Philippians 1:3-6
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Anticipation! Anticipation can be good agony or bad agony!
Anticipation of vacation - Is that a good agony or a bad agony?
Do you have good or bad anticipation if you’re a kid and you’ve done something bad that cannot be hidden from your parents and they are due home soon?
What about anticipation of the weekend?
If you’re a TV watcher what about anticipation of seeing the season premier of a show which left you with a cliff hanger episode?
What about the anticipation of surgery and a hospital stay?
What about the anticipation of eating your favorite meal?
What about the anticipation of that last pass in Super Bowl 42?
What about the anticipation of the day of Christ Jesus?
When we see the phrase, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” What do we imagine in our brains?
Do we understand what it is? What is “the day of Christ Jesus?”
How does that make you feel when you hear “the day of Christ Jesus” or “the Day of the Lord?” Excited? Anxious? No feeling at all?
Do you understand what “the Day of Christ Jesus” is?
Well, we get some very good clues from the Bible and that’s the place we should be looking for all of our spiritual information, right?
“The day of Jesus Christ” is distinct and different from “the day of the Lord.”
The “Day of Jesus Christ” refers to the return of Jesus to earth while “The Day of the Lord” refers to a time of judgment.
So, today we will be taking a look at “The Day of Christ Jesus”.
Luke was a physician and also an investigative reporter and historian.
One of the very first things he writes about in the book of Acts is the ascension of the resurrected Christ into heaven. This piece of Scripture also give us a clue about the future return of Christ to earth, or, what the apostle Paul is calling “The Day of Jesus Christ”.
In the very first chapter of Acts verses 1-3 and 9-11 when he reports
“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.
“After His suffering, He showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
(Now we jump to verse 9)
“… He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
So we see from this Scripture that Jesus, having been raised from the dead ascended into Heaven, He will return from Heaven and when He does it will be in the same manner in which He went to heaven.
After He ascended into Heaven He sent the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity to draw us to Christ, to extend God’s saving grace to us and to sustain us in salvation until Christ returns. Jesus is not now physically present here on earth in any form. Jesus will not be physically present with us here on earth until He returns which will be on
“The Day of Christ Jesus”. This is also called “The Day of the Lord Jesus” in 2 Corinthians 1:14 and “The Day of our Lord Jesus Christ” in 1 Corinthians 1:8.
There is a saying which is a warning to preachers that goes like this, “A Text taken out of context is a pretext for proof-texting.”
What this is saying is that if you remove a Bible verse from its context you may very well be doing so in order to prove that the verse is saying something other than what is actually intended.
For instance, one day way back in the 1980’s I was listening to a call-in radio show where they were discussing homosexuality and someone called in and said that in the Biblical passage where the woman caught in adultery (also a sexual sin) Jesus simply said, “neither do I condemn you.” So, based on this Biblical text since adultery was not condemned by Christ neither should we condemn homosexuality.
However, the caller did not mention that the actual quote was not “Neither do I condemn you.” but “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” - John 8:11b
With this thought in mind we need to ask the question, “is the text we just used in order to prove the return of Christ to earth taken out of context or is it in harmony with what the Word of God says here and in other places?”
So, just to make sure that the Scripture found in the first chapter of Acts is in harmony with other Scriptures in the Bible let’s check out a few.
John 14:1-3
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.
“I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.”
Titus 2:11-14
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
“while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.”
Hebrews 9:27-28
“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”
Philippians 3:20-21
“Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”
And these are just a few of the verses that describe the return of Christ. Now, if we haven’t taken a look at your favorite one we will still be looking at a few more so just hang in there and we’ll probably get to it!
So, we can see that the return of Christ is prophesied in the Scriptures and that at some point in the future He will return. But what does that mean to us?
Well, it’s a matter of perspective.
Let’s think about snow.
When I was a child and too young to go do chores in the barn I loved snow. Snow was to be played in and enjoyed. When I got cold I could just go back inside and get warm. My Dad shoveled the driveway and a path to the road so we could get to the school bus, and, even there snow was our friend because if it snowed enough we would not have to go to school much to the delight of my Mom and Great Grandma Mary.
When I became old enough to do farm chores snow was not so much fun because there was no longer a choice about whether to go outside in the cold snow or not but at least I could stay home from school when the weather was too bad.
Eventually I became an adult with a 100+ foot driveway and no snow blower and a 58 mile drive to work and I hated the snow and the cold and the ever rising oil bill. Sometimes the 1 hour 15 minute commute would turn into a 2.5 hour trip (one way) when the snow was bad. At this point I hated winter and the cold and the snow!
Now, you could probably care less about what I think about snow but this is just an illustration about perspective.
Snow will come to us when we live in this area whether we like it or not and Jesus will return to earth whether we are ready or not.
Jesus will return to earth whether we are spiritually ready or not.
Jesus will return to earth whether our friends and relatives are spiritually ready or not.
If we are ready, if we love God with all of our heart, soul and mind, we will not only be ready for His return but will be longing for Him to return.
If we are living lives of sin and rebellion we will either try to ignore the prophecies of His return or will dread the Day of Christ Jesus.
It’s all a matter of perspective, but, ready or not He will return.
Some people say, “Yeah, yeah, it’s been over 2,000 years and we haven’t seen Him yet so what makes you think He’ll ever return?”
Believe it or not some folks had that very same sentiment shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven.
In 2 Peter 3:3-4 & 8-14
“First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’
(Jump to verse 8)
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.
“That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
“So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.”
Wow! Talk about perspective! It sounds terrifying, that is, for those who do not belong to Jesus! But, for those of us who are His children; those of us who are longing for His return we will get to see a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Just think about that “home of righteousness”. As I was thinking about that the thought that popped into my head was “no more locks!” That seems so trivial, doesn’t it? No more locks?
A place where God is God and everyone knows it and loves Him.
A place where no one will want to create an idol or even an image of Him because it would be like a lump of trash compared to the glory of God.
A place where no one will curse the name of God because they will be in love with Him and His holiness.
A place where every day will be Sabbath and the delight of worship.
A place where death will not even exist let alone murder.
A place where the betrayal of anyone in any fashion would be beyond fathoming.
A place of perfect peace and trust.
A place with no more locks because they are unnecessary.
Sound good to you?
That is what awaits you if you are a child of God and that is why His children look for and long for His return.
But what about if we’re not around for His return. What if we die while we’re waiting? Well, that’s awesome, too!
(Explain the benefits and perspective of salvation by grace and faith in Christ our Lord then end in prayer or an invitation.)
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 it says:
“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
“According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”
So, you see, for those of us who are “in Christ”, the “Day of Christ Jesus” is an awesome day from our perspective.
Why don’t we make it a matter of urgent prayer that we will continue to be “in Christ” from now until the day of the Lord’s return. And, let’s commit ourselves to being fully committed to allowing the Lord to work in and through us in order to reach all that we can possibly reach with the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Then we can look forward with joy to the “Day of Christ Jesus!”
