

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for LifeLeave a comment

A couple weeks ago, I experienced the joy of reunion. I spent the previous week hunting deer in Wyoming and was glad to be back home with my beautiful pregnant wife and three boys. I love spending time outdoors, tracking game, and enjoying time with my dad and brother. But nothing beats coming home to my family.

Because I had already bagged my buck and my dad came down with a cold, we ended up driving home a couple days early. As you might expect, my family was pleasantly surprised to have me back sooner than expected. But just imagine if their response was disappointment instead of delight. Imagine if after I came through the front door, my wife frowned and said, “Oh, you’re back. I was kind of getting used to you being gone.” How do you think I would feel?

The question I’m asking here is: Are you looking forward to Christ’s return? Do you expectantly hope for this joyful reunion? Would it delight you or disappoint you if Jesus came tomorrow?

Just like if my family was not delighted at my return, wouldn’t a lack of delight indicate something is wrong with our relationship with Jesus?

“Our Lord, Come!”

At the conclusion to Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, he makes a bold statement:

“I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:21-22, ESV)

It’s worth noting that Paul says, “If anyone has no love for Jesus, let him be accursed (anathema in the Greek)”? Why doesn’t he say, “If anyone has no faith in Jesus let him be accursed”? Aren’t we saved by faith alone?

We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But Paul is highlighting something significant. When we are brought to new spiritual life in the Lord through a process called regeneration (new birth), we are given a new heart that loves the Lord and longs to please Him. In other words, if you have no love for Jesus, you have no faith in Him either. That’s why Paul says, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed.”

This explains why Paul then says, “Maranatha,” a phrase meaning “Our Lord, come!” “Maranatha” has been the cry of believers for 2,000 years. As we look around this world, we see that Jesus has not yet set everything right. There are wars and rumors of wars. There is lawlessness, hatred, apostasy, violence, and all kinds of perversions. Therefore, we long for the glory of Jesus and His physical presence on earth to make everything right.

Coming the Same Way He Went

After Jesus was lifted into the clouds, the disciples stared into the sky with mouths agape. Two angels appeared beside them and said:

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11, NASB)

Ever since then, Christians have been waiting for Jesus to come back in the same way He ascended into the clouds. After all, the angels didn’t say Jesus will come in some metaphorical or hyper-spiritual sense as some Christians believe.[1] They clearly said, “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” If the angels wanted us to believe Jesus was coming back physically and visibly, “in the same way” that He ascended before their eyes, I don’t know how else they could have said it.

In other words, this promise hasn’t yet been fulfilled. It wasn’t fulfilled in the first century, and it hasn’t been fulfilled since. Some Christians believe that the promise of Jesus’s coming has already been fulfilled in a metaphorical or spiritual sense at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. But many passages—including the angels’ words—have to be virtually strained out of the New Testament to come to that conclusion.

Interestingly, even Paul had to deal with people thinking Jesus had already come in the first century. Apparently, this error has been around for a long time.

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, ESV)

This is the great event Christians still look forward to with great anticipation. After you’ve given your life to Christ, you finally have real cause for rejoicing. You’re forgiven, made new, and now God is walking with you through every step of life. Infinite joy awaits you in eternity.

I cannot wait to see Jesus face to face! While on the one hand, I’m overwhelmed by the thought of seeing Him in all His glory, I also cannot wait. I want to look into those holy eyes full of love and compassion for the lost. I want to touch the hands that were pierced for me. I want to embrace the Savior who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

A Day of Wrath or Joy?

The Book of Revelation tells us:

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen.” (Revelation 1:7, ESV)

Think of that. One day every eye will see Him—again, His return will be oh so visible—but not everyone will have the same response. Some will be overwhelmed with joy and exhilaration at seeing their Lord and being caught up to meet Him in the clouds. Others will be devastated and overwhelmed with shock and terror. Consider these sobering words of the Apostle John:

“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17, ESV)

How awful must be their dread of Jesus if these people would rather be crushed by mountains and rocks than come under His wrath?

