“Surely, I Am Coming Quickly”
The theme for A SHARED INHERITANCE this year has been “Conversations With God.” Beginning in Genesis, we have gone through the Bible learning of God’s interactions with mankind and, hopefully, learning some lessons along the way. We have now come to the end of another year, to the end of the “conversations,” to the last book of God’s revealed word, but not to the end of our learning and growing in “the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
Jesus was in the beginning (the Alpha), and He now speaks to us at the end of God’s revelation (the Omega). Being the Alpha and Omega, we recognize Him as the One who is, who was, and who is to come. He is our all-sufficient Lord, who will not fail to complete the good work He has begun in us as Paul stated in Acts 17:8, “In Him we live and move and have our very being.” Revelation 22:12-13 gives us Jesus’ comforting words, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” The Lord is steadfast in His word and in His promises.
In the beginning, God spoke to Adam and Eve, punished them for their sin, but also foretold the salvation that would eventually come into the world through Jesus Christ. Now in Revelation, God reveals that the reward is coming and, being Who He is, He will certainly deliver that reward. Over and over throughout the scriptures, we have the promise of victory in Jesus. We are being tested here on this earth, but we are blessed with opportunities to prove ourselves worthy, knowing that when we have been “approved, [we] will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12). Through the ages, living as believers in the world has been challenging, even dangerous. In our human weakness, we desire assurance of God’s strength and closeness to bolster our spirits. Knowing that God is both the Beginning and the End of all things provides that blessing for us.
Our final “conversation” with the Lord has produced controversy through the ages. In the New American Standard Bible, Jesus promises to come “quickly” where other versions translate the Greek word, tachy as “soon.” Though some may take Revelation 22:7, 12, 20 to mean Jesus’ return is imminent, the emphasis here is on the nature of His return, rather than the schedule of His return. First Corinthians 15:52 affirms this point for us: “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” We should be aware that when He comes, it will be in a moment, and all will be ended. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25:13). Several verses throughout the New Testament make clear the idea that we cannot pinpoint the time of Christ’s return:
First Thessalonians 5:1-2 says, “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”
Jesus, Himself, told His disciples, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36).
Since this is the case, that we cannot know when the Lord will return, shouldn’t this motivate us to maintain personal purity every moment we have here on this earth? We have no timetable for His return, but we also have no promise of tomorrow; therefore, we need to “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Those who neglect the warnings of God as given not only in Revelation, but all through His word are depriving themselves of the promised reward and blessing offered by God “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). But with these blessings are warnings of the end to come. Peter tells us that when the Lord returns, it will not be to this earth but to finish all things and to create a new heaven and a new earth for His people and to punish those who have not heeded His warnings.
“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:7-13).
Now we have Christ’s final words that He is indeed coming again and will do what He must quickly. What joy should fill our hearts when we consider the exciting promise from the Lord Jesus in this final chapter of the Bible. His words are faithful and true, and His final testimony climaxes with a glorious response: “BEHOLD, I come quickly. AMEN! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” Three times in the final section of Scripture, Jesus announces His return. In chapter 22, verses 7, 12 and 20, “BEHOLD, I am coming quickly.” When He speaks, we need to listen. But when we hear Him proclaim something three times, we should be all ears and pay strict attention. He offers great rewards to His followers. He is the core of God’s divine decrees. But His reward is only for those who obey His words and follow His commands because He will come quickly “from heaven with the angels of His power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).
Do you know this Jesus who is the First and the Last, who will reward us all for our work here on earth, who will come quickly to end all things? Can you echo John’s words, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). I pray that we will all “do [our] best to present [ourselves] to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).