The day of the Lord has come! ?

2 Thessalonians 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, ² that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. ³ Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. ⁸ Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

¹³ But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, ¹⁷ comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Today’s text begins saying:  Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.      There are many people who focus on the timeline of Christ’s return. There are some who believe that the day of the Lord, the day of His return is near. There are some who believe that the day of the Lord has already come and we are living now in the kingdom He established. For myself, I believe what Jesus said:  "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”  (Matthew 24:36)    Focusing on dates and times, whether past, present or future, to understand the kingdom of God, is putting the eternal, infinite God into the restrictions of our finite time. Revelation 1:8 says:    “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”     It doesn’t say, I was the Lord God, it does not say, I was the beginning and I will be the end, He says:  “I am.”   God is eternal. He operates outside of the limitations of finite time. 2 Peter 3:8 says:  But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.   Eternity is eternity past, eternity present and eternity future. Revelation 13:6 says:    All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.   Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

We tend to view time and eternity, as said before, in a timeline. We view it linearly. The problem is we cannot see or comprehend a line as infinite. Our eyes and our minds restrict it to what we see, to a beginning and an end. We then base our present place in time somewhere relative to the beginning and the end. God’s eternity, the infinite time of God might be better viewed as circular, than as linear. God is the Alpha and Omega. He was and is and will be. Rather than living our lives based on where we are in the timeline of God’s eternal plan, focusing on when He is coming or believing He has come, we should live each day with I am.  In today’s text it says:  Then that lawless one will be revealed… that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.    Regardless of where we are in the timeline of eternity, surely we can see that the lawless one is present and active in our time. We see that there are those who do not have the love of truth or the truth of love. We see those who are under a deluding influence, those who believe what is false, those who take pleasure in wickedness. Rather than looking forward to Christ’s return or back at His coming, we should live each day with Him who was and is and is to come. We should see Him today, on the cross, where He was slain from the creation of the world, and where He says:  "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."  We should see Him today, alive and risen, no longer on the cross, but victorious over sin and death. We should see Him and live with Him in the resurrection. We should see and hear Him today as He calls and commissions us to join Him in His purpose, as He says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”    Rather than living focused on when Jesus might appear, we should live today and every day as His appearance to the world. Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)   May we live as those who like God are eternal. May we shine His eternal light in the present darkness. May we share His eternal truth to those who have not heard or believed, may we live that they would know the Lamb, the one who died for their sins.  

We should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.   Amen.