How are we able to view the return of Christ as an ever-present experience and a permanent hope? The apostle John encourages us to dwell, abide, and remain in a constant state of expectancy so that when He makes Himself apparent, we may instantaneously recognize and receive Him. Our intimacy with Him will be presently active and in progress, and it will manifest itself in humility, gratitude, confidence, and courage.
This recognition of the ever-present and coming Christ is personally assimilated in an eventful pilgrimage through the vast landscape of God’s revelation in creation and in the Bible. There are clues, both clear and cryptic, of the appearing of Christ all along the journey. The glory and the knowledge of God fill the earth. Everything within the 66 books of the Bible points to the person and the purposes of Christ. He is found with infinite complexity in the genealogies, the covenants, the temples, the feasts, and the prophecies of the Old Testament. He is displayed in His dealings in and through Israel and the Church, in the parables and teachings of the gospels, and in the writings of the apostles. All of these facets and features about Jesus are in constant motion and are infinitely inter-connected. Fascinating! More to come.