Furthering our meditation on “Knowing Christ” from Sunday, let me ask again, if you find yourself longing for the return of Christ during this Advent season (and I hope you do!), what is it about heaven that you most desire? Christ’s second Advent will bring the end of death, decay, disease, division, and sin. It will bring paradise, rest, and reunion with lost loved ones…

Again, if you ask a bride-to-be what she’s most excited about in regard to getting married, in the midst of all of her planning, she might be quick to mention various aspects of the upcoming wedding ceremony: her gown, the bridesmaids and their dresses, the flowers, the cake, and the dancing and celebration with friends and family. Or she might mention the honeymoon destination, or the place that she will soon call home. You might have to ask her: “What about the groom?!”

As you long for the day when the new Jerusalem will descend upon the new earth, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2) at the great “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9), and as you consider what you most desire about that day, let me ask you: “What about the groom?”

Christ Himself is to be treasured above all things – above all other benefits of being with Him in glory.

Those who most long for the second Advent of Christ out of a desire to more fully know Christ do so because they have found that knowing Him is what brings them the greatest joy in this life, and no set of circumstances in this life can rob them of that joy.

We must not confuse knowing things about Christ with actually knowing Him. Think of the way you know your loved ones, and how that goes far beyond what you know about them. Let us labor to know Christ more!

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Evan