It Feels Like A Lifetime: Rethinking The Second Coming
We often ask, “How much longer until Jesus returns?”
But I’ve been wondering if there’s another way to think about it.
From my perspective, I don’t have to wait thousands of years for Christ. I only have to live faithfully until the end of the life He’s given me. I wasn’t around for the thousands of years before I was born, and I wasn’t aware of them. If the Second Coming happens before my death or centuries afterward, the length of time I will wait is one lifetime.
After that, I will see Him.
Whether believers are consciously with Christ after death or experience no awareness until the resurrection, one thing is certain: this life is our only opportunity to prepare for His coming.
That realization has changed the way I think about Jesus’ return. Regardless of how the time between death and the resurrection is experienced, the only thing between me and meeting my Savior is however many days I have left on this side of eternity.
Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”
Suddenly, His return doesn’t feel like a distant event somewhere far out in the future. It feels personal and near.
Not because I know when He will come.
But because I know my own life is brief.
