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Article 9: The Second Coming - Hope and the Future
We believe in the glorious and personal return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will come in power and great glory to gather His people, to raise the dead, to judge the nations, and to bring His Kingdom to fulfillment. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and motivates the believer to godly living, growing faith, sacrificial service, and energetic mission.

Family Devotional for the Week
Revelation 21:1-5 (Read as a Family)

Many times in our lives we find ourselves waiting for something.

• Describe what it feels like to wait for Christmas to come. Talk about the feelings you have; talk about the preparations and things you have to do in order to get ready.
• Or, if you have more than one child, talk about the preparations you had to make or the conversations you had in order for the new baby to arrive.

In our Christian life, we are waiting for God to return and make all things new. We are waiting for God to come and live among us in the most real way possible. And when he does that, everything is going to change. Listen again to what God says it is going to be like:

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away... I am making everything new!"

Can you imagine that? No more tears? No more pain? No more death? No more waking up in the middle of the night after a scary dream? No more fights with friends? No more hurt feelings? In the end, God is going to make everything ok. But, here's the amazing news. We don't have to wait until the end to start experiencing this "new life." God has already started making everything new with Jesus. God is already on the move.

Do you remember the story in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe? In this story, there are 4 kids who have found themselves whisked away to a magical world called Narnia. Their friend, Mr. Tumnus, has been captured by the evil White Witch. They don't know anything about this new world of Narnia, so they ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver if their friend is going to be ok. This is how Mr. Beaver responds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqZmTfVH-G4 (Stop at about 1 minute into the clip)

Aslan—the real King— was on the move, and that meant something. In the book, C. S. Lewis describes the children's response in this way: "And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken [his name] everyone felt quite different.... At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer."

Aslan was on the move, and they knew that meant something. God comes to us and says—I know you cannot see this now, but I am making all things new. I am ending pain and crying and sadness, and I bringing renewal and life to the earth—and even if you can't see it now, you are a part of that story.

• What in your life is broken? What in your life needs to be made new? What is something in your own life, your friends' lives, or the world that makes you feel sad?
• Where do you see God "on the move"? Where do you see signs that God is working in your world? Where do you see hope around you?
• How can you help bring new life to your friends?

Pray: End your time in prayer, asking for God's new life to come into your world.

~Annie Neufeld

Monday
Revelation 21:1-5

Constant expectancy of the coming of Christ. Do I live with constant expectation of Christ's return? I will confess that sometimes I do not. I get too caught up in the details and distractions of this world. My to-do list and email inbox can consume my focus. But those moments come when I am reminded that this life is not the end of the story. Those moments often come when I am hurt, or when those around me are in pain. I long for his return and for Him to bring comfort and healing. I'm especially reminded to expect Christ's glorious return when the world around me feels unjust and unfair. When I cry out to him on behalf of the injustice I see in our neighborhood, I hear him whisper, "I am making everything new!"

I had the chance to visit Haiti in the summer of 2013. While I was there I met Wildes, a young Christian. I was humbled and moved to worship alongside Wildes and other Haitian believers, who passionately cried out to their heavenly Father. These dear followers of Christ lived with the constant reality and pain of a broken world—earthquakes, disease, death. Pain and struggle for survival were daily occurrences. In the midst of this, Wildes is a hope bringer. He is caring for the orphans in his village, bringing food and sharing Jesus' love with them as often as he can. Wildes lives with glorious expectancy of Christ's triumphant return, when he will bring justice, restoration, and healing.

"I am making everything new!" is one of my favorite promises of God. It reminds me that God is constantly at work in our world, our neighborhood, and my heart.

Lord, you are making everything new! Thank you for the way you are constantly at work in our world. You see us—the brokenness caused by sin, the pain and hurt of living in this world—and you are coming to restore and to heal. Help me to live with glorious expectancy of your coming—and share that hope with those around me. Thank you that you will bring justice to the nations and that you come with great power! Amen

~Nancy Stiles

Tuesday
Revelation 22:1-5

Have you ever had that feeling "I've been here before?" Maybe it's that fight you have over and over again with your parents or your spouse. Maybe it's returning to your elementary school or the church where you got married and experiencing those feelings again. Some call it déjà vu or just a familiar experience, but whatever you call it, we often experience this sense "We've been here before."

