 “Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous Judge, will give me on the Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved
His appearing”.
– 2 Tim. 4:8 |
I believe the right attitude to have towards the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is to “love His appearing”. What does it mean to love Jesus’ appearing? Three things are involved.
Obedience
To love Jesus’ appearing is more than just to love Jesus. Suppose a mother tells her little daughter to behave herself while she (mother) is out, and specifically tells the little girl to stay away from the cookie jar. However, the child thinks she can get away with “pinching” one cookie. While she is at it, her mother unexpectedly returns. If at this point we ask the little girl “Do you love mother?” she would surely say, “Yes! I love my mother very much.” But if we ask, “Do you love your mother’s return?” well, with her hand in the cookie jar, probably not! Similarly, we cannot love Jesus’ appearing unless we are obeying His commands.
Precedence
However, obedience is not the only way to “love His appearing”. Some people, when asked, “Are you ready for Jesus’ return?” say, “No, someone I love is not saved yet.” Of course we desire all our loved ones to be saved, but we are to love Jesus so much that seeing Him and being with Him takes precedence over everything else.
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:17-18). While we must make every effort to win the lost, unfinished tasks should not mar our joy if we truly love His appearing.
Anticipation
Ask those who are in love, whose loved ones are away indefinitely, whether they look forward to their loved ones’ return each day, and their answer will always be “Yes”. We do not find them trying to “predict” the time of return. Similarly, we are to “love His appearing” and not “calculate the time of His appearing”. While we are to be watchful of the signs of the times, it is even more important to be watchful in the way we live our lives at all times. Jesus clearly says we do not know the day or hour of His return. “For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.” (Mark 13:34) We are to watch so that when the owner of the house returns, we may open the door to Him immediately and with great joy.
This does not mean we rationally think that Jesus will actually return today. That would kill all long-term planning. Many wonderful works throughout the Christian centuries would never have got off the ground. It remains that we do not know when Jesus will return. “Plan as if you have a thousand years; live as if this is your last day”. Anticipation is a state of mind.
We shall miss the whole point of end-time studies until we get our attitude right. Is your attitude right? Will you be happy if Jesus returns TODAY? |