Sometimes I realize I haven’t really stopped to reflect on what I’ve just read in the Bible. Consider what is being said here. This day of wrath is going to be utterly terrifying for a vast number of people. Despite the fact that so many talk show hosts, comedians, screenwriters, politicians, and social media influencers mock the Lord Jesus today, a day of reckoning is coming. And, according to Scripture, it will come on a day that no one expects.

While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3, ESV)

To downplay the seriousness of this reality is to pretend this passage isn’t in Scripture.

But, we are reminded, the picture is very different for those who love the Lord Jesus.

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5, ESV)

For those who long for the Lord’s return, that day will be a glorious day of rejoicing. This is because if you know and trust in Jesus, you don’t need to live in dread of Christ’s return or experience terror at His return. Instead, you get to look forward to being with your Savior and all your brothers and sisters in the Lord who have gone before you.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, ESV)

If you have found salvation in the living Lord, you too can look forward to His return. It’s not something to shrink back from; it’s something to fuel your excitement. Jesus is coming back!

Are You Looking Forward to His Return?

Here’s what I’d have you consider. The deeper your relationship with Jesus, the more you will look forward to His return.

Full disclosure here: our home is not always pristinely clean with every dish put away and everything so immaculate that it sparkles like in those Swiffer commercials. We have three boys who love to turn our living room into a miniature city, with cars lined up in traffic and bridges going across chairs and couches. Don’t get me wrong. We do try to have them clean up after themselves, but, believe it or not, things don’t always go as planned. So, when we are expecting guests, we sometimes have to do what we call “blitzing” to get everything clean in time. Of course, there have been times when a guest showed up surprisingly early, and, frankly, we just didn’t feel ready.

Sometimes people feel that way about Christ’s return. They want Him to come back, but maybe not today. Soon, but not today. But the more we face challenges in life, the more we should long for Christ’s return. While those who don’t know Christ can fall into despair when bad things happen, the Christian should have a different perspective. Trials are meant to be God’s way of weaning us off our love for the world.

Sometimes a bit of pain is the only way to break us out of our cycle of pursuing the things of this world. He wants us to find ultimate joy with Him. So, in those times of trials, we need to turn our grumbling over circumstances into gratitude that our Savior is coming.

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.” (James 5:7, ESV)

Sometimes we can be hoping and praying for something, and not expect it to take so long. Perhaps it’s physical healing. Or a relationship with a family member needing to be reconciled. Or a friend we want to come to know Jesus. We can wonder, “Why is this taking so long? I’ve been praying! Why is my heart still so heavy?” But that’s where we need to humbly surrender to the Lord’s timetable, because He sees things from a much grander perspective than we could.

And one day, when Jesus returns and we see Him face to face, we will experience ultimate healing, both in our hearts and our bodies. Thus, we say together “Maranatha!” “Our Lord, come!”

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] A view called preterism holds that Jesus’s predicted return was fulfilled in the first century at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 in a spiritual sense, despite the fact that the promise was that Jesus would return physically and visibly. Of course, our understanding of end times events should not be shaped by what is popular or what fits neatly into a particular scheme, but what is plainly taught in Scripture. For that reason, despite the apparent neatness of the preterist view, I have to reject it.

Are We Living in the End Times?

On By Jason SmithIn Theology for Life2 Comments 
“The end of all things is near.”  (1 Peter 4:7, NIV)

Many Christians today are asking the question: “Are we living in the end times?” They look at how much of our society has lost its moral bearings, how godlessness is growing, and how it is becoming increasingly a challenge to live faithfully as a Christian in the Western world. So they wonder: Is Jesus coming back soon?

