Eagerly Waiting For The Return Of Christ

The writers of the Epistles have something in common. Most of them charged the New Testament Church to live in anticipation of the Lord’s Return.

The writer of Hebrews said, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation (Hebrews 9:27, 28, NKJV, emphasis added).

The reason of the first coming (first advent) of Christ is to “bear the sins of many” so that men need not be condemned in the Eternal Judgment. Christ will come again the second time for salvation to those whose sins are washed away by Christ’s atoning blood and those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

Notice that the return of Christ for salvation (final deliverance) is not for every Christian. There are conditions attached. It is only offered for Christians who live in anticipation of His coming again. To Christians who are eagerly waiting for Him.

Eagerly waiting for Him till He comes

The following Scriptures from various writers of the Epistles show that Christians must live in the anticipation of the Lord’s Return:

The Epistles of Paul

1. A Christian is to be found blameless when He comes.

“…. So that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7, 8, NKJV, emphasis added).

Paul desires that the Christians in the Church at Corinth to exercise spiritual gifts and lead a blameless life while eagerly waiting for Christ’s return.

2. A Christian is to partake of the Lord’s Supper with the right attitude.

Regarding the institution of the Lord’s Supper Paul said to the Corinthians Christians:

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26, NKJV, emphasis added).

Christians need to picture the Lord’s Supper or the Holy Communion with the right perspective. In partaking of the Communion elements they are proclaiming and showing the Lord’s death until He comes.

Someone has said Christians need to remember, “There is no past but the Cross; no future but His coming”! In other words, the Christian has no past except the Cross. His past sins before the Cross have been forgotten. His future is in the Lord at His coming. There is no future for anyone if the Lord does not come again!

Notice that Jesus Himself had this in mind when He instituted the Lord’s Supper with His disciples:

“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:29, emphasis added).

The phrase, “until that day” indicates that day when the True Church as the Bride of Christ would be received to heaven. The phrase, “I drink it new with you” is His assurance to His true Church that the “new” wine he would drink with them would not be the “fruit of the vine” which represents His blood of the new covenant (Verse 28). It would be a new wine for rejoicing in His Kingdom.

3. Christians are to love one another while living a holy and blameless life.

Paul said to the Church of the Thessalonians:

“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (1 Thess. 3:12, 13, emphasis added).

4. The whole personality (spirit, soul and body) of the Christian is to be sanctified by the God of peace Himself.

Paul said to the Church of the Thessalonians:

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 5:33, emphasis added).

5. A Christian is to be faithful, blameless and without spot in keeping the command of “Fight the good fight of faith”.

One of Paul’s instructions to Timothy was:

“I urged you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing” (1 Tim. 6:13, 14, emphasis added).

Notice that the phrase “Keep this commandment” refers to the command of “Fight the good fight of faith”. This is confirmed by the previous Verse (V. 12). Furthermore, Paul instructed Timothy to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness” (V.11). These are the virtues of a “spotless” and blameless life.

6. A crown of righteousness is promised to every Christian who loved His appearing.

Paul’s farewell words to Timothy are:

“Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on the Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8, emphasis added).

Those who have loved His appearing are those who are eagerly wait for Him.

7. The “blessed hope” is for Christians who are holy – those who deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly and righteously.

Paul’s wrote to Titus, the Pastor of the Church at Crete:

“…teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12, 13, emphasis added).

The Epistle of James

“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7, 8, emphasis added).

Christians should be patient while waiting for the Lord’s return.

The First Epistle of Peter

“… who (you) are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ …” (1 Peter 1:5, 6, 7, emphasis added).

The Christian’s salvation will be revealed at the revelation of Jesus Christ. In the meantime his faith is being tested by fire. This testing is more precious than gold because the end result is praise, honor and glory given by the Judge!

The First Epistle of John

“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 1:28, emphasis added).

To abide in Christ means to live a life dependence on Him, obey His Commands, imitate His examples and constantly exercise faith in Him. To abide in Him is to bear fruit of righteousness.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4).

The Return of Christ for His Bride

Jesus Christ is returning to a body of true Christians, His true Church, who are eagerly waiting for Him. As we have considered above, Church attendance and busy with Church activities does not show that the believer is eagerly waiting for the Lord’s return. The emphasis is on holy and blameless lifestyle. God seeks after holy conduct and godliness. God’s emphasis is on “being” and not on “doing”.

Peter’s farewell instruction to Christians is:

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with g great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, ….” (2 Peter 3:10, 11, emphasis added).

The true Church of Jesus Christ is His Bride. This is how the apostle Paul depicted the Bride:

“… Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that the might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25, 27, 28, emphasis added).

In other words, the qualifications for being the Bride of Christ are:

1. The Church that will be sanctified and cleansed by the Truth of God’s Word.

2. The Church that will be glorious – permeated by God’s glory.

3. The Church that will be holy.

4. The Church that will be without blemish and without blame.

The writer of Hebrews said:

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

Compare this verse with John 3:3 which says "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom God", we see that holiness is part of the package deal of salvation.

Without holiness we will not see the Lord, let alone being His Bride!