THE BLESSED HOPE

1 John 3:2-3 (NIV) “… we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

At my last job I had a boss who made a declarative statement to all of his workers in the course of a conversation he was having. He said “Well I know that I don’t believe ANYTHING unless I see it with my own eyes!” I don’t know the context of that assertion, but it stands alone as a statement that means a whole lot more than it appears on the surface. It is not a cursory utterance; one made in haste. It spoke of a deep seated belief and conviction. While the conversation that was going on was not spiritual in nature, it spoke volumes regarding his belief system. I happen to consider my boss’ statement a cop out of sorts, in that it is pretty easy to dispel the reality of anything or anyone with such a declaration. That one exclamation alone stands as the ultimate contradiction to faith, for faith is believing that something or someone exists, in spite of its’ unseen nature.

If you believe in the unseen God, then more than likely you believe that the Bible is the wholly inspired word of Almighty God to His Creation through various creative conduits. He used many willing, receptive individuals to present His Word either verbally or in written form. So if we believe in His Word, then chances are you believe what it says is true. This is all necessary to understand the verse at the top of the page. Actually, it is necessary to understand anything in scripture, but more to the point, through the Word of God we know that Christ was His Son. We know that Christ was sent to earth for a specific purpose. We know He willingly allowed Himself to be beaten and in the end, crucified. We also know that death was really not the end of Him, for 3 days later He arose from His grave as the OT prophesied and spoke to His closest followers, His disciples. Then He went away, right before their eyes.

This would be a sad ending to an incredible story if the following had not taken place: “… He (Jesus) was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘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.’” Acts 1:9-11 (NIV)

When Christ returns we will see Him as He truly is. What this looks like I do not know. Will He return as a spirit being? Will He return in human form? … doesn’t sound like it. How will we know it is Him? Don’t know anyone else who spoke of returning for His people in the clouds. I believe our spirits will jump within us at the sight of such an event. For we are spirit beings. When we were saved, as in gave our lives over to Christ, the spark that is within everyone was ignited. It burns as brightly as we allow it to burn, but for that to take place we must feed the flame within with the fuel of God’s Word, prayer, the gifts and fruit of the Spirit and so on. Then and only then will our flame glow magnificently so the world can see it.

Titus 2:13 refers to the 2nd Coming of Christ as the “blessed hope” of the church. To a world where millions of people do not believe in God as a Deity or even an entity that can be believed in, trusted or relied upon to be their savior, provider and sustainer, this comes as something too fantastic to believe. You have to be desperate to believe such things. As a matter of fact, in many cases, it IS the desperate, those who have reached the bottom … the end of their rope. The good part is that with God ‘hope’ is never in short supply. In a world of supply and demand, hope is high on the inventory priority list.

Brothers, sisters, be of good cheer. Christ is coming again. And when He does we will see Him as He truly is and we shall be like Him. Let us go about purifying ourselves from this world. Don’t become mired in the troubles this life affords. Look up. Focus on Christ. Live for God with every fiber of your being. Don’t know how? Ask Him. Ask God to teach you. He will. Ask God to guide you. He will. Ask God to bless you that you might bless others. He will. Don’t just live your life, live it to the fullest by allowing His Holy Spirit take you places you would never have dreamed possible. And the funny thing about that is that is might be right down the street, rather than around the world. God loves you. Bask in the glow of that truth.

WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!!