Wednesday, June 5, 2019

SEVEN ASSURANCES THE RESURRECTION GIVES: The Soon and Coming King (a blog post for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church on June 9, 2019)

The red sky on the horizon scared this young (less than 2 months old) Christian more than I could have imagined.  I was riding a school bus with my teammates to a varsity football game in Ashland, KY.  The sky seemed just like what the return of Christ was supposed to look like.  At that moment the reality of my sin coursed through my veins and burned like a poison.  

Fear was my response to the notion of the returning King.  I feared the return of the One who loved me most.  I cowered at the thought of my life being exposed.  I was a good kid, but I was far from perfect.  I had skeletons in my closet.  I had shame.  I had guilt.  I had hopeless hope.

Many decades later I have been through scarier events, and I have grown more comfortable in the grace of my Savior.  I have learned that the shame, guilt, self-deprecation, fear, self-loathing, and uncertainty are common but not faithful responses to personal failure.  I have come to understand the hope I have in Him and not me.  He is my returning Redeemer-King.

I now look forward to the day that the One who knows the reality of who I am will come to take me home.  I now live looking to the sky, awaiting the return of the One who knows me and loves me still.  I now proclaim with the early church, "Lord, come quickly!"  I now embrace that which once scared me.  I await the return of our Redeemer-King!  I am ready!  Come quickly, Lord!

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