The Promise of the Second Coming

It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
–Romans 13:11

The Bible promises that Jesus’s second coming will be soon. The fact is, there are no more prophecies that have to be fulfilled before the Rapture takes place. The Rapture, which I believe the Bible says will take place seven years before the second coming, is imminent. So in that sense, His second coming is soon.

Think about it this way: If 2,000 years ago the apostles were talking about the soon-coming of the Lord, how much closer is His coming today than it was 2,000 years ago? Paul alluded to that in Romans 13:11-12. Paul believed the Lord was coming soon. He said, “It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near.” If there is a date certain on God’s calendar when Christ is coming back again, then every second that passes moves us closer to that day. Paul is saying to these Romans, “Our salvation–our deliverance out of this sin-infected world that will occur when Christ returns–is nearer to us today than it was when we believed a few years ago.” Time is passing. It is moving us toward that soon return of Jesus Christ.

If the apostle Paul were writing to us today, what would he say to us? He would say, “Wake up! Remove the sleep from your eyes. If I thought the Lord’s return were close 2,000 years ago when I first wrote to the Romans, how much closer is it today?” The Lord’s return is near. Jesus is coming soon.

How are we supposed to live in light of the Lord’s second coming? We are to live expectantly. We are to live knowing what time it is. I once read a story about a family that had a grandfather clock, and the clock would chime every hour. If it was one o’clock, the chimes would ring once; two o’clock, twice; three o’clock, three times; and so on. Once, in the middle of the night, the grandfather clock malfunctioned, and the clock rang 13 times. The family’s little boy awakened and ran through the house yelling, “Get up, everybody! It’s later than it’s ever been!” That is what Paul is saying to us. He is saying, “Wake up! Look at the date! We are closer today to the Lord’s coming than we have ever been.” The Lord’s coming is certain, and the Lord’s coming will be soon.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “How Should We Now Live?” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2015.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.