Are you eagerly anticipating the return of Christ? It takes faith to believe that he is coming back, and faith like that comes by the Word of God. If you need to revive your eagerness for the Lord’s return, get back into the Word!
Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada. Welcome to Joni and Friends, and welcome to a chance to sing with me on a contemporary praise song that I think you know…
I’m forgiven because you were forsaken,
I’m accepted, you were condemned.
I’m alive and well, your spirit lives within me,
Because you died and rose again.
Amazing love, how can it be?
That you my King should die for me?
Amazing love, I know it’s true.
And it’s my joy to honor you,
In all I do, I honor you.
Thanks for singing with me. Don’t you love that line – that my King would die for me! Whoever heard of such a thing?! But that’s what Christ did. And now I know you join me in wanting to live for him, because soon and very soon, our King is coming back. And I want to be ready. That’s why a song like this gets me so excited thinking about heaven. Because it takes faith to believe that our King is coming back. It has been a long, long, long time since he went to the Father, and some people have given up thinking that he will come back. But the Bible says he will. And he is. Like the book of Hebrews says, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
I am absolutely certain of what I cannot see. I know heaven will be far more real than the realities we so easily buy into down here on earth. But faith does more than make real those things we cannot see. Faith also helps us look differently at the visible things we see all around us. When we look at the world through eyes of faith, the concrete realities that seem so – well, so concrete, so real – become drained of any substance, drained of any importance. When we look at this life through the lens of faith, things around us no longer seem to possess the glow of excitement. Everything from sports watches, to the Academy Awards, and all the latest news on the covers of those magazines by the check-out stand. None of it seems very important. Faith makes unseen things very real and visible things unreal.
Do you look at life that way? Do you have an eager expectation – as the Bible puts it? Are you eagerly anticipating the coming King? I love the way the book of Philippians puts that. We eagerly look forward to the coming of Jesus. It takes faith to do that, just as I’ve been talking about. And faith like that only comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. And the Word of God does not waffle around when it comes to divine unseen realities. It is constantly telling us to set our hearts, set our minds on things above. Amazing love, how can it be that our King would die for you and me? If that kind of love doesn’t quite amaze you anymore, then it’s time to exercise a little faith. Get back into the Word, and you’ll get a clearer, more vivid picture of coming realities.
© Joni and Friends