The Coming Of Our Lord Jesus: The Blessed Hope

Feature 1 – December 2020 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The Coming Of Our Lord Jesus:
The Blessed Hope

The prophet Micah spoke of One who would come out of Bethlehem and “be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Mic. 5:2 NKJV ), or “of eternity” ( JND ). What was not understood by the prophet was the fact that His death, burial, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God would intervene between this One’s birth and rule.

Many other Scriptures in the Old Testament speak of the coming of the Lord Jesus, such as Zechariah 9:9-10. Verse 9 (NKJV) – “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” – refers to the time when the Lord Jesus was on earth. He was seen riding on a donkey. All four Gospels give witness to the fact that this prophecy was fulfilled.

The last half of Zechariah 9:10 says, “He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.’” This prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, and it will be accomplished when the Lord Jesus comes again to the earth. He will not be then on a donkey but on a white horse (Rev. 19:11). The horse is symbolic of His kingly power and glory. He is coming to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16). This coming is called “His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). Those who have believed on Him “will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4). “He will appear,” “for He must reign” (Heb. 9:28; 1 Cor. 15:25). The Lord Jesus will come, bringing us with Him, to usher in His glorious reign of 1,000 years over the earth – and in marvelous grace, we as His own will reign with Him.

Kings shall fall down before Him, And gold and incense bring; All nations shall adore Him, His praise all peoples sing. For He shall have dominion O’er river, sea, and shore, Far as the eagle’s pinion, Or dove’s light wing can soar.—James Montgomery (1771–1854)

Before He Reigns
A glorious event will occur before He comes to reign. This truth is not in the Old Testament; it was for the Lord Jesus to declare – as He only could have done – to His own. In John 14 Judas, the betrayer, was no longer in the company of the Lord Jesus. He had gone out into the night already (13:30). The Lord Jesus then said to those who were with Him, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (14:3). This, commonly called “the rapture,” is our blessed hope!

The apostle Paul wrote about “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” (2 Th. 2:1). He gave more details of the blessed hope in an earlier letter: “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Th. 4:16-17).

The apostle mentioned the rapture, when the Lord comes for us, and the appearing when He comes with us in one verse in his letter to Titus. He wrote: “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Ti. 2:13).

It is a blessed or happy hope because the Lord Himself will come and receive us to Himself. He is our hope: “the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope” (1 Tim. 1:1). It is blessed because “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn. 3:2).

This hope – ours – is “both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19). It is a promise given by the Lord. “We have such [a] hope” (2 Cor. 3:12). Let us “wait for the hope” (Gal. 5:5). The Thessalonians had turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven (1 Th. 1:9-10). Are you waiting for Him? Is the Lord Jesus your hope? Sadly, there are many today who have no hope; they do not know the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord.

As those who belong to Him, let us “lay hold of the hope set before us” (Heb. 6:18). “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry” (10:37). He is coming to take us to His Father’s house, our eternal home. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

“The coming of the Lord is at hand” (Jas. 5:8). He could come today and receive us to Himself. “The Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5). “Behold, I am coming quickly” (Rev. 22:7). This blessed hope should have a moral, purifying effect on us while we wait for Him. “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3). “‘I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).

By Paul Palmer