Thoughts about Judgment Day expose how weak we are as Christians. We have divided loyalties. Part of us cannot wait for the joy of Christ’s return. And part of us wants to put it off. How can we survive the Judgment? What help is there for our horridly divided hearts that both want to leave this world to be in Paradise and also are afraid of having to say good-bye to this world?
Jesus tells us our only hope to survive is in His Words. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31). His Words tell us the universe will fall to pieces – and for that matter, our own little worlds will fall apart as well. Yet when such things such as death and disasters, decay and divorce happen, Christ’s people have hope – the sure and certain hope that Jesus is near, at the very gates. Because that is what His Word promises. As everything is falling apart, Jesus wants you to get a whiff of the Springtime in the air. Know that the Resurrection Summer is about to break in and change everything in God’s creation.
It was Holy Week when Jesus told us of the sun and moon going dark and the stars falling from the sky. Later that week, on Good Friday, these heavenly lights would give a sneak preview of that Day. Darkness covered the land for three hours as the Creator struggled with hell on a cross. Lift up your eyes to see the Son of Man and Son of God lifted up on a pole, dying with your sin and your shame and your death and your hell.
This Master who once was dead, but now lives and reigns, is the One who comes. Not just at the end of time, but even now. In His Body and Blood. Though today He is hidden in bread and wine, on that Day He will be revealed for all the world to see. Some will be ready, others not. How you prepare for the coming of the Lord in Communion is similar to how you prepare of the coming of the Lord at the End. Listen to Scripture. Repent of sin and desire to be done with it. Desire to forgive and be forgiven. Do not take Christ’s promises and blessings for granted. Trust that no matter what you do or fail to do, the Holy Spirit has made you worthy and well prepared for Christ’s coming as you believe in Christ’s words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
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