I think that's what John was experiencing here. The angel reveals to him a river of living waters, a tree of life, a garden of fruit-bearing trees, the mention of a curse. It probably didn't take John very long to connect the dots to another garden, another river, another tree, and another curse. He is being shown a vision of the future that actually recalls something from the past: a scene from Genesis 2, the creation story. John knows the story in Genesis: In the beginning, there was a beautiful Paradise where humanity was intimately connected to God. And now he's seeing the end: There will be a beautiful Paradise where humanity is intimately connected to God. And I imagine him thinking: We've been here before.

In the end, God will fulfill his plans for humanity. He will not give up on his people. God will bring us to a place where there is no more pain, no more loneliness, no more death, no more betrayal, no more sin. He will fulfill the plan he set into motion at the beginning of creation. And all will be made right.

But until then? What do we do in the meantime? We participate with God in the work he is doing NOW. He is taking us THERE, to the new city, to the New Jerusalem, where all will be made right. But God is on the move right now making all things new! So we don't just wait around; we bring heaven to earth NOW by participating with God in his Kingdom work.

Take a moment to think about the images in our passage (life, light, abundance, intimacy with God). Thank God for bringing his hope, love, and grace to a broken world.

How do you see the Holy Spirit bringing those things into the world around you NOW? What signs of life do you see in your neighborhood NOW? How can you join him in what he is doing?

~Annie Neufeld

Wednesday
Mark 13:32

Time hung heavy on a long August afternoon, more than twenty years ago. We were waiting for our baby to arrive.

In a car.

Driven by a social worker.

A pregnancy is assigned a standard waiting time, give or take some days. But the waiting time associated with adoption varies widely. At first, there appears to be no evidence at all that your life will change. The baby may be growing, but is growing somewhere else, and we can't see it. Information comes sporadically and never often enough. Some nights we lay awake and wonder if we made up the whole thing: what baby? In the light of day, we study the few pieces of paper we've collected to prove this will be true—social workers, legal forms, proofs of certification. But our daily lives look the same.

Except for the preparation. We live as those whose lives will soon change permanently. We gather furniture and clothes; we introduce the idea to our older son. We do things we know we'll wish we had done, once the baby arrives. We try to make the time count. We want to be ready.

At long last, there are signs that the time is near. The birth mother nears her due date. The baby is born! Surely he will be ours at any time. But there are complications unforeseen to us. We now actively wait. We talk to the social worker daily. When will he come home? Not even the social worker knows.

Finally, there's word. They are on their way! Time stands still. We check out the window every few minutes, expecting every car we hear to turn into our driveway.

Then abruptly, the waiting is over. Our son arrives! With great joy we take him in our arms. And our new life begins.

How much more dramatic will be the return of Jesus Christ! We wait, sometimes forgetting that He is coming. There appears to be little evidence that he will come at all. We check God's Word—have we read it correctly? Did we make this up? Nothing looks different to us.

At long last, there are signs that the time is near. But when...exactly? No one knows. Watch and wait. Share with our hurting world the Good News of Jesus' sacrificial death and redeeming resurrection. Live every minute with great care, aware that life is about to change permanently.

Suddenly, the waiting will be over. The Son will arrive! With great joy He'll take us in His arms. And new life will begin!

Think about this:
Does my life show that I live in anticipation of Jesus' arrival?
How does the certainty of His return impact my today?

Lord Jesus, thank you for your promise to return to earth for us! Help us to grasp the significance of this fact. Lift us from our everyday-ness, glimpsing life from your perspective. Be present!

~Carol Kenyon

Thursday
Timothy 3:1-5

The other day our family was walking in the city. We had spent a nice morning together and were headed home when a man, who was obviously intoxicated, crossed the street walking a few paces behind us. My oldest daughter noticed him and looked at him for a while. We kept walking and once there was a polite distance between us I started a conversation with my daughter. I wanted to know what she was thinking. My first thought was, "Why God, is this beautiful world of yours so broken?" The juxtaposition of the blessing of my beautiful family and the time we had spent together with the broken and loneliness of this man overwhelmed me. My daughter and I talked for a while and she was quite in tune and aware of what was happening with this man. It seemed to sadden her too, but in a more matter of fact way. This man needed God and we should pray for him.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 is another glimpse of the broken world that God knew would come to pass. It says, "Understand that the last days will be dangerous times. People will be selfish and love money. They will be the kind who brag and who are proud. They will slander others, and they will be disobedient to their parents. They will be ungrateful, unholy, unloving, contrary, and critical. They will be without self-control and brutal, and they won't love what is good. They will love pleasure instead of loving God. They will look like they are religious but deny God's power. Avoid people like this." The brokenness and loss in this world can leave us curled up in bed, depressed and fearful, or we can choose to stand strong with our brothers and sisters covered in and declaring God's love to the world.

