Waiting with Expectancy
Today’s Text: 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10
CHRISTIAN LIVING 21C

Have you ever watched people waiting at the airport for a friend or family member? Every few minutes they check the arrival monitor. They strain for a first glimpse of their loved one through the concourse exit doors.

That’s what you do when you’re looking forward to reuniting with someone you love. Eagerness to be with your loved one is a sign of a healthy relationship.

The Thessalonians had the same expectant outlook regarding the Lord’s return for the church, commonly called the Rapture. Some people of faith write-off that eagerness as nothing more than the exuberance of new Christians or even escapism, but the apostle Paul praised the Thessalonians for their vibrant faith:

1 THESSALONIANS 1:8-10
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. . . For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Not just Paul, but churches across the ancient Greek provinces commended the testimony of the Christians in Thessalonica who were a powerful example of faith in spite of persecution (vv. 6-9). The worldview of the Thessalonian church was the diametric opposite of prevailing Epicurean philosophy. Christians in Thessalonica had heartily embraced the “Blessed Hope” that characterizes the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Ti. 2:13). 

Common memorial epitaphs from the era articulate the hopelessness of Greco-Roman culture:

I was not

I was

I am not

I care not

In stark contrast, Paul observed that the Thessalonian’s expectancy with regard to the Rapture was just as much a mark of their vibrant faith as was turning, “from idols to serve the living God” (v. 9).

More than the exuberance of a new Christian, the Thessalonians were assured through Paul’s teaching that Christ was returning for His church. They grasped the core belief that Jesus Christ will come at a literal predetermined set-time to receive the church to Himself to deliver the corporate body of Christ, “from the wrath to come” (v.10). (1)

With that mindset of expectancy, the Thessalonian church was distinguished by watchfulness as they anticipated the moment when they would be taken bodily into the Lord’s presence.

The Thessalonian’s expectancy was not reactionary escapism. The church demonstrated an authentic faith motivated by the knowledge that Christ could return at any moment in spite of circumstances. Christians who expectantly await the Lord’s return for the church have a vibrant personal testimony in real life endeavors and actively help people around them (2 Cor. 8:1-8). (2)

Do you love the Lord? Are you looking forward to our amazing reunion with Him? Since the Rapture is imminent and nothing precedes it on the prophetic calendar, are you expectantly waiting for His return? Eagerness for Christ’s return for the church and living each day with expectancy is a sign of a healthy relationship with the Lord.

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Charles E. McCracken is an international Bible teacher, long-time friend of Israel and advocate for the Jewish people. Rev. McCracken authentically communicates biblical truth making his presentations relevant for those seeking to understand the significance of Israel and the church in Bible prophecy. He staunchly supports the nation of Israel and the Jewish people’s right to exist and live in peace.

© Charles E. McCracken 2018, devotional comments only. Repost/Reprint with permission from the author. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Emphasis added).

ENDNOTES:
1) The definite article before the word “wrath” distinguishes the still future seven-year period of God’s judgment upon the earth as a specific, rather than a general time of tribulation or distress.
2) Imminent Rapture teaching accompanied both the Great Awakening of 1720 – 1740 in the American colonies and the revivals of the turn of the 19th century that were the motivation behind the Bible institute movement that fueled modern missionary endeavors through the 20^th century.  

IMAGE:
1) Jesus Christ Returns for the Church. Background, Lehava Activity 2012 Pikiwiki Israel [CC BY 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons; other images, [Public domain]. Digital composition courtesy, MKM Portfolios.

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