For the Lord is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness. – Psalm 98:9
Essential to the most basic faith in God is the belief that He is coming. From the time of Enoch, who Genesis 5:22 declares lived “in close fellowship with God,” faithful believers have understood that He is coming to judge everyone (Jude 14-15). The thief on the cross was saved just by saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
The Lord will return suddenly and swiftly to judge the ungodly. Just as Gideon descended with a trumpet blast in the night in sudden judgment upon Midian (Judges 7:19), Jesus will suddenly return with His saints to judge the world. If you are “faint, yet pursuing”
(8:4 KJV), keep up the fight. Your blessed hope as a believer is that the Lord will return not only to deliver you from this world but also to punish His enemies who have afflicted you.
Paul reminded the Philippian believers that “we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior (Philippians 3:20). . . . Remember, the Lord is coming soon” (4:5). One day the Lord will descend from heaven, and our battle will be eternally over!
