Day Four | February 25 FOUR

Who Came … and Is Coming

Atension has existed in the understanding of the faithful since the resurrection. We hold an unshakeable conviction that Jesus is the Messiah who would usher in a new Kingdom of God’s reign. This hope is espoused in Psalm 97:1-5, “The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.”

Here is the quandary for Jesus’ disciples and for us. Jesus was crucified. On the third day, He rose from the dead, and they saw Him ascend into heaven 40 days later. Such amazing, glorifying events they witnessed! And yet, there was still power in Rome, there was still a world that was not righteous or perfect or just. Every knee had not bowed, nor every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ was Lord!

What happened? The followers of Jesus began to understand that the Kingdom of God had come in Jesus, but that it had not yet come in its completeness. So, their longing and looking for a second coming took hold – an understanding that the Kingdom of God is “already but not yet.”

Theologian George Eldon Ladd wrote: “The early church found itself living in a tension between realization and expectation – between ‘already’ and ‘not yet.’ The age of fulfillment has come; the day of consummation stands yet in the future. The Kingdom is now moving through the lives of God’s people, one by one, and building an unstoppable roadway to a new, future, Kingdom that will express the fullness of the teaching of Jesus.”

Do we live with that same anticipation the early Christians had? We should not become fixated on the specifics of the coming Kingdom, but to fully embrace the Kingdom that is here now. Jesus warned us: “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father”

(Matthew 24:36). When we embrace the Kingdom now, the Holy Spirit will remove our fear and anxiety over the things we do not and cannot know … as we wait (and work) with expectancy, knowing how this story ends.

On Christmas Eve last year, the Dallas Cowboys had an important game with their division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. I was excited to get to watch it, but the game happened to be scheduled right during the heart of our afternoon services … so I set the DVR at home. People kept asking me “do you want to know how it ends?” And I said, “Of course!” With that, they quickly shared with me the final score.

The next day, I watched the game with great joy because even though the Cowboys fell behind and the cause looked grim, I knew how it was going to end. The Bible tells us how this whole business of life ends. In the end, evil will be vanquished! Jesus will conquer! And all of God’s children will join in endless praise around the throne!

The Kingdom has come. The Kingdom is here. The Kingdom is coming in its fullness. And the Messiah, our Lord Jesus, will not be denied the ultimate gathering of His subjects, His children, and His family. With that understanding, we join the prayer of Revelation 22:20: “The One who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”