The people who lived among the first generation of Christians, some of whom walked with Jesus and saw him after his resurrection, there was a tremendous sense of hope and expectancy about the second coming of Christ. They even coined a phrase to describe Jesus’ return: our blessed hope.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self- controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
~ Titus 2:11-14 NIV
You’ve no doubt had to visit your doctor before, where there is always a period of sitting in a waiting room filling out paperwork until the door opens and a nurse calls your name. I’ve never once obtained the information, the advice, the healing physician’s touch while sitting in the waiting room. Yet we often expect God to fix all of our problems and change all of our circumstances so that life will be comfortable here and now, in our earthly waiting room.
This is not to say God isn’t at work here and now. He certainly is. I’ve witnessed the miraculous work of God myself, but the truth is, God doesn’t fix it all for us. He doesn’t pave the way from life to death with comfort.
Instead, we endure hardship, discipline, trials, and persecution while we wait for the blessed hope…
We train ourselves in godliness and develop a resistance to temptation and a distaste for the desires of our flesh while we wait for the blessed hope…
We minister to others, share the gospel, and tell as many people as possible the good news about the salvation found in repentance and a relationship with Christ while we wait for the blessed hope…
Our hope is in the reality of the “appearing” of Christ – that moment when the whole world sees him in all of his resurrection glory, coming to make all things right.
We keep living, and going, and growing, and serving, and praying, and sharing, and caring, and getting closer to Jesus here and now while we wait for the blessed hope that is as certain as anything you’ve already experienced in your life.
The message of the second coming of Christ was never intended to intimidate you, to increase your anxiety, or to merely give you something to explore out of intellectual curiosity. No, the second coming of Christ – the appearing, our “blessed hope” – is a promise intended to entice you to keep on going and giving and growing until you see the fulfillment of every promise Jesus made about your eternity.
We keep going, because of the blessed hope, that Jesus will come and fully save and heal us forever – just as he promised!
