Many recognize the myriad of signs pointing to Jesus’ soon arrival to take us home to glory. However, as the days become weeks and then months and years, we sometimes struggle to maintain an eager anticipation of Jesus’s appearing. If you are like me, you wonder how much closer can we get to the start of the Tribulation before we meet Him in the air?
The silence in most churches regarding our “blessed hope” makes our expectation all the more difficult to maintain. Many of our Christian friends and family members believe it’s irrational to regard the Rapture as something that might happen in our lifetime, if at all. We also hear the laughter of Christians who mock our expectation of Jesus’ imminent appearing.
In spite of all these things, I remain convinced that imminency is not only important for the day in which we live, but also essential for believers regardless of the times in which we live.
I say this for a variety of reasons.
Imminency Imitates the Expectancy of New Testament Saints
When we view the Rapture as something that might take place at any moment, we imitate the expectations of the New Testament saints. Just a cursory sampling of verses from the epistles confirms that they lived each day with a sense of imminency:
- “For the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8).
- “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
- “So that you are not lacking in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Corinthians 1:7).
- “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
Early in his ministry, Paul believed that the Rapture might happen during his lifetime (1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 15:52). How is that possible apart from believing Jesus’ appearing could happen at any moment?
Imminency Leads to a Closer Walk with Jesus
The awareness that Jesus might come for us at any moment results in a closer walk with Him. The Apostle John alludes to this in 1 John 2:28: “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”
What’s the encouragement in this verse for continuing to “abide” in Jesus? It’s the awareness that at any moment, we might find ourselves in the presence of our glorious and righteous Savior. Does this not motivate us to promptly deal with bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, and other sins rather than let them gain a foothold in us (i.e., Ephesians 4:26-27)?
In 1 John 3:2-3, John explains how our focus on Jesus’ appearing produces greater purity in us: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
We will not arrive at sinless perfection in this life; however, living with the awareness that Jesus might come for us at any moment keeps us close to the Savior and quickly brings us back to Him when we sin and go astray.
Imminency Enables Us to Maintain an Eternal Perspective
I remember waiting for Metro trains to arrive in Washington, D.C. Once the countdown for the next train’s arrival neared zero, I fixed my eyes on the tunnel at the end of the platform, watching for its light to shine through the darkness.
Likewise, the awareness that the Rapture might occur at any moment sets our hopes on eternal realities as nothing else can. Paul describes this perspective for us in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Imminency provides us with a continual reminder that the things of this life are temporary and causes us to place a greater value on eternal realities versus our hopes for a brighter tomorrow. This perspective calms my anxious heart every week, if not daily.
The “no Rapture” message of our day greatly harms believers because it leads to an earthbound outlook on life that ignores eternal realities. They believe in eternal life, but it’s a far-distant, after-death reality that is easily overlooked amid the busyness of life. As a result, they focus on temporary aspirations which inevitably lead to greater frustration when things inevitably go awry.
Imminency Reminds Us of Jesus’ Certain Intervention
Not only does imminency change our perspective of the things of this life, but it also reminds us that Jesus will surely intervene in the world and righteously judge the violence, lawlessness, and widespread government corruption so prevalent in our day.
Although David wrote Psalm 37 a very long time ago, its message continues to calm the anger we feel as we watch evil and corruption prevail around us. Our expectation of Jesus’ soon appearing reminds us that the time of the Lord’s righteous judgment will begin in the not-too-distant future.
We do not need to see the perpetrators of today’s great wickedness and violence face the consequences for their actions (although admittedly, I would like to see many of them behind bars). Even should the Lord call us home before the Rapture, it’s our expectation that it might happen at any moment that keeps us from fretting that people successfully carry out their wicked schemes and steal billions of taxpayer money.
We live on the edge of eternity. The convergence of so many signs awakes us daily to the reality that we live in the last moments before Jesus’ dramatic intervention in human affairs, which we call the Rapture.
We do not know how much longer we will have to wait, but just knowing it could happen at any moment calms our hearts amid the perilous times in which we live. It also continually reminds us that this life is not all there is as we face the many storms and trials here below. Is it any wonder the Apostle Paul referred to it as our “blessed hope?”
