If there is anything that I run into these days when it comes to knowing whether a person has eternal life or not, it is a lack of confidence that they truly will be saved when their death occurs. After holding the hands of many people from all walks of life and varying age groups as they left this world, there is usually two things on their minds just before they leave: “I am just about to see God. What is that going to be like, and “What is going to happen with my family?” Rarely ever have I encountered anyone who was worried about their education, money, possessions or fame. They were exclusively concerned about meeting God and what would happen with their family. So, how do we have confidence in our relationship with God? Is there really a way to know that everything will be okay when we meet Him? Today the apostle John answers those questions in the book of First John chapter two and verse twenty-eight:
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
This is the fifth time in this chapter alone that John has referred to his readers as “little children”. Remember, John was about ninety years old when he wrote this book, so to him all the followers of Jesus who came after him are as his little children. He is now directing his children as a loving father to abide or continue in their walk with Jesus. Antichrists offer other ways. False teachers and religions offer seducing doctrine and pernicious paths, but John says continue in the faith that he has shared. Don't waver. Stay with it. Continue in the faith, and for we who do, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Jesus at His coming.
John and the other apostles expected Jesus to return at any time. We read in the book of Acts chapter one and verse eleven where the angels asked:
Which also said, You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.
After Jesus' death and resurrection, He dwelt on the Earth for forty days. He then went to the Mount of Olives where His disciples were gathered unto Him, and He ascended into heaven. (For extra reading about this look at the book of Acts in chapter one verses one through eleven.) The disciples went back into Jerusalem, began to pray, and wondered when Jesus would return. They had no idea that it would be as long as it has been since he left, but they lived in expectation that Jesus would return at any time. This is why John wrote, “and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
Since it has been two thousand years since the angels made their proclamation, many people doubt that Jesus will return. However, we should look at it this way, unless some miracle drug that prolongs life comes along, Jesus will return to receive each of us within the next one hundred years. For some it might be this year. For others it might be five, ten, twenty or fifty, but He will indeed come. The question is, “Will we be ashamed before Him at His coming or are we abiding in Him so that we need not be ashamed but welcoming Him at any time?”
Next time we shall finish chapter two of this fantastic little book by looking at how we become righteous and how to know when others are righteous too. So read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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