“the coming wrath”
“Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. 4 But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. 6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. 7 Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. 9 For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. 10 Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (NLT)
The “day of the Lord” is the time of Jesus’ second coming. It is when evil will finally be destroyed and God’s Kingdom will be established here on planet earth. Believers will be resurrected with new bodies and will live on a renewed, restored, and reconstituted earth.
Right now the world wide church is engaged in the task of eradicating evil, bringing others to salvation, and growing them into mature co-workers with God in restoring the world for good.
But today, or tomorrow, or next month or 2012 (there’s a new movie coming out) or 2050 or 2400 or whenever, Christ will come back and complete the restoration of the world.
Are you ready? Are you in collaboration with evil or with God? That which is not of God will be destroyed along with all those who cling it. Those who belong to God will be restored to a new world.
Where is my hope? It is in the realization that the sin and evil which are part of my soul have been forgiven through Christ’s work on the cross.
My task therefore is to remain “in Christ” and seek to share that salvation message with others and to join God in His mission to heal the world until Jesus comes and finishes the job.
I often read through the glorified Christ's words to the 7 churches in Revelation & am stricken when I reconize myself in the Laodecian church. Am I showing forth the praises of God as befits a member of a royal priesthood & a holy nation. As a carrier of salt and light, do I shine, reflecting His beauty to those around me? Have I really "..come out from among them..." and become separate? The world still tempts me with things I want but don't need, my skirts are spotted and wrinkled with worldliness & sin.
ReplyDeleteMy gratitude for Jesus is beyond words, for I am accepted in the Beloved. The old children's song says "He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay." His love covers the filth and stench of my sin.
Thank you, Pastor Jeff, for continuously being one who "stimulates one another to love and good deeds!"
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