HE SHALL COME

HAVE you ever asked: Why is Jesus Christ so precious?

Much can be said about him.  We could talk about his person.  He is God in human form.  As John the apostle says: “the Word was made flesh” (John 1.14).

Who is the Word?  John tells us that he has always been.  He was with God.  He is God (John 1.1).As well as writing about his person I could write about his teaching.  What did Christ teach?  He taught about the kingdom of God.  Mark tells us that he went into Galilee (in north Israel) “proclaiming the gospel of God”.  He preached “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1.14f).

I could write about his works.  A doctor called Luke did that.  He knew that others had written about Jesus.  It seemed good to him to do the same.  So he looked carefully into the events that had occurred and wrote two books.  The first, Luke, is about the life, teaching and miracles of Jesus.  The second, Acts, is about what happened after he rose from the dead (Luke 1.1-4; Acts 1.1f).

I could write about his death.  That is what Paul did when he became a Christian, that is a person who is in Christ.  He preached Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1.23).  He wanted people to hear about “the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3.8).  Why?  Because his driving concern was for everyone to learn about God’s plan.  A plan that is centred on Jesus Christ.

I could write about Christ’s return.  That is what I shall now try to do.  Why?  Because, as J C Ryle said, it is a doctrine of “unspeakable excellence and beauty.”  Is that what you think?  If you do not, I hope you soon will.

There are weighty reasons why the second advent of Jesus Christ can be called a matter of beauty.  And the loftiness of the themes associated with it leave us amazed and unable to find words that begin to adequately describe it.  I shall now try to show why that is so.

Consider, first, what we shall see.  The second coming of Christ will be the literal, personal and real return of him to this world.  He went away in the clouds of heaven in his body.  He will come again in the same way  (Acts 1.11).  Whilst being seen by the apostles, he was taken away.  When he returns all the people of the earth will see him “coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 25. 30).  No one shall miss the event.  All who have ever lived will see him.  And all will be acutely aware that he who comes is he who died, rose and ascended to heaven.

Consider, secondly, what will happen.  When Christ returns the existing order will end.  History, as we know it, will cease.  So too will the earthly activities people engage in from day to day.  A new order will be put in place.  There will be a new heaven and a new earth.  The new order will not be marred in any way at all by sin or evil.  It will be perfect.  The perfection of it will extend to the minutest detail.

Consider, thirdly, what will happen to you?  You will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  We all will.  You and I, and all people everywhere and of every generation,  will be judged by Jesus Christ.  It will be a day of reckoning.  It will be a day when you and I will see how displeasing we have been to God.  We will see how we have not loved him as we should have done.  We will see how selfish and jealous and uncaring we have been.  In short we will see that we deserve to be banished by God from his presence for ever.

Consider, fourthly, what will happen to all who are not in Christ.  On that day there will be a separation.  Men and women and boys and girls will be gathered into two groups.

On the right hand side of Christ there will be all who are in Christ.  These people, in the Bible, are called sheep.  They are the people who belong to Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.

On his left side there will be all who are not in Christ.  Jesus calls these people goats.  They are those who have refused to respond to the many invitations Christ gives to us all.

He calls us now to go to him.  No matter what you have done, and no matter what your current situation is, he promises to receive all who turn to him.  He will give you rest.  His yoke is easy.  He is gentle and lowly in heart.  That is what those who go to him find.  Yet people refuse him.  They reject his promises.  They reject him.

On the last day, the day when Christ Jesus comes again, those on his left side will hear him say some chilling words.  They will not be words of invitation.  Instead they will be words of condemnation.  They will hear him say, Depart!  “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25.41).  And then they “will go away into eternal punishment” (Matthew 25.46).

Consider, fifthly, what will happen to all who are in Christ.  On the day when Jesus Christ returns, his sheep, those who are put on his right side, will hear him say words that will thrill their souls.  Instead of ‘Depart’, they will hear him say, ‘Come.’

Before I tell you where they will go, I need to tell you how Jesus describes them.  He calls them those “who are blessed by my Father” (Matthew 25. 34).  He will reassure them that God’s favour rests on them.  They will know for sure that they are forever precious to God.  They will know that they are precious to him, not because of what they have done, but because they are united to Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son.  They belong to Christ.  They are united to him.  They will never be separated from him.

The reality of that is seen during our life.  Those united to Christ love God.  They love his children (that is, other people in Christ Jesus).   And they love all other people (those not in Jesus Christ).

What will those in Christ hear when he returns?  He will say to them, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25. 34).  With those words ringing in their ears, and with unspeakable joy in their hearts, they will be led by Christ into the new heavens and new earth.

In the new heavens and earth there will be perfection.  In this life and world we are aware of imperfection and sin.  No matter how hard people try, they will never succeed in transforming the present imperfect order into a perfect one.  The perfection lost in the days of Adam can never be restored by politicians or religious people.  It will only be restored on the last day when Jesus Christ comes again.

Jesus Christ is so precious because he provides all that is necessary for you to live with God for ever.  He is perfectly righteous.  God reckons his righteousness as the righteous-ness of all who are united to Christ.

He is so precious because those united to him are those who will live with him for ever.  They will dwell with him in the new heavens and earth.  That kingdom he prepares for them.  Where he is they shall be (John 14.1-4).

The second coming of Christ is a doctrine of unspeakable excellence and beauty.

Is that what you think?

EPC  19 June 2016