13 He Shall Come
He Shall Come
The core of the Creed is its witness to the past, present, and future of Jesus Christ: his birth, death, rising, and ascension in the past; his reign now; and his coming at a future date to judge. (“Quick” in “the quick and the dead,” by the way, means living, not fast-moving.) With his coming, Scripture tells us, will come our bodily resurrection and the full everlasting life of which the Creed speaks. A new cosmic order will start then too. There’s a great day coming. (See Matthew 25:14-46; John 5:25-29; Romans 8:18-24; 2 Peter 3:10-13; Revelation 20:11-21:4.)
The Christian’s Hope
Nowhere does the strength of the Creed as a charter for life come out more clearly. In today’s world, pessimism prevails because people lack hope. They foresee only the bomb, or bankruptcy, or a weary old age—nothing worthwhile. Communists and Jehovah’s Witnesses attract by offering bright hopes of heaven on earth—following the Revolution in one case, Armageddon in the other; but Christians have a hope that outshines both—the hope of which Bunyan’s Mr. Stand-fast said, “the thoughts of what I am going to . . . lie as a glowing Coal at my Heart.” The Creed highlights this hope when it declares: “he shall come.”
In one sense, Christ comes for every Christian at death, but the Creed looks to the day when he will come publicly to wind up history and judge all men—Christians as Christians, accepted already, whom a “blood-bought free reward” awaits according to the faithfulness of their service; rebels as rebels, to be rejected by the Master whom they rejected first. The judgments of Jesus, “the righteous judge” (2 Timothy 4:8; compare Romans 2:5-11), will raise no moral problems.
Certain and Glorious
Some think it will never happen—but we have God’s word for it, and sober scientists now tell us that an end to our world through nuclear or ecological catastrophe is a real possibility. Christ’s coming is unimaginable—but man’s imagination is no measure of God’s power, and the Jesus who is spiritually present to millions simultaneously now can surely make himself visibly present to the risen race then. We do not know when he will come (so we must always be ready), nor how he will come (why not in the going off of a bomb?)—but “we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2)—and that is knowledge enough! “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
Eclipsed
The hope of Christ’s return thrilled the New Testament Christians, as witness over 300 references to it in the documents—on average, one every thirteen verses. But to us it is not so much exciting as embarrassing! The phrase “Cinderella of the Creed,” which was once applied to the Holy Spirit, nowadays fits Christ’s return much more truly. Why is it thus in eclipse? For four main reasons, it seems.
First, this is a time of reaction from a century and a half of intense prophetic study expressing a spirit of prayerless pessimism about the church and doom-watching detachment from the world. This spirit, and the dogmatism that went with it about both the signs and the date of Christ’s coming (despite Mark 13:32 and Acts 1:7!), were quite unjustifiable, and have given the topic a bad name.
Second, this is a time of skepticism as to whether Christ personally and physically rose and ascended, and this naturally spawns dithering doubts as to whether we can hope ever to see him again.
Third, this is a time of timidity, in which Christians, while querying the materialistic self-sufficiency of Western secularism and Marxist ideologies, hesitate to challenge their “this-worldly” preoccupation, lest the counter-accusation be provoked that Christians do not care about social and economic justice. So the fact that Christ will end this world, and that the best part of the Christian hope lies beyond it, gets played down.
Fourth, this is a time of worldly-mindednesss, at least among the prosperous Christians of the West. We think less and less about the better things that Christ will bring us at his reappearance, because our thoughts are increasingly absorbed by the good things we enjoy here. No one would wish persecution or destitution on another, but who can deny that at this point they might do us good?
All four attitudes are unhealthy and unworthy. God help us to transcend them.
Be Prepared
“Be ready,” said the Savior to his disciples, “for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). How does one get and stay ready? By keeping short accounts with God and men; by taking life a day at a time, as Jesus told us to do (Matthew 6:34); and by heeding the advice of Bishop Ken’s hymn, “Live each day as if thy last.” Budget and plan for an ordinary span of years, but in spirit be packed up and ready to leave at any time. This should be part of our daily devotional discipline. When the Lord comes, he should find his people praying for revival and planning world evangelism—but packed up and ready to leave nonetheless. If Boy Scouts can learn to live realistically in terms of the motto “Be prepared” for any ordinary thing that might happen, why are Christians so slow to learn the same lesson in relation to the momentous event of Christ’s return?
Further Bible Study
The Christian’s attitude toward Christ’s return:
Luke 12:35-48
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
2 Peter 3
1 Thessalonians
2 Peter 3
Questions for Thought and Discussion
In what way is Christ’s future coming reason for hope?
When Christ returns, what will he do? What are your reactions to knowing this?
What does the Bible not tell us about Christ’s return? Why do you think God withholds this information?