COME, LORD JESUS

Hello folks, how has life been treating you? Good, bad or a mixture of both? If you're like me your life has ups and downs, Good stuff and bad stuff, sometimes happening simultaneously. Well, that’s the way things are. This world is fallen and that falleness manifests itself in many ways around us.

But we have a hope, a hope that one day Jesus will return in physical form. He will set up his own government and rule the world with justice and righteousness. He will set the world to rights and wipe away every tear from our eyes. That day, we will look at the universe and see how he has redeemed the pain, the hurt, the mistakes and the evil in our lives. We will realize that he wove it all into the tapestry of his grand design and made it all beautiful. He didn’t plan or wish for you to go through what you’ve been through but he’s going to make it align with his will and everything will be alright.

This kind of thinking seems like escapism to some of our brothers and sisters. For a very long time, many Christians have sat down and avoided contact with their world. Their reasoning is that the world is only going to get worse, so lets just sit down, do nothing and wait for the Lord to come and fix everything. But that is not what the bible teaches. Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are extensions, outposts if you like, of the kingdom of God and we are to express the life of the kingdom of God everywhere around us. It is unacceptable for us to sit back, fold our arms, and watch evil reign when we can do something about it.

As a result, many people have rejected this “sit down look” strategy. Some have also gone to the extreme of rejecting the whole idea of the second coming of Christ. At least they don’t want to talk about it. But I see nothing wrong with talking about it. The same Jesus that commissioned us to be his hands and feet also promised to return to us and redeem our bodies. Like Paul states, if we have no hope beyond this life we are to be pitied more than all men. All our believing would be in vain and it would have been better for us not to be Christians at all.

There are many reasons to reflect and long for the coming of Christ. But my favourite reason is this; I long to experience the tangible, unfettered reality of being in his presence;  To be able to hold him; to share a drink with him; to hear him laugh and to see the look of approval and unconditional love in his eyes. That, my friend, is priceless. Major Ian Thomas pointed out that if we can fully tap into the reality of our union with Jesus, there will be no difference between now and our death. God the Holy Spirit has made our union real. He is not holding back in anyway. But the fact of the matter is that we do not fully tap into the reality of our union. No one can say with all sincerity that they are 24/7, 365 always aware of the presence of God or are as aware of our union as we possibly can be and feel like Jesus is always with them. Well, when He comes, we will be able to. we will see him with our naked eyes and hold him in our arms. We will realize that he was never far away, that he loves us dearly. When I reflect on this, I can live my life knowing that everything is going to be alright.