When Our Lord Jesus Comes Again

Meditations on 1 Thessalonians

 

June 18, 2021

When Our Lord Jesus Comes Again

 

May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.

1 Thessalonians 3:13

Read: 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

 

Did you notice that Paul ended each of the first three chapters with a reference to the Second Coming of Christ? Spoiler alert – he did the same in chapters five and six. At the very least, I hope this encourages you to examine your own understanding of the victorious return of Jesus and how this important doctrine impacts your faith.

 

What was it that Paul said would make the hearts of the Thessalonians strong, blameless and holy? It was something quite simple: “And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow.” (v.12) Two thoughts on this. First, note that Paul is affirming that it is God who is at work to form Christ in us. Secondly, while yes, it is God working in us, we are not to be passive in this process. Our role is to agree with what God is doing and to yield ourselves to the spiritual practices, the means of grace that will facilitate God’s work within us.

 

My Takeaway: I dare not minimize the importance of Paul’s prayerful hope for his friends, and for me. When Jesus dictated his letter to the church in Ephesus, he told them, “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” (Revelation 2:4) May such a complaint never be lodged against me.

 

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.