Anticipating His Coming

“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2

In these verses Paul taught the Corinthians, and teaches us, a template to guide them through life. He taught them, and teaches us, not to connect themselves to something tangible, but to hold fast to the gospel which He preached to them and is preaching to us. When we read what he taught them we understand something. That the gospel Paul taught them is of first importance: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. What Paul taught was vital to our understanding His plans for us.

God’s plan for us promises that we all will one day, at His coming, be changed, from being perishable flesh to imperishable spirit. From living in the world to living in His presence for eternity. From living with pain, suffering, worry, trials, heartache, grief and misery to fellowship and dwelling with Him in perfect eternal peace. Exactly the way God created us.

God’s plan says this miraculous transformation will take place, “in the twinkling of an eye.” Do you know how fast an eye twinkles? It takes about 150 milliseconds for the eye to blink. A millisecond is one/thousandth of a second. In other words, our eternal imperishable transformation will take place before we know what happened. One moment we’ll be doing something. The next moment we’ll be in the presence of the Lord, where we’ll live in perfect peace with Him forever.

That’s what Paul wants us to anticipate. That’s what we have to look forward to. When we live in such marvelous anticipation of His coming it can change how we live here on earth. It can change our entire perspective of life. We can live effectively and with purpose if we’ll wait in confident expectation of that twinkling of an eye that will change us forever.

Prayer: Dear Father, oh how we long to be with You. Oh, how we marvel at the wonderful and eternal transformation You have planned for us. Remind us today and every day of the glorious life we’ll experience in Your presence one day. Help us every day to focus on our imperishable inheritance. Help us focus on our ultimate victory, the perfect conclusion of Your plan for us. May we all live with an ear to the sky waiting for the glorious sound of Your last trumpet, Your perfect signal that eternity in Your presence is at hand. In the strong name of Jesus we pray.