1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “... to wait for his Son from heaven...” Many fail to recognize that waiting for the return of Christ is part of the foundation of Christian life, part of the gospel by which we are saved.. In this brief letter Paul had much to say to them about the coming of the Lord Jesus. Among a great many other things, it means that all our personal hope and our hope for the world is bound up with the kingdom of Christ. Apart from His coming and bringing in His kingdom, there is no hope at all. The Thessalonians realized that until they knew Christ, they had been wearing themselves out for things which offered no solid hope. Life had been an enigma, a tragedy until they were able to expect the eternal kingdom of God’s Son. When they came to the Lord, they did so on this basis, namely, God’s Son is coming again and will put everything right. The one hope of mankind is the coming kingdom. It is one of the strange enigmas that the world still has false hopes of putting itself right. Someone said that, ‘all we have learned from history is that we have learned nothing from history’. That is just what is happening throughout the world to day. Men are getting deeper and deeper in mire and perplexity. Not seeing the way through and yet all the time , they are seeking for that which will save the situation and rescue the world. It is a counsel of despair. The Word of God makes it crystal clear that there is no hope for humanity apart from Jesus Christ being in the place of absolute lordship in His kingdom. The Thessalonians come to believe that. They did learn something from history. What they learned is that it gets you nowhere, except into more and more trouble, more perplexity and final despair. Then they saw that God’s Son is coming from heaven to set up His kingdom. They knew that when this happens, All will be well with God’s redeemed humanity. This is fundamental. Our hopes do not rest on any prospect in this world, but only on the sure and certain expectation of the personal rule of Christ. He is coming and when he comes, all will be well. We shall be lifted above everything that limits us now. The Spirit is working everything in light of that. How many people in sufferings and trials have been lifted clean out of it and up, just by being reminded that Jesus is coming again? For what are we looking today, that God will bless America and enable us to go on in sin and depravity? That is not going to happen! While we pray for a return to the Lord, a real spiritual revival, evidence is , at this present time, it is not happening. As long as our nation or any other believes they can work out the problems of the world without Christ, they labor in vain. The only hope for Christians lies within our waiting for His Son from heaven. How we are living our lives proves whether this is our hope or not.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 11:12:51 +0000
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