Jesus is returning to the earth in the flesh—that is, in his resurrected physical body.
He will come to judge the world, and bring the final salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him in faith.
He will reign unhindered and fully exposed as King of kings and Lord of lords over all the nations—none will overpower him.
And after some time, he will remake the heavens and the earth and bring to reality the New Jerusalem where he and the Father will dwell permanently with their people: the Church.
This return of the King will be big, glorious, powerful, terrifying, cosmic, real, ground-breaking, shout-worthy, and global.
Many of us understand all of this in theory, but do we believe it? I think we daily need to humble ourselves before God and ask that the Spirit reveal more and more of this to our hearts.
We need the expectation and reality of Jesus’ return to burn in our hearts.
We need his second coming to be all-consuming in our lives.
We need to be eagerly waiting for his bodily return.
We need to cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
In Romans 13:11-12, Paul encouraged the Church in Rome with these words:
“…the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.”
Apparently Paul knew that some Christians in Rome were becoming “sleepy” in their walk with Christ. As we all know from experience, this inevitably leads to compromise and sinful acts—even if they begin small and almost unnoticeable.
This compromising and sinful behaviour are the “works of darkness” that Paul commanded they “cast off.”
Why?
Because as Paul wrote, “salvation is closer than ever before!” By saying this, he’s referring to our final salvation when Jesus returns.
Not only is “sleepy faith” always dangerous, but how much more when the “day” (i.e., Jesus’ return) is near?
Church, might I come alongside Paul and encourage all of us (including myself):
“The hour has come for you and I to wake from our slumber! Jesus is coming! His return is closer now than it has ever been before. The night is gone, friends. So throw off your sinful acts, thoughts, and attitudes. Every day be vigilant in putting on Jesus Christ!”
Consider: if Jesus’ coming was “nearer” at the time when Paul wrote his letter, how much “nearer” for us today? And if Paul—inspired by the Spirit—felt that the church in his day needed to wake from their slumber (though only decades after Jesus was resurrected and the Spirit was poured out), then how much more to we need to wake up?
Our Husband is coming for us.
Let us all be ready.
Amen.