My answer, based on Scripture, is yes, we are most certainly living in the end times. However, I don’t base that conclusion on any recent turn of events in American society or on the international stage. Strange as it may sound, I believe that the church has been living in the end times ever since Jesus died and rose again. Why would I say that? Because all through the New Testament, we see this plainly taught. For example, the author of Hebrews could speak of living in the “last days” in the middle of the first century:

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2, ESV)

Writing around AD 54, the Apostle Paul told the church of Corinth that Old Testament scripture was written “for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11, ESV). When the Holy Spirit was given to the early church at Pentecost, Peter interpreted this event by quoting the prophet Joel:

“And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” (Acts 2:17, ESV)

Even more remarkable is Peter’s statement in his first epistle: “The end of all things is at hand” (1 Peter 4:7, ESV). Of course, we might reasonably wonder, If Peter in the first century could say “the end of all things is at hand,” why on earth are we still here 2,000 years later? That’s a fair question. There are other passages where the Bible says something similar. James even tells his readers that Jesus’ coming is so soon that you can already think of Him as “standing at the door” (James 5:9)!

Were the Apostles Mistaken?

Many have wondered, Did the Apostles get it wrong? Did they assume Jesus was coming back right away but were mistaken?

I think this type of question is resolved when we stop to first remember that the Bible claims to be the word of God Himself (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So, we aren’t just reading what the Apostles thought; we are reading the very words of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 3:15-16). Furthermore, Jesus promised His Apostles that the Holy Spirit “will guide you into all the truth… and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13, ESV). So to assert that the Apostles might be in error in their teaching is actually to cast doubt on Jesus’ integrity.

But let’s consider something important about how biblical prophecy often works. Many have termed this “prophetic telescoping.” The idea is that when you look at biblical prophecies, it is often like looking at a mountain range. A single prophecy might appear to be fulfilled in that first mountain you can see, but what is not always explicitly stated is that there also may be greater fulfillment in the next mountain behind it and so on. In other words, when a prophecy is given, there are partial fulfillments, which tend to happen sooner. And then there are ultimate fulfillments which happen farther down the timeline.[1]

Another thing is that the Bible talks about the “last days” or the “end times” in terms of a phase in redemptive history. So, if you were to ask the Bible, “Are we living in the end times?” The clear answer is, “Yes, we are.” But that’s more a statement about us living in the final phase of redemptive history than it is about the precise timeline of Jesus’ return. The Messiah has come. He has suffered, risen again, and sent the Holy Spirit. The message of salvation is going forth.

The Bible views history as split by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He’s the central figure, and His resurrection was the central event. Before Christ, God’s people lived in anticipation. We could call those the “former times,” when the prophets anticipated a coming Messiah (Hebrews 1:1). But after Jesus came and accomplished redemption, a new era began, an era when God’s people are permanently indwelled by the Holy Spirit. This is the church age, but it’s also the final phase of redemptive history.[2]

Ready and Alert

Now, you might say, “It’s awfully confusing for Peter to say ‘the end of all things is near’ if there was still at least 2,000 years to go.” Well, not if you see it as a call for vigilance. God was intentionally ambiguous about the timing of Christ’s return. It’s a fixed date on His calendar, but He wanted every generation of Christians to live with the expectancy that Christ could return very soon. And even today, we should live with that expectancy. Jesus could come back very soon. That’s what the Bible means when it says we are living in the “last days” or end times.

We are called to faithfully and expectantly await His soon return, knowing it always could be just around the corner. Regarding His return, Jesus called His followers to “Keep alert at all times” (Luke 21:36) and “be ready” (Luke 12:40). He said, “Keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).

Here’s something else we should consider. The Bible hints at the fact that Jesus would seem to take a long time to return, but each generation should anticipate His return with alertness.

In God’s eyes, Jesus’ return will be right on time, but there are indicators from Scripture that Jesus would seem to take a long time from our perspective. Why else would Jesus tell the parable of the ten virgins who waited for the bridegroom to come for the wedding? Five were wise and brought oil, and five were foolish and unprepared.

Jesus says, “The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.” (Matthew 25:5, NIV)

The foolish virgins who are not ready for the bridegroom’s sudden arrival end up excluded from the wedding feast.

In the chapter before that, Jesus talks about the faithful servant who is ready when his master returns and then compares that to the wicked servant who grows negligent when his master takes longer than expected.

