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.)
Yesterday, we briefly considered the return of Jesus Christ as a source of great encouragement for His people. It should also be a source of great exhortation. Titus 2:11-14 speaks about the reality of Jesus’ return for His own, what we call the Rapture of the Church. (As an aside, the word “Rapture” comes from the Latin translation of the Greek for “caught up” in I Thessalonians 4:17.) The “blessed hope” (verse 13) of God’s people is the coming of God the Son in the clouds for us (I Thessalonians 4:13-18). Because He loves us so much, he will not wait in heaven when He delivers His people from impending judgment but will come to us! This revelation of His fervent affection for us is a motivation to avoid sinful influences (verse 12) and instead do God’s “good works” (verse 14). We should be deeply grateful that the redemption of Jesus is completely thorough, culminating in His predicted but unpredictable return. Lord, thank you for continuing to surprise us, and may You soon surprise us by the “blessed hope” of Your return.