Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Jesus gives His people hope, and He reveals this hope in His Holy Word. Titus 2:13 directs us to be “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” This “blessed hope” is defined for us as “the glorious appearing” of Jesus, His return for His people as promised in His Ascension (Acts 1:9-11). I Thessalonians 4:13-18 provides detail about this event, which we call the Rapture (the word comes from the Latin translation of the original Greek for “caught up” in verse 17). Verse 18 enjoins, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” The certainty of this “blessed hope” should encourage us greatly. A friend of mine, now in heaven, tried to begin each day as he got out of bed by saying, “Is today the day, Lord?” Such an anticipatory outlook will uplift us until we are uplifted to meet Jesus “in the air.”