As a boy I remember seeing cartoons of a street person in a large city wearing a sandwich–board sign which said, “Repent. The end is near.” While repentance is often the right response to the condition of the world we live in, the second part is what bothers me. As I reflect years later, it occurs to me that the end isn’t near—a new beginning is. That new beginning will be ushered in by Christ’s return, and that is worth celebrating.

But what about now? What about in the messy, difficult present tense? Does the biblical teaching of Christ’s return have anything to say to us and how we live in the meantime? It most certainly does.

First of all, in the light of Christ’s promised return we are to be on mission. When Jesus ascended to heaven, his disciples stood rooted to the spot staring up in spite of the fact that they had just been given the great commission. That commission has not changed. To return to the quote from John Stott we saw earlier, “There was something fundamentally anomalous about their gazing up into the sky when they had been commissioned to go to the ends of the earth … Their calling was to be witnesses not stargazers” (The Message of Acts [IVP, 1990], p. 51).

Second, notice what the apostle John wrote in his first letter:

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:1–3)

John makes a clear connection between our future hope and the challenge to live lives of present purity. In that sense, our present impacts our future and vice versa, calling us to seek to honor our God in all we say and do.

Third, we are to live as a people built upon hope. And our hope for the future, including Christ’s return, should impact our attitude and worldview in the present. Pastor and Bible teacher Warren W. Wiersbe wrote:

First John 3:1 tells us what we are and 1 John 3:2 tells us what we shall be. The reference here, of course, is to the time of Christ’s coming for his church. This was mentioned in 1 John 2:28 as an incentive for holy living, and now it is repeated.

The question, I suppose is this: To what degree does the hope of Christ’s return impact my life? My choices? My relationships? John is saying it should have a direct impact on us and the way we live as followers of Christ.

Though we will not be able to fully unlock the mysteries of the future there is no reason for dread or fear. Jesus is coming back! This is good news, indeed. Whether that return occurs during this generation or some future one, it will happen exactly how and when the Father wants it to.