May 27, 2007
Background Scripture: Revelation 22:6-21
Devotional Reading: John 16:17-24

This past Saturday on the Religion page of our daily newspaper in Dallas, there was an article noting that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a point of controversy among the two billion Christians throughout the world. Some believe it was a resurrection of his physical body, while others, following Paul, contend it was a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:44).

I cite this controversy merely because there is similar controversy regarding the Parousia, or Second Coming, of Jesus, the subject of Revelation 22:6-21. Most of the New Testament indicates that Christ’s second coming will be soon. Paul believes it will be in his lifetime.

If you equate the second coming of Christ with the arrival of the kingdom of God, it would appear that Jesus was saying he would return within the lifetime of some of his disciples.

The crux of the matter is that Jesus did not return – at least not apocalyptically – in the lifetimes of his original disciples, including Paul. In fact, throughout 20 centuries of the Christian movement, there has been no apocalyptic return of Jesus Christ.

Some believe along the lines suggested in John’s gospel, that the apocalyptic expectations of the early Christians were in error and that Christ returned whenever he is incarnate in the lives of his disciples, in the life of his Church and at the time of the confessing Christian’s death.

A humble faith

My purpose is not to try to resolve this controversy, but to point beyond it and affirm the truth, if not the symbolic images, of Revelation.

I think it is natural and understandable – even desirable – that we should like to find in the passages of the New Testament some reasonably consistent formulation. It is understandable that we would want to make sense of the Resurrection, the Second
Coming, the human and divine nature of Christ and so forth.
Instead of arrogantly assuming we have the “right” beliefs, however, our rationalizations ought to produce in us humility and the profound recognition that we are not God and that His thoughts are not our thoughts. It is a dangerous sin to assume that we have shut up the Creator of the Universe and Jesus Christ within our words, creeds, doctrines and theological systems, and for us to tell God who He is and what or what not He can do.

The problem with going no further than our systems is that they become a seductive substitute for true Christian discipleship. Jesus did not call people to comprehend and argue about the gospel, but to live it.

I believe we can disagree on whether the resurrection of Jesus was physical, spiritual or something else, whether the Second Coming is imminent or distant in time, and still focus on that for which Jesus called us: Christlike discipleship and demonstration of the gospel, not argument about it.

Coming soon?

So, in Revelation 22:7 and 20 we can read, “And behold, I am coming soon,” and “Surely I am coming soon” and be fully assured that Jesus is “the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (22:13).

God in Christ will bring everything into completion in His own time. Although we do not, nor need to, know the day, hour or manner of that coming, God knows and His promise, not our superior understanding or knowledge, is the ground of our faith. Helmut Thielicke says, “It is true I don’t know what is coming, but I know
Who is coming.”

Do not misunderstand me: I am not against trying to understand and formulate our experience with God, nor am I against doctrines and creeds. And I even have no objection to discussing with others what we believe.

But I am against letting argumentation and dispute become a substitute for doing the truth. That has been the curse of the Church. We cannot argue the world into following Christ, but we can let Jesus appeal to the world through us. He did not call us to “get it right,” but to take up our crosses and follow him.