11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Pet 3:11-13 ESV)
The Day of the Lord will be the most terrible, yet awesome and unforgettable day that the world has ever seen. The Lord God himself will descend from the heavens, surrounded by legions of shining angelic warriors, ready to make war against those who defy their Master. His arrival will be sounded by a deafening trumpet blast in the vault of the heavens that will echo in every corner of the earth—from the deepest jungles of the Amazonian rainforest to the skyscrapers of the densest metropolises of the world. The clarion call will seize the attention of every single human being, from the mighty president of a country who sits in his official residence to the common worker in the field (Matt 24:29-31). The very earth itself will not be unaware of his coming and will tremble violently in the presence of the matchless, unbridled power of our immortal Lord. His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives and at his slight touch, the entire mountain will be torn in two as the creation itself bows in humble deference to its Creator. In that day, the nations of the world will find themselves in a battle that they have absolutely no hope of winning and will wail at the coming of the Son of Man.
But at the same time, that very day of abject horror for many, will be a joyous day for all who have longed for the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For the Lord himself will gather his elect, his precious bride, the church, to be with him in the heavenly mansions that he has gone to prepare for us in his Father’s land. The swords of the angels will bathe themselves in the blood of God’s enemies, but they will not harm a hair on the heads of the people of God. The dead in Christ will rise at the sound of our Master’s voice and those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness will have their mourning turned into joy as their Savior comes to relieve their sufferings.
But that day which is known to God and has been fixed by him (Acts 17:31) is not a day that we are to passively wait for. Though God’s sovereignty has decreed the very day on which he shall return, his sovereignty does not exclude our responsibility to live holy lives that model the Gospel of Jesus Christ and “hasten” the day of the Lord. How remarkable this is! To think that God has determined that the holiness and godliness of his people would seize the very hands of the divine, heavenly clock and push them towards that final day—the day on which our Lord Jesus returns! Is this not what the Bible teaches? Did not Christ command us to pray, “Your kingdom come?” Did not Christ teach us that the “gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:14)? Did our resurrected Lord not command us to go into the world and make disciples of all nations?
Brothers and sisters, we must never think that our daily actions are insignificant. For every soul that is saved for Christ, brings us one soul closer to the grand total of the redeemed who will one day stand before the throne of God dressed in white robes and waving palm branches in their hands shouting, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Rev 7:10)! Our actions matter! For God has ordained that the godly actions of his people would accelerate the heavenly timetable and hasten the coming of that day when our precious Saviour will stand at our side. So, if Christ is our treasure and ultimate joy, let us expend ourselves fully as ambassadors for Christ and hasten the day of our Saviour’s return. Let us be diligent about our Master’s work and declare the Gospel to this world and complete the unfinished task! And when our work is done, we will receive our life’s greatest reward—the ultimate joy of seeing Him whom our soul loves.
Come Lord Jesus, come!
Article by: Samuel Chua
