Torch, Spring 1995

Are You Actively Waitin8 for Christ's Coming? by . Robert Gromacki T ou just received an invitation to a wedding ceremony. You will plan to go because the future married couple are good friends of yours. You will buy a gift, but aside from that action, you will simply wait for the special day. What will be the difference between your waiting and the waiting of the engaged couple? In your case, your waiting will be passive waiting. In their case, their waiting will be active waiting. You will basically be doing nothing, but they will be doing a lot of things. The Bible declares that we believers will be going to a special wedding, the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7). We are not invited guests. Rather, we constitute the bride of Jesus Christ. As saved persons, we belong to the true church. Paul wrote: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her 6 Torch with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). As believers, we are currently in the time of preparation. The day of presentation will occur when Jesus Christ comes to take His bride into heaven. That wedding day has been called the rapture of the church (1Thessalonians4:13-18). It is marked by the descent of Jesus Christ from heaven, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, the translation of living believers, and the snatching of both groups in one body into the air to meet Jesus Christ and to be with Him forever. There is one major difference between earthly weddings and this heavenly wedding. Engaged couples set their marriage date months in advance and then prepare for that special day. In contrast, we believers do not know the date of His coming. In fact, all we know is that He can come at any moment. His coming is imminent. No signs or events precede it. Christ has made preparation for His return and the subsequent marriage. As a true bride, we must also be ready for that day. We must be actively waiting even though we do not know the day. We cannot be passively waiting, doing nothing. What then are the features of actively waiting for the coming of Christ? First, we wait when we serve. In their spiritual conversion, the Thessalonians "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come" (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). In their faith, they not only looked back