The Soon Coming King
by Jimmy Humphrey
“…Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20; NASB)
Are you busy? Do you have personal goals you are striving to achieve before you die? What wakes you up every morning? What do you hope and long for? What do you dream about?
These may just seem like rhetorical questions. And in part, they are. But truth be told, questions like these get us through our day, and serve as the driving force behind our everyday lives. We are busy people, who have places to go to, things to do, and people to see. We all have certain things we want to do with our lives, and want to accomplish before we die. The deepest longings of our hearts drive us to pursue a certain path in lives, and many of us spend most of our waking hours trying to obtain the desires of our hearts.
Many of these things are good things. We want to get a nice education, so that we can get a nice job, settle down, get married, have 3.2 kids, and get a dog named Spot. After that, we want to retire with dignity, living out our silver years surrounded by loved ones, and finally, when the time is ripe and our life has been fully lived, we want to die peacefully in our sleep. Oh yeah, and of course, toss in a few vacations to exotic foreign destinations, and have some thrills along the way.
Generally speaking, when looking at the big picture, that’s what most of us want, right? The American dream? It’s not a bad dream, and is one that certainly has a lot of charm to it. I personally think it sounds great. But let me ask you this: if Jesus Christ decided to come today, right now, at this very moment in time, would that wreck the dreams you have for yourself? If Jesus Christ came today, would His coming be a disappointment to you? Would it be a let-down? Would His coming upset you, and make you feel robbed that you didn’t get to fulfill your dreams, desires, and the plans you had for your life?
Sometimes I ponder this myself, and ask myself these very same questions. I’m a young man. 28 years old. Single. A college graduate, who is working hard to make something of myself and to pay the bills. I’ve never been married or had kids. And not to be crass or in anyway inappropriate, but to just put all this in perspective, I am also a virgin. I still have so much I want to do with my life, include planting a church, and many experiences I want to experience. But, I have to ask myself, would Jesus Christ second coming be a joy and delight to me, or will it be like rain on the proverbial parade?
“Yeah! I want the Lord to come… but!”
And truth be told, that is probably where most of us are at in our lives. We like the idea of the Lord coming again, and establishing His rule and His reign on earth forever and ever. “But…” there are some other things we would like to do before that event takes place. Truth be told for many of us, if Jesus Christ came today, we would feel robbed, let-down, and disappointed. If Jesus Christ came today, that simply would not work for many of us, for His second coming doesn’t fit into our five, ten, or fifty year plans. We want to do this, that, and the other. For ultimately, the desires of our hearts are fixated on the things of this world and the things we can get out of this life. Our desires, as noble and good as they might be, simply are not in line with the word of God, and the heart that burned within the early Church.
“…Amen. Come Lord Jesus.” What a fitting verse to put at the end of the Bible. And though this cry is placed at the end of the Bible, it is not meant to be one of the last things we focus on in our faith. Indeed, what finds a fitting place at the end of the Scripture should be the first and foremost desire of our hearts. If we are the people God would have us to be, “Amen. Come Lord Jesus,” should be the deepest longing of our hearts, and should shape the very fabric of our lives. “Amen. Come Lord Jesus,” should be so written upon our hearts that His coming fits into our five, ten, and fifty year plan. Indeed, “Amen. Come Lord Jesus,” should be so written upon our hearts that if He came right now, at this very moment in time, we would not feel disappointed or somehow robbed.
Indeed, His second coming should so fill the longing of our hearts, that if He were to step out onto the clouds of glory tonight, and give that last and final great shout, that He would be the fulfillment of whatever plans and desires we have for our lives. If Jesus came right now, that should be the fulfillment of my life’s hopes and desires. If Jesus comes five, ten, or fifty years from now, that should be the fulfillment of my life’s hopes and desires. We should be so caught up in this perspective that whenever He comes, He will be the sum of everything we’ve ever wanted and desired out of life.
A perspective like this is radical. But that’s what living our lives in light of eternity is all about, and is the perspective God would have all who are part of His kingdom to embrace. Too many of us live our lives without really thinking about the second coming of Jesus Christ. Yet, it is a topic that the early Church was consumed with. Is it no wonder then, that they did so much to further the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and by comparison, we have done so little? Most of us expect to live long and full lives, and eventually die. But in the early Church, some thought they would never die, for they believed the risen Lord would come back before they had the opportunity to do so.
Were they a bit naïve to believe such? After all, we look back 2,000 years later, and the Lord still has not returned. But, maybe, just maybe they weren’t naïve to believe such? Rather, perhaps we are just too cynical to believe such? Perhaps we are the ones living out of touch with reality? And instead of having a more mature view of the faith than they did, perhaps we are actually carnal? Consider the following:
Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." (2 Peter 3:3-4)
Though it may yet be another 2,000 years before the Lord returns, the apostle Peter says that it is only those who are “following after their own lusts,” that scoff at, “the promise of His coming.” In other words, if you don’t believe that there is a very real possibility that Jesus Christ could come in your life time, and if you don’t actively live in anticipation of that great day, and hope in this great promise, then it is because you are most likely following after the lusts of your own flesh. And by that, I don’t necessarily mean sinful things. Yes, I even mean the good things of this life that God has given for us to enjoy.
Again, there is nothing wrong with trying to get a good education, job, getting married, starting a family, retiring, and traveling the world. But in light of living our lives for eternity, and in light of the fact that Jesus Christ could come sometime within our lives, if these good things so consume our lives so as to remove the thought of Christ’s return from our minds, and to treat it as but a distant and unlikely event, then we have been led astray by the lusts of our flesh. Those lusts are designed to consume us and to get us to think about “living for the moment,” and trying to maximize our enjoyment of this world, to accomplish everything we want to accomplish in this life, instead of being consumed by thoughts about the next, and preparing for the age to come.
As promising as the American dream might be, and as much as we might try to pursue it, I am ultimately convinced that the American dream is nothing but that—a dream. It is a dream that will ultimately be shattered by the return of Jesus Christ. For the day is coming when, “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) And that shout will be so loud that it will awaken us from the American dream we’ve been sleeping in, and bring it to a sudden and violent end. It is a dream that will be ultimately interrupted, along with the dreams of every man and woman in every nation, with the visible and sudden return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age.
And with His coming, our dreams and what they focused on will ultimately be disclosed, for what we ultimately lived our lives for will be revealed. For what we dream about and desire ultimately motivates us day after day and year after year. If we dream about money, we will wake up and try to make money. If we dream about having kids, we will try to have kids. But if we dream about the second coming of Jesus Christ, we will do everything we can to “hasten” and quickly bring about that day. (2 Peter 3:12) And that day will reveal what we truly dreamed of and looked forward to.
If we start to live our lives in light of His coming, then we will re-dream our dreams, and begin to value things only by what they are worth in light of eternity. Understanding that all things are ultimately destined to be tried by fire, we will ultimately lose our attachment to everything that this world has to offer us— even the good things. For we will realize that all those things are destined to come to a sudden end, and though we may make use of them for the moment, we will gladly relinquish them once we see the heavens explode with a joyous and triumphant shout, and see the coming of our King. And in His coming, all of our dreams will be realized, and we will have no room to be disappointed or let down. May His second coming be your hope and dream.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.