The Imminent Return Of Christ for His Church...Titus 2:13

The doctrine of the imminent coming of Christ is to be understood and embraced by the Christ follower! To understand this doctrine, we must examine the meaning of the word "imminent." The word imminent means, "hanging over one's head, ready to befall or overtake one; close at hand in its incidence." An imminent event is one that's always hanging over one's head, close at hand in the sense that it could take place at any moment! The return of Christ for His church is an imminent event! Praise God forevermore! It's at this point that the relationship of "imminent" to "expectant" should be understood. The word "imminent" is used to describe the nature of an event. By contrast, the word "expectant" is used to describe people's attitude toward an event. Expectant points to looking forward to, or waiting for the occurring of an event! With that in mind, let's examine our text. Paul says, "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus," (Titus 2:13). Notice that the term, "looking for" points to an attitude of expectancy! What are Christ followers to "look for?" We're to look for "the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus." Paul is describing the imminent event of "the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus" as the Christ follower's hope. No wonder the hope is "blessed!" It's blessed because Jesus' return or appearance for the church ushers in a time of great blessing as promised over and over again in the Word of God! It's blessed because of all that the Savior's return will mean to us as Christ followers! Our Lord's coming for us means translation (the catching away of the church to meet the Lord in the air), transformation (glorified, resurrected bodies), reunion (meeting loved ones and friends who have died in the Lord), examination and remuneration (evaluation and the giving of rewards for faithful service), and most of all, never being separated from Jesus any more! Are you expecting? I sure am! As Christ followers, if knowing this doesn't bring joy to your heart, it's time for you to begin looking at life from God's point of view! Your move. Be encouraged!