One can’t honestly look upon the life of Jesus Christ without feeling a sense of respectful awe. Over the centuries, his name has been the source of hope for many while multitudes see him and his eternal gift as an object to scorn and ridicule.
Our Scripture text comes from the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. These eleven verses, beginning with addressing “Theophilus” which means “God Lover” in verse one and ending with “this same Jesus will come back” in verse eleven, hold within themselves a rich store of truth!
The truth contained in these verses bursts forth upon those whose eyes are open and upon those whose hearts are softened by the embrace of God’s grace. This same truth ought to also so move those who have never received God’s saving grace that they yield their wills to his will for their lives. But God will not force anyone. He simply declares and manifests himself and offers to all an open invitation to come into his protective fold.
Our devotional text says,
1. In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
2. until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
3. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
4. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
5. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
6. So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7. He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
9. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
Christ’s Ascension up to heaven and the admonition of the angels serve as credible sources for our own anticipation of His return. Indeed, the Second Coming of Christ is an important theme that we find in the New Testament. In considering the mystery of the Ascension of Christ we must also consider the mystery of the Second Advent of Christ.
Jesus taught his disciples, those early God Lovers who followed Jesus and gave themselves to his teaching, that he would definitely bodily visit earth a second time.
Matthew 26:64 says, “I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Luke 21:27 enlarges upon this verse in Matthew saying, “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
Luke tells us that Jesus is coming to earth a second time. Jesus came to earth the first time as the gentle Lamb who became the sacrifice killed on the Altar of the Cross as the only sacrifice that could ever clear us of the judgement of sin that was against us. When he comes the second time he will not be coming in such a gentle fashion for the whole world.
Hebrews 9:28 tells us, “so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
Jesus is coming again to bring salvation – eternal life in the presence of God – to those who recognize him as God’s gift to humankind, to those who accept him as their Savior and seek to live their lives for him in a fashion that’s pleasing to him.
But what about the rest of humankind? What about all those who refuse to accept him and live for him? What will be their end when Jesus comes again?
Jude is only one chapter long. In verses 14-15 Jude says, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’”
Jesus spoke of what will happen when he returns. In Saint Matthew 25:31-32 he tells us, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” We know from reading the Scriptures that those who are considered sheep – those who hear his voice and follow his words – will be invited to spend eternity with him. We also know from reading the Scripture that those who are considered goats – those who refuse to hear his voice and follow his words – will be condemned by their own actions and sentenced to an eternity separated from God. That eternal separation is called hell – a place of eternal torment where the soul of man never dies and never knows peace.
There has been so much silly speculation about when the Lord is coming back. The truth is that no one knows when the Lord is coming back. Though there is a great temptation to jump into the deep waters of eschatological prognostication it’s pure foolishness to waste our time trying to figure out when the Lord is coming back. Even Jesus is in the dark regarding the mind of the Father concerning this major event, so who are we to think that we know more about a subject than the Lord himself?
Matthew 24:36 says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
I have always been particularly drawn to the promise found in Saint John 14:1-4. Saint John the Apostle records the words of Jesus as he says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Christ’s Ascension is a mysterious but divine reality. Likewise, the Second Coming of Christ is something difficult for many to grasp but yet divinely promised. The promise of his return and that of an eternal home in his presence is a great source of hope and rejoicing for those who have yielded to his embracing touch.
Where are you in your proximity to Christ?
It’s most likely that the majority of people reading this brief article are already born again believers in the Lord Jesus. Your lives have been changed by the grace of God and you are on the road toward an eternal home filled with the promises and blessings of God. Deepen your interior life and grow in the grace and knowledge of him who saves you. Never allow a day to pass into history without worshiping God and seeking ways to communicate his love to those around you.
It’s entirely possible that there are those reading this article who have never made any real commitment to the Lord. You are reading this because you are curious. Consider your curiosity. Your curiosity is more than an intuitive itch. Your curiosity is a gnawing and craving placed in you by the Holy Spirit. God is working to lead you to the place where you surrender your will to his will and begin life anew in a journey with him.
Allow the Holy Spirit to work his work in you to bring you to the place where your life is centered in God’s will. There is an eternity that we all have to face. There is a Righteous Judge before whom we all must stand and give account. This is a destination that we can’t avoid and an appointment that we can’t break.
But more than eternity is on the scales here. Life in the here and now is being weighed as well.
As long as we have eyes to see and ears to hear it means that we are still living in a physical body in the all too often nasty here and now. Jesus hasn’t returned yet. The blessing and promises of eternity are yet something designated to a future date. The trials and tribulations of life as we know it continue to bear upon us in our day to day lives.
Yet, in the midst of the most miserable trials and mean circumstances, we discover something wonderful. We discover another promise that comes to us because of the Ascension of Jesus Christ. We discover a promise that will continue to be poured out upon us until the promised Second Coming of Christ.
The Apostle records the words of Jesus in Saint John 16:7. Here he says, “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
This is whom the disciples were waiting for in Acts 2. This is who came and filled not only the house where they were meeting but their hearts as well.
Between Christ’s Ascension and his Second Coming the Holy Spirit baptizes and fills believers. We are both immersed in and filled with the Holy Spirit who enables and empowers us to do the work of the ministry as those called of God. As our Counselor he teaches us. As our Comforter he eases the tensions and anxieties in our hearts and minds. Because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ historically and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit that reaches into and transcends what we know as the present, we discover varying measures and degrees of the relational and relative abundant life that Christ promises us. |
