In movies, books, and of course sermons there has been much speculation made about the coming of Christ. If we believe the prophecies of the Bible at all, we must understand that his coming is eminent. While still here on earth, Jesus promised that he would come back physically. Many books of the New Testament discuss this fact as well. Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead literally and shortly thereafter ascended to heaven as a living person. He gave commissions to his disciples to spread the good news that he conquered death and offers the forgiveness of sin.
The Bible does say there will be scoffers denying that Christ will return to earth. There are other religions and cults that have no room for Christ here on earth. To the contrary the believer when critically ill or facing death relies on the promise of Jesus preparing a heavenly home for us. To such a person there is great comfort and cheer that the grave is not the end of it all but the beginning.
Unfortunately, there are many ways that even hard and fast believers look at the coming of Christ negatively. That’s the purpose of this blog. It is to ask readers of this blog if you are among those who dread or do not want Christ to come back soon? This is not to consider that you don’t believe he will come back in your lifetime, but you would rather he did not. Think about the many reasons that people would rather Christ delay his return:
Someone might say that the return of Christ is a fearful thing. Following Christ’s return in which he takes believers to heaven, there will be wars, pestilence, natural disasters, and haters of God. That person may even doubt his or her security in God’s sovereignty. It could be that such a person does not see God as a loving God and instead one of wrath and judgment and punishment.
Someone might say that the return of Christ would interfere with personal goals and ambitions. That person may see the return of Christ as an interference to what they want to happen. It might be someone says they want to get married or have a child or go to college or travel and they assume that if Jesus returned soon all those ideas would be nixed.
Someone might say that the thought of the coming of Christ is cause for panic because of the change in world history of the future. In this lifetime such a person might say they have a sense of control presently but that it would be lost. It could be that all of the plans and schedules amount to efforts of control over the various situations in their life. To have everything planned out and then suddenly Jesus comes would cause it to be seen as a bad thing.
Someone might say that they just don’t want to think about the coming of Christ because of what it would mean to have a right relation with God now. If one is living on the edge, walking on both sides of the fence, playing the odds, or juggling with her own uncertainties, such a person might not have their spiritual life grounded on Jesus.
Someone might say I don’t understand all the things mentioned in the Bible like in the book of Revelation about the coming of Christ. That person puts himself in a state of spiritual confusion unable to exercise faith in favor of those things that they do understand written in the Bible. This individual is looking more toward words than worship.
Someone might say that they are uncertain about their salvation even though they have asked Christ to come into their heart. Such a person likes to think of himself as a Christian but has great difficulty in trusting God and truly having faith that when facing the future as in the coming of Christ all will be well.
We must adjust our attitudes, goals, and thinking about how wonderful it will be when Jesus returns. It will be a means of total happiness. It will be a time in which evil is restrained and sickness or death are nullified. The coming of Christ is a natural course of history unfolding itself because that’s what God intends. Whatever we think we will miss after Christ returns will be nothing of value emotionally or physically because he will bring with him a higher plane of peace and joy. When Christ returns for the believer, whatever happens will be a result of God’s love and good intentions. We will lose nothing and gain everything.
Christian Writer 