How does your belief in the second coming of Jesus Christ affect your day-to-day life? Be honest here. What difference does it make, if it makes any difference at all? This is actually a pretty convicting question for me. There is certainly one sense in which second coming is something that I think about more frequently as I get older. I am more aware of my mortality than at any time in my life. It is sobering to think that I likely have less of my life in front of me than I do behind me. Eternity seems much nearer and I do find myself thinking more about the hope we have in Christ.

But, candidly, I struggle greatly with end times theology. I envy people that seem to have it all figured out. It seems to me, Scripture leaves us to speculate about much when it comes to Jesus’s return and our eternal life. I have often joked that I am pan-millennial in my eschatology – it will all pan out in the end. I really don’t know what things will be like when Jesus returns, but the important thing is that he will return. He will come back and make all things right. When I get lost in all the theology, I just try to focus on that fact. I don’t know how things will play out exactly or what things will be like, but I do know Jesus has it all under control and I will be with him forever. There is great comfort in that.

That being said, I really don’t live in light of his imminent or impending return. Some days I think, “Maybe today?” Most days, however, I don’t live in light of the second coming like I should. I need to be more intentional about that. Being able to live in light of the sure hope and promises of eternity with Christ will change how I see and do everything. I get far too focused on the temporal things of life. I am too attached to the things of the world and too pressed down by the burdens of the world. I recently read “Shadow of the Almighty,” which is about missionary Jim Eliot. His ability to surrender everything in this life for the promises of eternity is both inspiring and deeply humbling. Eliot, who was famously martyred in his service to the Lord, wrote in his journal, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” That’s a good reminder – Jesus is coming back to make everything right. We can never lose that. No one can stop it. Every moment of my temporal life here should be lived in view of the eternal life that has already been promised to me.

The second coming of Jesus is a wonderful promise for those who are saved by faith. But that is not a day to look forward to for many in the world. The promise of the second coming should also drive me to evangelize more fervently. If I really believe that people will suffer the destructive wrath of God apart from faith in Jesus Christ, why am I not fervently proclaiming the gospel to everyone I meet? I believe I would do well to spend more time examining what Scripture has to say about the judgment at the return of Christ. I read something one time, although I can’t remember where, that said that if we could just lift up a corner and glance into hell it would make us the most fervent evangelists in the world. People are going to suffer unimaginably without Christ. Some will be people I love. For me to live in light of the second coming is unbelievably important for them as well.

As Advent Christians we are to be people who live every moment in anticipation of Jesus’s glorious return. We could all probably be more focused on that. In the end, eschatology is something that is shaping my life more and more, but it still certainly doesn’t shape it enough. May the “blessed hope” of God’s final redemption of all things turn my heart, all of our hearts, toward him. Maranatha!