◄ What Does Hebrews 9:28 Mean? ►

The Law of God is the perfect standard He requires from humanity, but it cannot make man righteous nor pardon his sin. So God devised the plan of salvation that would satisfy His justice and impute man with His own righteousness through the full payment of the required price for sin – the willing, sacrificial death of the only perfect sacrifice – the Lord Jesus Christ.

He came 2000 years ago to fulfil the righteous requirement of the Law and was offered as the one and only oblation to break the power of sin, to bear the sins of many, and to destroy the works of the devil so that all who believe on His name would be saved from the penalty of sin and death, covered in His own cloak of righteousness, and be made pure and holy, to the satisfaction of a holy GOD.

But He was rejected and returned to His home in glory and today, there is a Man seated at the right hand of the Father, awaiting the appointed time when He will appear the second time. This time, He will not deal with sin, for that was fully accomplished at the Cross when His saving blood covered the mercy seat for all humanity so that the sin of the many, who would believe on His name would be saved. This time, He will appear in power and great glory for the salvation of His people. In that day, they will look on Him Whom they pierced and mourn as if for an only Son - and all of Israel will be saved.

We, the Church, will come back with Him in the clouds when he returns to earth on that triumphal day. But before this time, we can look forward to the Rapture of the Church, the signless event when Jesus comes to take His Bride to be with Him forever.

Let us keep awake and alert – eagerly awaiting His any-day return, knowing that the day is fast approaching when the Lord will descend from heaven with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God and make His promised appearance in the clouds to meet us in the air. For He will appear to finalise the good work that He has started in each of us when, in our glorified bodies, His good work of salvation in us will be finally completed.

Loving Father, thank You for Your glorious plan of justification, sanctification, and glorification, for all that trust in Jesus as Saviour. Thank You that we can look back into history to Your First Coming, and we can look, just as surely, into the future to behold Your Second Coming. I eagerly await your any day return to take the Church, which is Your Body, to be with Yourself at the Rapture. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.