When I see a child curiously respond to the world around them with confidence in the truth and love of God I am encouraged and reminded that we are not quite home yet. The great glory of God and the fulfillment of His kingdom are still to come. Instead of hiding in my bed, I choose to join the children in energetic service, faith, and expectancy that one day God will come and repair this lonely and broken world.

~Melinda Manus

Friday
Matthew 24.14

I remember standing on the Mount of Olives last year and looking out over Old Jerusalem. This was the view Jesus and his disciples had when he spoke these words about a time when 'the end' would come. Thinking back, these words are only more meaningful. From where they sat, Jesus could see the Temple where he was tested by Satan, he could see the Garden of Gethsemane where his calling would play out in agony and where his betrayal would take place. He could see the House of the Chief Priest where he would be tried and he could see Pilate's administrative building where he would be flogged. He knew an end was coming, but Christ also knew it was not the end.

Scripture tells us of another end coming. This end will be a fulfillment of God's mission of restoration and reconciliation; a day when those who have chosen submission to Him will be fully redeemed and restored, a time of when all things will be made new. But in that moment, on that hill Jesus told his disciples and therefore us, a profound truth about that future end...the gospel – this work of reconciliation and forgiveness, this announcing of the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God must make its way to all peoples before the end will come.

Today, even as we look forward to this glorious return and restoring work of Christ, that end is not in sight for the 6900+ unique People Groups who have yet to encounter this gospel. I believe Jesus would ask each of us today what he was preparing his disciples for even then on that hillside 2000 years ago... what would be our role in seeing the gospel taken to the ends of the earth, to those Peoples who have yet to hear and thus yet to have a chance to respond to this gospel of hope, forgiveness, and reconciliation. In less than a week Jesus would be executed, resurrected, and would charge his followers explicitly to "go and make disciples of all peoples."

Today we still have disciples to make and specifically, even as we anticipate the ultimate return of Christ, the restoration of life in full, a shalom-filled, all-is-right and as-it-should-be new creation, we still have an obligation and need to pray, give, and go to see the "this Gospel preached to the whole world as a testimony to all peoples."

Join today with your Church Family in prayer for those who have yet to hear this gospel:
Pray for someone to go and be a witness among the 6900 Peoples without the gospel. There are approximately 2 Billion people making up these 6900 Peoples.
Pray today for a missionary worker sent out by Lake to share the gospel
Pray today for your role as one sent by Christ to tell the story of this beautiful saving gospel to someone who is in your circle of influence

~Scott White

Saturday
Matthew 25.31-36

The things that matter to us change the way we live our lives. Here's an example from my life: October 12, 2002. That's the day I married Alida, my amazing wife! Up until that point I had lived most of my life doing what I liked, what pleased my family, and what might help lead me to a successful future.

Then we exchanged our vows. In the time it took to say those words everything changed for me. I had to begin to learn how to make space in my life for someone vastly different than me. I had to start learning what it meant to be a husband. And I had to figure out how to create an entire new way of life with Alida. I would love to be able to report to you that from the first moment we were married until today things have always been 100% perfect! But that would be a lie. There's a learning curve...and that curve never straightens out. I'll spend the rest of my life learning how to be the best husband to Alida that I can be.

I share this example to give some mental context for the verses from Matthew 25. Here Jesus is telling his disciples how he will differentiate those who followed him from those who did not at his second coming. In our verses he's commending those who did truly follow him for doing various things.

What are those things? They fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, showed hospitality to the immigrant, clothed the naked, cared for those who were ill, and visited those who were incarcerated. In other words, they did the things that Jesus did. They cared for those in their midst. They lived out Micah 6:8 ("Act justly, show mercy, and walk humbly with your God").

When we follow Jesus it should change how we live in ways that people can see. Unfortunately the sociological research by the Barna Group, the Pew Foundation, and others is showing that those of us who claim to follow Jesus live lives almost indistinguishable from those who do not.

Friends, it's high time that we began actively following Jesus, being conformed to his image. Let us do the things we see Jesus doing in the Gospels and let us do them together, within community. And when we do so the world will begin to see that Christianity is not just a club that meets on Sunday mornings. No! They'll begin to see that the One that matters to us changes the way we live!

~Matt Barnes