In our last visit we learned from Simeon and Anna in Luke 2 how we should be looking forward with expectation to the fulfillment of our blessed hope, the glorious return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In Paul’s letters he emphasizes three characteristics about our blessed hope. First, it is the time when all Jesus Christ committed Himself to accomplish in His earthly sojourn will culminate. When He sees His bride, the church, in all her glory, He will be satisfied according to Isaiah 53:10-11. As a result of this every knee will bow and every tongue confess “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
It also will be a time when those who believe and are waiting, anticipating the fulfillment of their blessed hope, will be glorified (Romans 8:30 and 9:23-24).
Finally, Paul shares a third dynamic about our blessed hope. Writing to the Thessalonians he says, “or what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
On that glorious day what we thought we understood about Jesus Christ, about our own status as God’s children, and about those we had a part in helping come to trust in Jesus Christ, will be wonderfully surpassed. The glory of that day is beyond our ability in our present state to comprehend or describe. That is our blessed hope.
If this is not what you are living for then let me encourage you to turn your life over to Jesus Christ by faith before this year comes to a close.
