Eagerly Awaiting, Part 1

“Why eagerly await the return of Christ? What will be so good about it?"


Published by: Sam Crabtree

I recently asked all the staff for their help. I asked them to send me at least one answer to the questions, “Why eagerly await the return of Christ? What will be so good about it? What difference(s) will it make? What will improve at that time?”

Over the next few days we’ll post a few dozen of their replies here.

Jon Nowlin: “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Amanda Knoke: We will see our Very Best Friend face to face.

Matthew Schildroth: Freedom from my sin nature.

Bud Burk: It’s His face, Sam—we will see God’s face, and for the first time in our lives we will behold pure power, wisdom, goodness, peace, love, truth, righteousness, and beauty. We will wait with eagerness because by God’s grace we have become Psalm 27:4 people: “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.”

Or, as the song says, I will glory in my Redeemer, who waits for me at gates of gold. And when He calls me, it will be paradise; His face forever to behold. His face forever to behold.

Krista Coronado: No more pain!

Amy Katterson: Oh, what a day that will be … Sin finished. Heart free to love Jesus fully. No more good-byes.

Ben Collins: We as broken image-bearers will be transformed through seeing the full-fledged glory of the exact Image-bearer (1 John 3:2, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3), and our senses will—by God's incredible grace—be revamped/rewired to handle and synthesize the Glory-Lumens of our Savior, and in this synthesizing, our hearts will likewise be revamped to desire perfectly and ultimately forevermore. Hope in that day when your desires feel impaired today, knowing it is not forever.

Cody Sandidge: Why eagerly await the return to Christ? Christ is the only reason I live. If the resurrection (and I would add, the Second Coming) is a fabrication, we Christians are to be pitied above all others. I await his return because I want to be with my Savior. There is nothing dull or unimpressive about Christ ... everything about him causes me to eagerly await his return.
What will be so good about it? Christ will give me true freedom. What I want to do will be in accordance with his will.
What difference(s) will it make? I won't sin anymore; I will only pursue Christ and I will only desire holiness.
What will improve at that time? Everything.

Pastor Sam Crabtree is Bethlehem Baptist Church's Executive Pastor and Lead Pastor for Life Training (Minneapolis, Minnesota).