TUESDAY 21st
1 John 2:28
‘And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.’
John has already mentioned the ‘last hour’, he has done so and does again in these verses to encourage us to abide in Christ so that ‘when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming’.
Sometimes, maybe far too often we can read Scripture and do not actually stop to consider exactly what is being said. This is one of those verses that demands my attention, demands your attention, demands our attention.
Jesus is coming again, there is absolutely no doubt about this fact, but when he does come again will we be found in a place of confidence, knowing in our heart of hearts that we have been living for him a life that is true? Or will we suddenly feel ashamed because we haven’t truly lived up to being who and what we should have been as his redeemed child?
In Hebrews 9:28 we read ‘. . . so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him’, this is good news, but there is something else that is attached to the appearing of the Lord Jesus and the events that will follow immediately afterward and it is this, we read in 2 Corinthians 5:10 ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.’ Now it is clear that Paul is speaking here of a future judgment for believers because in the previous verses he talks about either being home in the body and away from Christ (that is alive on earth) (v6) or of being away from the body and at home with the Lord (that is having died and gone to heaven) (8) in verse 9 he then says ‘we make it our aim to please him’.
This appearing before Christ will not be a judgment of sin, that will already have been dealt with for the believer at Calvary, but it will be for want of another way of putting it an examination of how we have lived for Christ while here on earth.
It is a stern reminder that Christ is watching us, and one day he will call us to give an account of everything we have or have not done as his redeemed child here on planet earth. And nothing will be hidden, everything will be exposed and then rewarded accordingly.
In 1 Peter 1:17 we read ‘And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.’
Well, take some time today to mediate on this verse found here in 1 John ‘And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming’, may we all, myself included make every effort to ensure that when he comes we will have confidence to stand before him, if at present we feel that we would be filled with shame, let us do all we can to correct all that needs to be corrected, by making it our aim to please him.
Living for Jesus a life that is true,
Striving to please him in all that I do,
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.
O Jesus, Lord and Saviour,
I give myself to thee;
For thou, in thine atonement,
Didst give thyself for me;
I own no other master,
My heart shall be thy throne,
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for thee alone.