Revisiting the return of Christ
The trumpet sound that will herald the return of Christ will not initiate our leaving the earth, but will signal God coming to finish what he started upon the earth.
Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that Jesus’s followers will go out to meet him in the air at his return. Many understand this passage to mean that we will leave the earth during this time, never to return.
However, the passage does not refer to our escaping the earth, but instead refers to a time when a King would prepare to enter a city, their citizens would go out to meet him at the gate with a royal welcome, and accompany him into the city.
Therefore, Christ’s return is not about us leaving earth (a.k.a rapture theology), but about Christ coming back to the earth to bring about the completion of his redemptive project by putting the world to right and bringing salvation to those who have been waiting for him (Hebrews 9:28).
Christ’s return is not about us leaving earth, but about Christ coming back to the earth. Click To TweetSo, we wait for Christ to return, not so we can finally leave the earth, travel to heaven, and rid ourselves of earth’s troubles, but so that Christ will finally restore all things and bring heaven to earth.
Removal or return?
To have God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven means just that. The coming of Christ doesn’t signal a removal, but a return, and the two are very different from one another.
- The first sees extraction as the ultimate goal, whereas the second seeks the fulfillment of a long-awaited dream of heaven on earth (think of the Lord’s prayer – “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”)
- The first looks for the destruction of the earth, the second for its transformation and renewal.
- The first centers on God abandoning the earth, the second on God finishing what he started – bringing a long-awaited promise to pass.
- The first seeks eradication, the second establishment.
- The first apprehension, the second arrival.
We as followers of Jesus long for his return to finally experience liberation to freedom. While some interpret this freedom in terms of being taken away from the earth, others understand freedom differently – as a freedom to forever and completely live in the presence of God upon the earth.
Belief matters
What we believe about the return of Christ matters greatly, not only as it impacts the future, but the present as well. Our stance on this crucial matter has both theological and practical implications.
For instance, if we believe the ultimate fate of the earth is annihilation, then caring for the planet will matter little. If, however, we look for the renewal of the earth, creation care will matter much.
If we look for the renewal of the earth, creation care will matter much. Click To TweetIf we believe the world will one day be destroyed, taking care of it now seems like an exercise in futility. Why bother taking care of and tending to the earth God gave us if it will one day be destroyed?
On the other hand, if we view the earth (and cosmos) as God’s good creation project and ourselves as stewards of this project, while holding to the idea that God is not about to give up on his project but plans to bring it through to completion, such a view will greatly impact our theology of earth care today. We will look for ways to redeem and care for the earth now as we anticipate the completion of the redemption project at the return of King Jesus.
As we look towards the future ideal we should also look for ways to pull that future into the present. We do so not because we believe we will somehow make the world completely right ourselves or even to possibly accelerate Christ’s return.
Instead, we intentionally engage in creation care activities that reflect our belief that God will one day redeem and renew all things. Our work today anticipates and aligns itself with God’s completed project sometime in the future.
Even so come
So we wait and work, long for and live by the dream of the world to come – God’s kingdom dream for us – in the here and now. And, as we wait, we look for ways to see realized-echoes of God’s goals for the earth as we eagerly wait for its completion tomorrow.
And, as we work may we also pray – “Even so, Lord Jesus, come” – not so God will remove us from the mess, but for God to one day redeem the mess and bring his kingdom dream for all the earth to the earth once and for all.
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