Wait Ready for the Coming of Christ

THE WORD

These are the final substantive words of the entire Bible. The last promise. The last declaration before the closing benediction. The entire canon of Scripture — sixty-six books, thousands of years of redemptive history, the full arc of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation — ends with these words: “Surely I am coming soon.” Not as an afterthought. Not as a side note. As the climactic promise of the story. The last thing Jesus says in the Bible is not a doctrine or a command or an explanation. It is an announcement of His imminent personal return. And the appropriate response — the response of a soul that has received this announcement and truly believes it — is the response of John the apostle: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Eager. Urgent. Unashamed. Prepared. Ready. You have heard about the return of Christ your entire Christian life. You have sung about it. You have sat under sermons about it. You have discussed it in Bible studies and referenced it in theological conversations.

And you have allowed the urgency of it to slowly, gradually, quietly evaporate into the comfortable background of your routine religious life. “Soon” has become “eventually.” “Eventually” has become “someday.” And “someday” has become the theological background noise of a life that is primarily organized around the present world — its comforts, its opportunities, its pleasures, its achievements — rather than around the returning King. You are religious about the return of Christ. But are you ready for it? Is the return of Christ a daily motivating reality that shapes your decisions, your priorities, your use of time, your treatment of people, and your investment of resources? Or is it a theological conviction you hold in your head while living in practical contradiction to it in your body? The response “Come, Lord Jesus” is not a casual religious sentiment. It is a declaration of readiness and eagerness.

The New Testament joins expectation to patient faithfulness, not date-setting, panic buying, conspiracy, or neglect of earthly responsibility. Readiness looks like worship, repentance, love, justice, witness, and ordinary stewardship. The word ‘soon’ forms a church that remains awake across generations. No private calculation can improve on Christ’s command to watch faithfully and serve until He comes.