In the wake of the Coronavirus, some Christians fear that Christ may return soon
When I was ten years old, I heard a minister loudly proclaim, “Christ is coming soon! Pray for His return!” but I did not feel any religious, moral or lawful obligation to do so. As a matter of fact, I did not want to. Why was that? The honest truth is I had a consuming fear of missing out on what this world had to offer me.
The 10-year-old version of myself desired similar things to what the 20-year-old version of myself desires: to have a fulfilling career, to marry my sweetheart, to have children of my own, to be used by God in ministry, to be successful and so much more. But all of these desires, both those of altruistic nature and those of egocentric nature, are to be counted as dregs (Philippians 3:8).
We, as followers of Christ, are to place all of our worldly desires behind us and give our full attention, adoration and affection to Christ alone. The truth is, many followers of Christ do not follow this principle and therefore lose sight of what they were created for.
God created us to worship Him (Isaiah 43:21). This worship is not exclusively offered when a local congregation gathers together to sing praises, but is a continual praise that is performed in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).
Our praise on this earth is nothing compared to what our future praise will be like in heaven. We are going to be glorified to a state in which we can worship the Lord freely, without the impediment of our carnal flesh (Romans 8:30). We will worship him perfectly and forever be in awe of the unfathomable creator of the universe. We will worship him under the light of his brilliant iridescence, alongside legions of flaming angels as the elders of heaven lay their crowns down before the feet of the Lamb (Revelation 4:10-11).
Stop reading this article for a moment and picture the grandeur of this magnificent scene in heavenly places.
The images you conjured up in no way compare to the awesome power and glory of God that we will experience when we are caught up in the clouds with Him. The earth will pass away along with every single one of our failures, shortcomings, diseases and transgressions. Our slate will be wiped clean and we will have no need to worry or cry any longer.
This truth is proclaimed in Revelation 21:4: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Even in spite of these wondrous, prescient truths, there are many Christians who believe that if they are raptured up to be with the Lord, they will somehow be sorrowful for what goals they did not accomplish here on earth — for never getting married, for never owning a home or perhaps for never graduating. I know these things to be true because I myself longingly desire them.
The lulls of this world so frequently cloud the glory of our God, rendering his luminous majesty into translucent murkiness at best, and an opaque cerulean blue at worst.
In our finite minds, we conjure up images of heaven and wonder, “How can that be fun? Shouldn’t God put in a Disneyland or Six Flags for us to have a good time at? Are there going to be dogs? What about churros?”
I have these questions, too! However, the verdict is out. Either God is the eternal being which we will be blessed so incredibly by that we have no choice but to fall upon our knees in the deepest, heartiest worship imaginable (Revelation 1:17), or we substitute him for aspects of this temporal life we so childishly deem vivacious and attractive.
Many of us fear the rapture because we do not understand God’s glory, and we never will. Yet this glory, which is an aggregate of such characteristics as His grace, aseity, holiness and omnipotence, is what is supposed to spur on our hope of His redeeming return in which He will take His ransomed bride to be with Him for eternity, ridding her of Satan’s constant ploys that plague this earthly life.
Let the church no longer be concerned about our lives here on earth, for that inhibits our steps to those of an infant, but let the church be so consumed with God’s glory that we live our lives for Him completely — fighting for righteousness, feeding the poor, helping the widow and greatly anticipating the day when He returns for His unblemished bride.