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Jesus Comes Again
It was just another Tuesday. I get up at 4:15 a.m. I start my coffee and say my prayer, asking for the blessings and assistance for the day, and praising God for who He is. I set up my Bible reading for the day and finish the last 10 chapters of Genesis and then I read 1 Corinthians 9 and make the comments I will post online. I then open the podcast I listen to in order to hear the next thoughts on Matthew 7.
Now it’s time to wake up the 3 kids and get them ready for school. While they are rousing, I sit down with my journal and plan out my day. I have a tough conversation scheduled with my boss that needs to be done, and both older sons have competing sporting events after school. A quick check-in with my wife paves the way to make sure we have everything covered.
I make plans to finish the PowerPoint for my Bible class for next Sunday and remind myself that I owe a friend a response to a text he sent yesterday. I add it to the list of things to do. It’s 7:05 a.m. and I take the youngest to Kindergarten. My wife had left a few minutes earlier to take one twin to baseball practice. I return at 7:30 to wake up the other twin before jumping in the shower. While showering, I think through our weekend schedule to find out when would be the best time for us to have someone over to the house. I’m not sure how we are going to swing it with this schedule, but I know it’s important.
After getting ready, and jumping in the car with twin #2, we head toward tennis practice at the high school. I have another podcast queued up, but I take this time to connect with my son. I’m half-successful, but I’ve been making progress over time. In 15 minutes, I drop him off and head back home, steeling myself for the meeting with my boss. My mind is racing in a million different directions as I get closer to home.
Then I hear it. It’s the sounds of trumpets playing loudly. Everyone else hears it too. People are stopping their cars and running out of buildings and houses to see what is causing this sound. I pull to the side of the road along with everyone else who is driving. I feel an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I am sure what this is. I thought I’d be ready for it with happy anticipation, but now that it is happening, I feel the strength drain from me as I realize that my eternity is set.
My eyes gaze upward, knowing what to expect. And sure enough, the clouds begin to part. The Archangel announces in a voice that I know is heard throughout all of creation that the Lord Jesus has returned. And sure enough, joined with a throng of angels and the saints who have died before, He is here. He is here.
Time is over. The plans I worried about just a few short moments ago seem so futile. I will never make the meeting with my boss or see my sons play another game again. My wife and I will never invite another person into our home. I sit still, letting it all play out. People around me react differently from each other. Some pray. Some run. Some cry. Many start taking videos on their phones.
I wonder where my wife is right now? Where are my kids? Are they scared? I wish I was with them. But I am not. As a thief in the night, the Lord returned at His opportune time. This is simply where I was when it happened. Then I notice that the saints who were brought back descend all over the earth and sea, I know they revisit their graves and watch as the dead are resurrected having their old bodies transformed into an eternal, spiritual body. I watch as they rise to return with the Lord.
I know what is next. Those of us who are living in the grace of the Lord will have our bodies changed in the twinkling of an eye and we will rise to meet Him in the sky. This is what I have been living for. This is what I have been waiting for. But the anxiety in me grows more and more pronounced. What will happen next?
The time is 8:47am, Tuesday, October 19th. I knew this day would come, but I didn’t know it would be today.
This fictional story (written by my friend) reminds us of a reality – something we all know to be true – Jesus is coming again.
Jesus promised this very thing – JOHN 14:1-4, the angels announced it – AC 1:9-11, the apostles confirmed it – 1 COR 11:26
His coming is described as a thief (1 THESS 5:2) coming unexpected. The day that the Lord will gather the living and the dead (2 TIM 4:1), to go before the Lord in judgment (HEB 9:27), to give an account for the life we’ve lived (2 COR 5:10)
Some of us don’t think much about this day, perhaps because (if we were honest) we’re just not ready for His return – maybe I’m wrestling with fears and doubts, maybe sins I’ve not repented from.
But for some the coming of the Lord is a beautiful thought – meeting Jesus, the day faith becomes sight, heading onward to glory, home with the Lord, reunited with loved ones of old, it’s a comforting thought.
