Did you know that one of the most important events in Christianity doesn't have a holiday to commemorate it? The birth of Jesus has Christmas. His crucifixion has Good Friday. His resurrection has Easter. But there is one more important event that we have no holiday for: His glorious return!
There's obviously a good reason that we don't have a holiday to celebrate Christ's return: It hasn't happened yet! But, unfortunately, because we haven't set aside a specific day to call attention to this amazingly important event, it's actually a topic that isn't spoken about much in church. Yet the return of Christ is as central to the faith of the believer as His sacrifice on the cross or His victory over death. In fact, His return fulfills what His death and resurrection set in motion. One might even go as far as to say that without His return, the work of the cross has no meaning.
Paul expresses it this way:
If in this life only we have hope of Christ, we are of all men most pitiable.
-I Corinthians 15:19
In other words, if Christians didn't have the return of Christ to look forward to, they wouldn't just be a little worse off -- they would actually be worse off than unbelievers!
The Bible repeatedly emphasizes the importance of His return. Here's another example:
To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. -Hebrews 9:28b
Notice that it doesn't describe those who He will appear to as "Christians," "believers," "those who pray," or "righteous people." It says He will appear "to those who eagerly wait for Him." So a big part of being a Christian is eagerly awaiting the return of Christ!
The Bible also says that awareness of His imminent return is important in motivating Christians to do the right thing. Here's how Peter puts it, immediately after describing what will happen when Jesus comes back:
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless. -II Peter 3:14
Peter is pointing out that Christ's future return brings divine accountability to our present existence. It's something Jesus Himself asks:
"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" -Luke 18:9
So let's never lose sight of that great day when Jesus returns. Even better, let's rekindle the church's vision of Christ's return.
Here's one more scripture to contemplate in this regard:
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another -- and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
-Hebrews 10:24-25
That's a great passage about fellowship. And one way to read the final phrase ("as you see the day approaching") is as an instruction for Christians to get together even more intensely as it becomes evident that Christ's return is getting closer. However, I'm going to suggest another way to read that phrase. Perhaps it could also mean that Christians become more effective and passionate exhorters of each other not only as signs of Christ's return start to manfiest, but also as their vision of His return gets clearer (as you see the day..."). In other words, the more real His return becomes to you, the more zeal you will develop about your relationships with other believers.
Let us never forget that He is returning or lose our excitement about that blessed day!
