Our Real, Risen, Returning Christ

Our Real, Risen, Returning Christ

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Thessalonians 4:16

Ours is the most genuinely hopeful faith in the world.  Behold, the glorious expectations of the saints of God!  When the Apostle wrote his letter of encouragement and clarification to the Thessalonian believers, he made continual reference to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That expectation of the return of Christ rests upon other glorious truths which preceded it; namely, that Christ is real, and that the Christ who died is risen from the dead.  Therefore, our expectation is that this real, risen Christ will return in glory, according to His Word.

The first consideration worth our attention is that our Christ is real. Despite all who attempt to subvert the facts of history by attempting to “demythologize the Bible” or by attempting to consign the accounts of Christ’s life to the realm of fantasy, the facts remain that Christ is real. Real people saw Him, heard His words, benefited from His miracles, and recorded their experiences for us all.  There is no honest way to remove this unique figure from the pages of human history.  Christ is real.   Greater than that, as our text refers to Him, so He is “The Lord Himself.”

What is more remarkable is the fact that our Christ is risen.  Whether we take into account the testimony of the women at the tomb, the disciples in the upper room, the two on the road to Emmaeus, the 500 brethren to whom Paul refers in 1 Corinthians 15, or the affirmation of Paul himself, all bear witness to the risen Christ.  We are discussing, not some vague, mysterious somebody, who may or may not even exist.  We are depending upon a genuine, living individual whose authenticity has been publicly verified again and again.  The greatest authentication of His person was His resurrection from the dead.

Now, our text declares for us the next grand expectation of Christianity, which rests upon the first two facts:  our Christ is returning, His return will be public, will be with resurrection power, will be glorious for the living saints, and will be the beginning of an unbroken physical proximity for us with Him.  We have some glorious expectations, which He will not fail to meet gloriously.  Let your days be filled with anticipation, child of God, for your Redeemer is on His way!

Dear Lord Jesus,

we look forward to the day

when we shall see Thee face to face.

Come quickly, Dear Lord.

We wait for Thee.

Where the Bush is Burning

Tomm Tice