(Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 52) How does Christ's return to "judge the living and the dead"comfort you?
~Joy Dudley, Gospel Gal Contributor
The days are growing darker. The darker they are becoming, the more pronounced and evident that Christ's second coming is indeed drawing near. I used to look upon this day with fear, even as a Christian. But now as I am learning more and more of the Savior's love for me, I wait for it with anticipation. I see that He really does care about the plight of the oppressed. Christ has become the vindication for the oppressed that have taken refuge in His wounds. I feel the relief of not being burdened to build a kingdom that I have already received in Christ. The Lord is building His kingdom and He extends an invite to all those who will come to Him for refuge. With the consummation of this kingdom in Christ's second coming, I know that He will execute perfect justice on all of my enemies.
~Joy Dudley, Gospel Gal Contributor
In all distress and persecution, with uplifted head, I confidently await the very judge, who has already offered himself to the judgment of God in my place and removed the whole curse from me. Christ will cast all his enemies and mine into everlasting condemnation, but will take me and all his chosen ones to himself into the joy and glory of heaven.
As a Christian my understanding is that the world is the way that is is today because of original sin. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they acted as humanity's federal representative. By their disobedience, they plunged the rest of the world in despair and death. Because of their disobedience, every human being that has ever existed after them inherited a sinful nature that naturally hates both God and neighbor. The racism and hatred that we are seeing today stems from this nature that plagues every single one of us. How did God react to our sinful condition? He sent us Christ, the God-man to live among us. By His active obedience to the law, he demonstrated what it meant to be perfectly righteous before God. By His suffering, He showed that He is not impartial to the suffering and heartaches that humans face as a result of Adam's sin. In His baptism, He identified with us. In his living and suffering, He not only showed us that He cares about the plight of sinners, He also remedied that plight by offering His life.
The days are growing darker. The darker they are becoming, the more pronounced and evident that Christ's second coming is indeed drawing near. I used to look upon this day with fear, even as a Christian. But now as I am learning more and more of the Savior's love for me, I wait for it with anticipation. I see that He really does care about the plight of the oppressed. Christ has become the vindication for the oppressed that have taken refuge in His wounds. I feel the relief of not being burdened to build a kingdom that I have already received in Christ. The Lord is building His kingdom and He extends an invite to all those who will come to Him for refuge. With the consummation of this kingdom in Christ's second coming, I know that He will execute perfect justice on all of my enemies.
I have been at a loss of words for the past few days, unable to completely process what has transpired in the aftermath that follows the murder of a black man in broad daylight at the hands of an evil man who bears the badge of civil authority - the authority that ironically is supposed to preserve and protect life rather than take it. I feel overwhelmed and helpless at the state of our world and the state of justice. Right now, all I want to do is sit in the dust and weep. If anything - the Gospel of Christ has further sealed itself as the world's only hope and my greatest comfort. My hope in writing this, is to provide some insight to some truths that have brought me comfort. I hope they bring you some comfort as we navigate the reality of the world we live in together.
1. Humanity will never bring about a system that is perfectly just, equitable, and fair.
Throughout the history of the world, we have yet to see the fullness of depravity that human beings are capable of. Any progress that we have made in this fallen world becomes immediately cancelled out by displays that we have seen in the murder of this poor man. Human depravity has become glaringly obvious the last few days. I have even seen this own depravity in my heart as I have reacted to what is happening with self righteousness and anger. The more I think about this, the more I understand that there is no hope for justice in a broken system, built by broken people, in a broken world. No amount of social reform will ever eliminate the vestiges of racism that plagues the hearts of men. What has happened has showed me that I must look outside of myself and my neighbors to one who cares about justice the most: Christ. Christ is the perfect embodiment of justice and mercy.
2. I take comfort in Christ's incarnation
"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." Isaiah 53:4
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin" Hebrews 4:15
He loved the Lord his God with all His might, soul, and strength, and loved His neighbor as Himself. He did this from the moment He was conceived until the moment He died. He did this perfectly. Not one ounce, iota, or tittle of the law was done away with. Christ fulfilled it in my place and in the place of those who trust Him.
3. I take comfort in the atonement
Not only has Christ lived perfectly in fulfillment of the law in the place of His people, He also took on the sins of His people at the cross. At the cross, all of the wrath and holy anger that God the Father had towards our sin was absorbed by Christ. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" 1 Peter 2:24. Justice was satisfied in my place and for all who trust in Christ. Even now, as I grow more discouraged at the division and hatred that plagues our land today and also at the sin that plagues my own heart, I am comforted by this objective event in history that permanently and decisively dealt with the sins of man. Because of the cross, God is both just and justifier of the ungodly (Romans 3:26)
4. I take comfort in Christ's second coming
"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day" John 6:37-39
"For our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself" Philippians 3:20-21
"waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" Titus 2:13-14
"To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified" Isaiah 61:3
The past few weeks and months have further solidified my anticipation for the age to come. I want more than the mirage of a just utopia that is built by human hands. Trusting in a broken system will only yield more brokenness, heartbreak, and disappointment. The age to come yields a better world, one in which there will be no more injustice, no more tears, no more disappointment and frustration. We will be in a better state than Adam who was capable of disobedience. In the age to come, we will be completely glorified and sanctified into the image of Christ, impervious to sin and incapable of ever falling again. In the age to come, we will see the Lamb of God who blocks out the sun, for we will no longer have any need of it. May our thirst for justice be forever satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our living water and our daily bread.
" Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21: 1-4)
***Joy is co-host of Church Chats with Gospel Gal podcast, and member of a URCNA church in Southern California. She loves pointing people to the kindness, love, and sufficiency of Christ in their day to day lives.
2. I take comfort in Christ's incarnation
"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." Isaiah 53:4
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin" Hebrews 4:15
He loved the Lord his God with all His might, soul, and strength, and loved His neighbor as Himself. He did this from the moment He was conceived until the moment He died. He did this perfectly. Not one ounce, iota, or tittle of the law was done away with. Christ fulfilled it in my place and in the place of those who trust Him.
3. I take comfort in the atonement
Not only has Christ lived perfectly in fulfillment of the law in the place of His people, He also took on the sins of His people at the cross. At the cross, all of the wrath and holy anger that God the Father had towards our sin was absorbed by Christ. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" 1 Peter 2:24. Justice was satisfied in my place and for all who trust in Christ. Even now, as I grow more discouraged at the division and hatred that plagues our land today and also at the sin that plagues my own heart, I am comforted by this objective event in history that permanently and decisively dealt with the sins of man. Because of the cross, God is both just and justifier of the ungodly (Romans 3:26)
4. I take comfort in Christ's second coming
"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day" John 6:37-39
"For our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself" Philippians 3:20-21
"waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" Titus 2:13-14
"To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified" Isaiah 61:3
The past few weeks and months have further solidified my anticipation for the age to come. I want more than the mirage of a just utopia that is built by human hands. Trusting in a broken system will only yield more brokenness, heartbreak, and disappointment. The age to come yields a better world, one in which there will be no more injustice, no more tears, no more disappointment and frustration. We will be in a better state than Adam who was capable of disobedience. In the age to come, we will be completely glorified and sanctified into the image of Christ, impervious to sin and incapable of ever falling again. In the age to come, we will see the Lamb of God who blocks out the sun, for we will no longer have any need of it. May our thirst for justice be forever satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our living water and our daily bread.
" Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21: 1-4)***Joy is co-host of Church Chats with Gospel Gal podcast, and member of a URCNA church in Southern California. She loves pointing people to the kindness, love, and sufficiency of Christ in their day to day lives.
Very encouraging
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