A Christian is a person who is in expectation of the return of Jesus Christ.
Welcome to the final installment of our series, “Bringing Clarity to the Term Christian”. For me, this has been a very enlightening and fruitful journey in God’s rich Word. For those of you who have been on this journey with us, reading through all of the blogs in the series, thank you. I appreciate your diligence and the fact that you thought this blog series was worth reading. If you have come to this blog later in the series. I would greatly encourage you to read it from beginning to end whenever you can set aside time to do so.
The plan of God is extraordinary, beginning before the earth was formed, to this present day, and culminating in the life to come. For the Christian, what a privilege it is to be a favored recipient of Gods mercy and grace in the execution of His divine story.
From the Triune God’s perspective, becoming a Christian is very intentional. It is not happenstance, accidental, or random chance. God calls sinners to Himself by having sinners’ hearts renewed by the Holy Spirit, which allows them to put their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, repent of their sins and follow Christ with, first of all, love for Him, and then love for others. As we have stated several times in this series, salvation is all God’s doing. “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9 New American Standard Version NASB). And for that, the Christian should rejoice.
I am glad and thankful that I am a Christian. I don’t deserve God’s salvation, I could have never earned it, but He saw fit to look on me with grace anyway. When I was lost and on my way to eternal punishment without God, I learned that Christ died for me and took on my penalty in death for my sins. He rose again after paying for my sins, showing that He has power even over the penalty of sin itself. He also gave me his righteousness; a righteousness that I needed from Him because I could not attain it on my own, so that I could stand in the presence of God the Father accepted and never again to be rejected. The Triune God did this all for me and every person who has placed their trust in the finished work of Christ. And He did this just because He chose to do so. I as well as all Christians everywhere, have a reason to praise and worship the God of our intentional salvation.
In light of all that Christ has done on our behalf, and the love that he has shown to us, it should be no surprise that the Christian, longs for the day to see his Savior. This leads us to the last Statement of our series.
Statement 14 says:
A Christian is a person who is in expectation of the return of Jesus Christ.
I want to draw your attention again to the book of John and chapter 14. Jesus is talking with his disciples about his soon departure from the world, and he wants to put their minds and hearts at ease. I could only imagine the anxiety the disciples may have had when hearing about Jesus’ impending death and subsequent resurrection and return to God the Father in heaven. After being with the Son of God, and seeing the great miracles and healings performed by Him, as well as consuming all the truths of His priceless teachings over the past 3 years, it would be emotionally traumatic to have that physical, in-person relationship with Jesus suddenly end. How would they cope now with the absence of “Immanuel”, as Isaiah called Him in Isaiah 7:14, meaning, God with us?
Well Jesus, understanding their concern tells them this…
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.
John 14:1-3 New American Standard Version (NASB)
Now Jesus first tells His disciples to not be troubled or anxious, but to believe in Him. This is noteworthy to remember because Jesus wants them to understand that he is not abandoning them. In fact, we learn later on in chapter 14 that Jesus sends the Helper, the Holy Spirit to comfort, guide and lead them. Jesus simply wants their faith to be strong, even in the midst of His physical absence.
Then Jesus goes on to tell them three specific actions He is taking that will provide them comfort and confidence in His temporary absence from them. He says:
I am going to prepare a place for you.
I am coming again to take you to this place I have prepared
and….
You will be where I am.
Looking at these actions, just think; after all Christ has done for the Christian, he would then enter His eternal state with God the Father, only to then take time out of eternity to create a place for the Christian to be in His presence forever. God’s love for us is absolutely incredible! Also, think about this. If God the Son is creating this place for his people, given His track record of impeccable beauty and awe in His existing creation, I believe it is perhaps beyond our comprehension to imagine what he is preparing now in eternity for His chosen people.
Having said this, what is most important for all Christians is that they will have the opportunity to see their Savior face to face and live with him forever. We will finally physically meet the one who has saved us! This will undeniably be the best day of the Christian’s life.
Paul describes Christ’s return to the church in Thessalonica in beautiful detail.
Paul says….
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
I Thessalonians 4:16-18 New American Standard Version (NASB)
In I Corinthians, Paul also alludes to this event:
Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
I Corinthians 15:51-53 New American Standard Version (NASB)
I love these passages because they demonstrate the manner in which Jesus will fulfill the promise he made to the disciples in John 14 and subsequently to all believers. Paul tells us that those Christians who have died in Christ will be resurrected first, then both the formally dead in Christ, and the now currently alive in Christ, will all meet the Lord together in the air, at one time, all clothed with new immortal bodies. What an amazing culminating action of redemption! All Christians from all time will be called into the eternity that God predestined for them, fully perfected in His presence.
….and so we will always be with the Lord….
I Thessalonians 4:18 New American Standard Version (NASB)
Never again will we be outside of God’s presence, which means we will be totally free from sin, living in the sphere of God’s righteousness and holiness forever. For this reason, the Christian eagerly anticipates the return of Christ. As John says in Revelation 22:20b…
…. even so come Lord Jesus….
Well, this concludes our 18-part series on “Bringing Clarity to the Term Christian” I hope this has been a blessing to all of you who have followed along with us. For those of you who are not Christians and decided to read through this series nonetheless, I am especially thankful to you for doing so. I wanted this series to be particularly meaningful to you because I sincerely want you to understand what a true Christ follower is amid so many “claims” people make about their Christian identity. I also want the words in this blog series, with help from the Holy Spirit, to aid you in coming to know the Christ who lived, died, and was resurrected for the sins and subsequent salvation of all who believe in Him. I pray that by knowing him, you to, like myself and all Christians, past and present, have done and must do…
repent and believe.
Thank you and God Bless.
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