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The Story:The day is coming, as every Christian believes, when Jesus will return and God will remake the heavens and the earth, fusing them seamlessly into one new creation, where Christ in His glory reigns. Only the Lord knows when that day will be; our duty is not to speculate on things we cannot know (Acts 1.7), but to attend to what is clearly revealed. Peter says we must make preparation for the coming day of glory by pursuing lives of holiness and godliness, for by these we bear witness to our unfailing hope, even as we prepare to meet the Lord in glory (1 Pet. 3.15). The Christian life is rooted in the past, in the promises of God and in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ; however, it is oriented toward the future and the coming of our Savior to take us to Himself. Between those two perspectives we live in the present as men and women who expect to meet the Lord at any moment, and who are even now striving to be clothed with the glory that will finally be ours only when we see Jesus face to face and are like Him (1 Jn. 3.2, 3).
The Structure:A lot of ink and much hot air have been wasted speculating on the details attending the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those details, however, are not for us to know. In this interim period, in which Christ is working through His Word and Spirit to reconcile the world to God, we have work to do which is clearly revealed and which, if faithfully pursued, can make us much more fruitful than all the “end times scenarios” we might be able to conjure. Seek the Kingdom, bring holiness to completion in the fear of God, be His witnesses, make disciples, build His Church – really, isn’t that enough for us for this present time?
How can we use the fact of Christ’s imminent return to unite believers instead of dividing them?
Each week’s studies in our Scriptorium column are available in a free PDF form, suitable for personal or group use. For this week’s study, “Until He Comes: 2 Peter 3.11-18,” simply click here.
T. M. Moore
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.