When He Shall Appear

We’re to abide in Christ, so that when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. (1Jn 2:28)

How we imagine we’ll feel at His appearing isn’t the point, it’s how we’ll actually feel: shame or confidence. If we’re following a false Jesus (2Co 11:4), our anticipation of our response is as much in error.

So, what do we have now that’s the most like Jesus Christ? I’d say Torah, God’s commandments, is the best we have; they’re His testimonies about Himself, revealing His mind and heart, His way, His Truth, His life. We measure any likeness of Jesus Christ by its standard. (1Jn 3:4)

A king’s heart is revealed in His laws. Imagine Mosaic Law returning in the clouds, the Torah alive, deified: this, on moral and character grounds, is indistinguishable from the heart of Jesus Christ.

If we don’t know God’s Law, we don’t know Him; if we don’t delight in His law (Ro 7:22), we don’t love Him and we’ll be cursed when He comes. (1Co 16:22) Only those who obey Him are born of Him. (1Jn 2:29)

How we respond to our God’s Law is, I think, how we’ll respond to Him. Are we treasuring it (Ps 119:111), hiding it in our hearts like He told us to (De 6:6), and meditating on it all the time? (Jos 1:8) This is what abiding in Him looks like; it’s how He walked. (1Jn 2:6)

All the tribes of the earth will mourn when Jesus Christ returns (Mt 24:30); they can’t submit to His law. (Ro 8:7) His saints will rejoice in Him, just as they rejoice in His law. (Ps 119:127) To abide in Him, that we not be ashamed before Him at His coming, is our heart being sound in His statutes. (Ps 119:80)

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