Life (according to the faith) is very like a serial story in a magazine: life ends with the promise (or menace) “to be continued in our next.”
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
For those of us who have never read a serial story in a magazine, I will change Chesterton’s illustration to one of a binge-able series on Netflix. Nothing proves so excruciating (I’m exaggerating) as getting to the end of a season and being left with a cliffhanger, only to find out it will be another six months before the next season is released.
Sometimes we feel like this waiting on the arrival of the “final season” in life. We know it’s coming, we depend on his promised return, and yet, in the meantime, we suffer. However, I’ve been with those who have faced death without such a hope, and it is bitter indeed.
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.
Revelation 1:7 (NIV)
There will be a similar mixture of emotions on the return of Christ. As he comes on the clouds, Revelation tells us “every eye will see him.” Whether rejected in this life or not, the day will come when no one can ignore him.
For those who have been anxiously waiting for the next “season” of life, there will be great rejoicing; but for those who switched their internal channel from Christ, nothing but mourning awaits. Why mourning? Because they will realize all he said was true, what they heard from his followers was true, what the churches said was true, and now it’s too late for them to change their mind. The bed they made will be the one they lie in for eternity.
What does this say for us today? We need to be ready for his return, and we also need to tell as many others as we can to trust him before it’s too late.
Grace and Peace