Mensa Otabil - Our Confidence Before Christ
- Watch
- Donate
John chapter 2 verse 28: «And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.» Jesus Christ is coming again; that is our Christian proclamation. That’s what Jesus Himself affirmed over and over in His ministry, especially in the latter part of His ministry. The angel of the Lord declared to the apostles and the disciples as they looked up to Jesus ascending, «The same Jesus is coming again.» The early church proclaimed it: Maranatha! He’s coming, He’s coming soon, He’s coming again. Jesus is coming again, and that is something we have to emphasize, something we have to be aware of, and something we have to live and hope toward- the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In His first coming, the Lord Jesus came as a Savior, seeking to save that which was lost, and He laid down His life for the people He wanted to save. In His second coming, He’s not coming to seek and to save that which is lost, nor is He coming to lay down His life; He’s coming to judge. He’s coming as ruler to evaluate whether we accepted the offer He gave us or whether we didn’t take the offer He gave us. That’s going to be the basis of the judgment.
All right, so our task as believers is to be prepared for the coming of the Lord. This passage tells us a couple of things we must do as we prepare for the coming of the Lord. It says we must not be ashamed at His coming. We must not be ashamed at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word «ashamed» means to shrink back, to pull away, or to run off. It’s similar to what happens when a child makes a mistake, maybe breaks something or does something terrible that they’re not supposed to do, and they know that their parents are going to be very upset when they come back from work. They hear the sound of the parent coming, and they pull back; they are not ready to face their parent. At other times, they would have gone to welcome him or her joyfully, but because they’re not ready and they’re afraid of His coming, they pull away. They are ashamed at His coming.
The Bible says we don’t have to have that posture when we hear " Jesus is coming» or when He appears. We don’t run into hiding; we don’t go and hide in the mountains or in the valley because we think that we are not ready to receive Him. We must live in such a way that we are not ashamed at His coming; we don’t pull away in guilt at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many Christians who do not want to hear that Jesus is coming again, but He is coming again whether you want to hear it or not.
Then the passage says we must be confident at His coming. That means we must have great boldness at His coming. If we use the same analogy of a child whose parent has just arrived home from work or a trip, the children are bold at the coming of the parents. They are excited; they run out, hug the parent, and start talking. They’re rejoicing because they have nothing to hide; they’ve been expecting this, and it is a pleasure to have their parent back. That is how the Bible says we should welcome the Lord Jesus Christ. His coming is like children going to meet their parents who have been away for a long time. It’s a day of joy, a day of gladness; it’s not a fear or trepidation of something evil happening to us. Rather, we are ready to receive Him because His joy is our portion.
So that’s supposed to be our attitude: we don’t pull away in shame, but we go boldly to embrace the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, help me to stand confidently before Christ at His coming without guilt or shame. In Jesus' name, amen.»