Good Morning All,
“I shall return.” As many of you know this was the phrase
uttered by Gen. MacArthur as he was leaving the Philippines. The Japanese Imperial Army was conquering the
islands, and the general had to evacuate or be captured. As he left, he made this now famous
statement. His opponents saw it as false
bravado; his supporters saw it as an attempt to bolster the morale of the
troops and native Philippines.
Many of the people left behind actually
did find some comfort in his statement.
Even through the darkest days of the occupation by the Japanese, it gave
them hope. The people left behind kept
hope because they believed that the general would keep his promise so they
struggled and battled as best they could.
They believed that eventually he would return and bring with him the
necessary army to drive out the Japanese.
These islanders faced many hardships while he was gone but eventually,
they were liberated. The general
returned to the islands.
Jesus made the promise to us to
return. He told his disciples that as he
was going to prepare a place for them.
He went back to His heavenly Father to prepare a place, to prepare the
way for us. Then he told them that he
would come again and take them with him.
This promise is what we cling to and what we wait for. We wait for the return of Jesus. It is what we cling to even in the darkest
hours; it is the hope that we hold onto.
We look forward to Christ’s return; it is
what we hope for. Until he returns, we
wait in a world which is still full of pain, still full of sorrow. The world is still infected by sin and as a
result we still have some dark times ahead.
We may face health troubles, or job troubles or relationship troubles or
a myriad of other events. Yet we know
that the time will soon come when Jesus returns and rescues us from this
tyranny. He will return to destroy all
the evil which the devil does. When
Jesus returns, he will restore creation back to its perfect “very good” form.
When Jesus returns as king, the creation
will be restored. The rift between
heaven and earth will be fixed. The King
of Kings and Lord of Lords will once again walk in the cool of the morning with
man. This is his promise; I will come
again and take you to myself. We will be
liberated from the tyranny of the devil forever. In those days and at that time we will see
Jesus face to face and celebrate with him and with all those who have gone
before us in faith. We will enjoy true
peace and true joy. We will celebrate
the joyous feast forever when Jesus returns.
Jesus promised to return and to take you to him. This is a promise we can rely on.
Dear
Father, you sent Jesus to pay for our sins and He promised to return to bring
us to him. Give to us the certainty of
this hope, whatever befalls us keep us strong and certain of your grace. Come Lord, Jesus, come. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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