“But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:48-51, ESV)

In both cases, there is a hint that Jesus will take longer than expected to return. But it doesn’t go so well for those who start to live like Jesus is never coming back. That is why Peter says “the end of all things is near,” and Jesus said He was coming soon (Revelation 22:20). From a divine perspective, He is coming soon (2 Peter 3:8-10). These are calls to be ready. Christians are to live as servants expecting their master’s soon return.

Sober and Effective Prayer

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. (1 Peter 4:7, NIV)

It’s fascinating how often drunkenness is contrasted with being filled with the Spirit in Scripture. The priests of Israel were not allowed to drink alcohol if they wanted to enter the Tabernacle. Samson’s mother is told not to drink alcohol during her pregnancy so that her son can be filled with God’s Spirit for his life’s mission. An angel prophesies that John the Baptist “is never to take wine or other fermented drink,” because “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Peter has to correct people on the Day of Pentecost who assume that he and his fellow believers are drunk when they are actually filled with the Spirit.

And then there’s Paul’s explicit command: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18, BSB)

Drunkenness is primarily about escapism. People get drunk to avoid the troubles of life. They run from the battle and resort to the bottle. People look to the bottle to calm their fears, dull their senses, and relax.

But being filled with the Holy Spirit is about rescue from our old way of life. It’s not about running away; it’s about overcoming. Rather than encouraging us to hide from challenges, the Holy Spirit urges us to face our problems in reliance on Him – and overcome.

If being drunk dulls our senses, being filled with the Spirit sharpens them. People run to alcohol when they want to have a good time. But it is the Holy Spirit who brings the true joy and peace we are craving.

That’s why, contrary to what some think, Christians actually have a lot of fun together. The Spirit Himself creates the joyful atmosphere that we share together. While the Bible doesn’t forbid us from ever drinking alcohol, we don’t need alcohol to have a good time. And it’s worth noting that four out of the six sins that Peter mentions in 1 Peter 4:3 refer to abuse of alcohol.

So Peter is saying in verse 7, “Keep the gunpowder dry, so that you can fire off those effective prayers that can radically change circumstances. Tune in to what the Spirit is doing rather than tuning out.”

On September 17, 1788, the Austrian army achieved the unthinkable. They managed to lose the Battle of Karansebes before the enemy even made it to the battlefield. When the Ottoman army was delayed in arriving for the battle, the Austrian army got bored and decided to try the local Schnapps. After getting wildly drunk, the Austrians suddenly mistook one another for the enemy and began firing on each other. When the Ottoman army finally did reach the battlefield, all they found was an encampment of 10,000 wounded or dead Austrians.

Let’s not be like the foolish Austrians at the Battle of Karansebes. Let’s stay alert and sober, because there is a real spiritual war taking place right now. We are right in the thick of it, and the devil would love for us to begin turning our muzzles on one another and forget that he is the real enemy.

When you’re thinking deeply about Christ’s return, you will be moved to pray more effectively, renounce hidden sins, and demonstrate sacrificial love for others. Live expectantly in these last days. Anticipating His soon arrival compels us to live both soberly and passionately for the glory of our coming King.

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] One clear example of this in Scripture is the prophecy of the coming “day of the Lord,” which had immediate partial fulfillment in the days that prophecy was given, but will one day have ultimate fulfillment on the day the Lord returns to judge and to save. For example, when Zephaniah writes of the day of the Lord (Zephaniah 1:7-8, 14-16), he describes it both as a coming event in history when Jerusalem will be destroyed (1:4, 10-12), but he also talks about it as an event at the end of history when people are wiped off the face of the earth (1:2-3, 17-18).

[2] This doesn’t rule out what the Jewish rabbis have called “Messianic Age,” which I believe will be fulfilled in the Millennium spoken of primarily in Revelation 20:1-10. I would simply incorporate the Messianic Age as a time of greater realization of blessing and peace with Christ’s reign on the earth in this age. I get this from passages like Ephesians 1:21, which speaks only of “this age” and “the age to come,” which I believe is the new creation and eternal state (Revelation 21-22).