Holy Commander-In-Chief

At the cradle, He was in the stall of an animal. At the Cross, He wore a crown of thorns. But when He comes again, it will be as commander-in-chief of the armies of Heaven. He will bring the permanent peace that we strive and long for. Many people wonder why it’s taken so long, since He came the first time over 2000 years ago, for all of this to be fulfilled. Why didn’t He do it the first time? Well, first, something had to be done about our sins, so He died for our sins the first time. Why has it taken 2000 additional years of war and trouble and trials and difficulties and death and suffering and sorrow for this peace to come?
You may remember in World War II there D-Day. And then there was V-Day. And in between, there were many long months and thousands of casualties before the final victory was won. Well, the Cross was god’s D-Day when the back of the enemy, namely sin and the devil, was broken. V-Day is when He returns in glory to take us home with Him.
In the intervening period, we have much work and much fighting to do. We must do our best to make His Name known to all the world. We must do our best to keep the peace of the world. We must do our best to make better social conditions. The fact that we know that He is coming again, does not mean that we just sit on our “blessed assurance” and sing hymns. He said, “Blessed is the servant who, when his master comes, is found working.”

“Lay them quietly at His feet one by one; each desire, however sweet, just begun;
  Dreams still hazy, growing bright; hope just poised, winged for flight;
  All your longing, each delight — every one.
  At His feet and leave them there, never fear; every heartache, crushing care — trembling tear;
  You will find Him always true, men may fail you, friends be few,
  He will prove Himself to you far more dear.”
                                        -From Ruth Bell Graham’s Collected Poems-

“For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
                                                    (Matthew 24:27)