Good morning,
God’s
kids have been waiting for thousands of years, but we, like the
apostles, may still not have it right. When the baby Jesus joined us
on earth two thousand years ago there was a common understanding that
the Messiah was coming soon to become the Savior of Israel. For a while
there were rumors around that he had come as a baby, but after a little
while there was no evidence that anything like that had occurred and
time marched on. The prophet John the Baptist arrived on the scene and
really stirred people up with his preaching that the Messiah was
somewhere around, but then he got thrown in jail and beheaded. A
carpenter from Nazareth showed up doing miracles and preaching powerful
sermons, but the religious leaders were sure that he got his power from
the Devil. Jesus’ closest followers were constantly confused by his
teaching and were crushed by his crucifixion. It wasn’t until after
Jesus rose from the dead and his followers were filled with the Holy
Spirit that the apostles finally got it right.
The Messiah had
come, but the freedom that had been promised was a heart freedom, not a
political freedom. Jesus promised his followers that he was coming back
“soon” to fulfill more of his promises, but that was two thousand years
ago. It seems that God’s kids find it easy to get more and more
restless as the world is teetering on the edge of a social and moral
cliff. Where are you Jesus? Please come get us out of this mess, we
pray. This seems to be the standard approach that the Church is taking
toward the long expected return of this same Messiah who will show
himself to be King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s true that God’s
genuine kids are citizens of heaven. It’s true that we are eagerly
waiting for him to return as our Savior. But are we waiting impatiently
to get out of this mess and leave the rebels behind to get what they
deserve? Are we passively waiting for him to return or are we
developing a closer and closer relationship with him so that we can
bring more of our generation with us to heaven to enjoy our promised
glorious bodies. Jesus is coming back very soon, but he is waiting for
all those who have been chosen as part of the family of God to be born,
and born again, before he orders the trumpet to blow that will call us
home for eternity. May the Lord help us to be found hard at work when
he returns, not whining and running scared in the face of these special
opportunities to reach the lost.
Philippians 3:20 But
we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are
eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our
weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own,
using the same power with which he will bring everything under his
control.
Roy Wisner
