Considering the Implications of the Second Coming

So, Jesus will come again, get rid of all the wrong in the world, and we’ll live in perfect peace forever.

And, if you’re anything like me, that’s kind of intimidating.

It’s All Heading Somewhere

Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to eternity with Jesus, but, yeah, it’s a lot to take in.

The idea that, eventually, we’ll live in an eternal, heavenly city alongside Christ, well, it’s just hard to envision. 

Our perspectives are limited. This finite world with its flaws is quite literally all we know. So, to think of an alternative reality in which things never end and are never wrong, well, requires faith.

But it’s also hard to imagine passing the threshold from life to death - yet, that’s where we’re all heading.

(Unless Jesus returns in our lifetime, of course.)

We’re all heading towards something - as incomprehensible as it may seem.

We all will have to confront a reality bigger than us at some point. 

And that’s what gives me hope about Jesus’ return.

The Hope (and Date) of Jesus’ Return

The return of Jesus is the cure for our existential dread.

It reminds us that life is building to something meaningful. That this all isn’t for nothing. That there will be peace.

The return of Jesus is not something to be anxious about.

Nor should it make us detached from caring for this planet that will merge with Heaven.

And we MOST CERTAINLY shouldn’t waste energy trying to create timelines or predictions about the exact moment of Jesus’ return (Matthew 24:36).

We don’t know exactly when He’s coming back. It could be in two seconds, it could be in two thousand years.

And I find that liberating.

Because it means it’s business as usual! Follow Jesus, tell others about Him, live the Kingdom here in preparation for the Kingdom to come.

We can keep doing these things, trusting that Jesus knows the right time to come back.

The story isn’t complete, and we all still have a part to play.

Jesus is coming back, life isn’t meaningless, love will come through.

What we do matters, and our God has given us the beautiful dignity of setting the stage for the greatest return there ever was.

I’ll give the final lines of this series to Bob Dylan, who puts it way better than I ever could:

Surrender your crown on this bloodstained ground, take off your mask

He sees your deeds, He knows your needs even before you ask

How long can you falsify and deny what is real?

How long can you hate yourself for the weakness you conceal?

Of every earthly plan that be known to man, He is unconcerned

He’s got plans of His own to set up His throne

When He returns

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

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