The Christian's Hope

by L.A. Hickling | Category: General | Jan 1991

The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica to encourage them to live in a way that would be pleasing to God; one of the things he wrote about was the certainty of the return of the Lord Jesus.

It seems as though some had been questioning what would happen to those who had died before the return of the Lord Jesus. So in verses 13 to 18 of the fourth chapter of his letter he assures them that all those who have believed in the Lord Jesus as their Saviour will meet Him when He comes, whether they are alive at His coming, or have already fallen asleep in death.

For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (vv. 16,17).

The apostle told them to encourage one another with these words and certainly those in the early church lived in the enjoyment of this hope. It is said that in days when conditions were particularly hard for the Christians a common greeting was "Maranatha" - a Greek word meaning our Lord cometh. Whatever the conditions, that was something they could look forward to with absolute certainty. It was based on the promise made by the Lord Jesus Himself:

I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also (John 14:2,3). The validity of a promise depends on the reliability of the one who makes it. This promise was made by the Lord Jesus: there is no possibility of it not being fulfilled.

A hymn writer has said:

With such a blessed hope in view,

We would more holy be,

More like our risen glorious Lord

Whose face we soon shall see.

And so it should be. It is not only that we know that the return of our Lord is a fact; but that we allow that hope to have a sanctifying effect on our lives. In Paul's letter to Titus we read:

For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works (2:11-14).

Do we live like that; "waiting and watching, prepared for review?"

L.A. Hickling | Jan 1991
General