CHRIST OUR COMING KING

Cherylyn Radford, Interim Bowridge Site Pastor

Growing up I was a HUGE bookworm. I loved reading so much that the most effective punishment my parents could come up with was taking away my books. That was way worse than being grounded, as who really wants to go outside when you can stay in all cozy and read?

But I had one bad habit. I generally read the end of the book by about page 50. Mainly because I wanted to know if this book was worth my time. Was I going to like how it turned out? If I didn’t, well then, on to a new book. I needed to know how it was going to end before I invested my time into the story.

I am still like that a lot. I want a good ending to things. I want to know how things are going to turn out. Which is much tougher in real life. Often our endings are sad and unfinished and messy. But for the believer in Christ, there is excellent news. We can read the ending. We know how the story turns out.

The bible is one huge story made up of a bunch of smaller stories, but over and over again it tells the story of creation-> fall->redemption->restoration. That is the whole story that each story points to.

God created a perfect world. People lived in total harmony with God. Things were perfect. Then, through choices to make ourselves god instead, sin entered the world. And things became really broken. People no longer could connect with God in a direct personal way. The world was full of pain and suffering. We needed rescue.

And so, 2000 years ago a rescuer came. He lived a perfect life and died to take all our sins upon himself. By doing so, he rescued and redeemed us from the consequences of sin. The broken relationship between God and people was restored. People can have full access to God and full forgiveness of sins.

But the story isn’t over yet. We still live in a world of pain and despair and suffering. While we have been redeemed, the complete restoration is still coming. The world has not yet been fully restored to the way it should be.

But here is the awesome news. We can peek ahead to the end of the book and see how it ends. It is the best ending possible. Christ is coming again and this time, he will not come as a suffering servant but rather a triumphant king.

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Jesus is coming again. He will come the way he went and he will restore everything to the way it is supposed to be. His kingdom will be fully established. Revelation 21:1-4 tells us what it will look like.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 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.”

Restoration is coming when King Jesus makes all things right again. So for now, we work to bring just a glimpse of his kingdom here on earth. We tell our Jesus stories to those who don’t know him. We work for justice and to care for creation. We want as many as possible to join us in this new kingdom where King Jesus reigns, so we create pockets of the kingdom here and now so that all will see a glimpse of what is to come and want to join us in his family.

We do all of this because we know how the story ends. The world will be restored. King Jesus will reign. And we long to see as many as possible in this new kingdom with us as possible all united under the reign of Jesus - the coming King.