The King is Coming

In my role as your Associational Missions Strategist, I have the profound honor of serving alongside you, the faithful servants of the King. As I travel across the Association, my eye is often drawn to the church  security teams—those men and women who arrive early, prepared to stand watch and ensure the physical safety of God's gathered people. Their very presence is a sober reminder: we live in a world that is fallen and corrupt, full of sin. The forces of evil are real, and the need for protection is undeniable. But as we  consider this earthly watchfulness, it should compel us to contemplate the Lord's divine security plan, especially as it relates to the two great Advents of our Savior.

The First Advent: God’s Great Restraint

The First Advent, the coming of Christ as a babe in Bethlehem, was God's ultimate restraint against sin. We know from Scripture that mankind, by his very nature, will cast off restraint and plunge headlong into deeper wickedness (Genesis 6:5). Yet, God did not leave us to our fate. In His mercy, the Lord Himself stepped into time. The first coming of Christ was not just a historical event; it was the decisive intervention that dealt the deathblow to sin's power. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law and provided the power of the Holy Spirit to all who believe. This is a crucial truth for us today: the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is the primary internal     restraint that keeps us from sin, helps us to walk in power, and conforms us into the image of Christ, the true Peacemaker. We look back at the First Advent and worship God for His mercy and the restraint He placed on sin through His Son.

The Second Advent: The Watchman’s Duty

If the First Advent was about the restraint of sin through grace, the Second Advent is about the removal of sin and the ultimate establishment of righteousness. Our focus must now turn to the skies. We are admonished in God’s word that there will come a day when the spiritual "Restrainer", the Holy Spirit operating in a specific way, will be removed, and darkness, sin, and evil will flourish unabated (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8). Wickedness will be unbridled upon the earth, and men will tremble with unimaginable fear. We are called to be prepared for that day, to plan for it, to look for it, and not to be caught off guard when it arrives. This preparedness, this watchfulness, is not a passive waiting. It is an active, collective work that serves as a powerful counter to the chaos of the world. Hebrews 10:24-25 gives us our marching orders: “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.” Just as the security team arrives early to do their work, we must arrive, ready to exhort one another, gather in corporate worship together under the banner of Christ, and watch for His soon return. That day approaches unexpectedly, like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Let us be on the alert, prepared for the King’s glorious appearing, serving faithfully until the final trumpet sounds.

Serving the King Together,

Eric Cook