“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning.” Psalm 130:5,6
It was the Apostle Paul who wrote of an experience he had, which the Lord had given him. It was a revelation by God concerning heaven and the inexpressible words that he heard there. So great, and moving, were the revelations that Paul received, that a thorn in the flesh was given him to keep him humble. This he expressed, writing: “Lest I be exalted above measure.” (2 Corinthians 12:7) Paul could not explain what he saw and heard, much less express it adequately in writing. It was in many ways like the visions God gave to the prophets, visions of heaven and God upon His throne. Though a valiant attempt was made to explain what these men of God beheld, they were immeasurably limited in what they could understand and describe. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, explained this matter by writing: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (2:9) Isaiah, about six hundred years before, had written almost precisely the same thing. God had not changed from Isaiah’s day to that of the Apostle Paul. The blessed vision of the wondrous, and inexpressible perceptions of God and heaven, in their beauty and holiness, remained the same. Why did God give such a perpetual vision of things to come, of the wonder of Himself, and the greatness of His eternal blessings? It was in part to create a hope, an expectation beyond the things of earth, that which could not change or be altered, certain to be seen, known, and realized by the power of God.
There is a great deal of evidence in Scripture to prove to mankind that the expectation that God gives to men is not a passing thing. In Paul’s epistle to the Romans, he writes of a truth that is revealed in every child of God, born of the Spirit. Not only does he speak of the greatness of the salvation that is ours, and the law of the Spirit in Christ, which declares that God’s power given by the Spirit is greater than any other law, specifically that of sin and death, but he speaks of the witness of the Spirit to the spirit of the believer. He writes: “The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom. 8:16) He goes on to say that in light of the greatness of the glory which shall one day be revealed in us, that God has created in the heart an “earnest expectation” of things to come, revealed in us as we “eagerly wait” for the revealing of the sons of God.” (8:19) He speaks also of “…eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” (v.23) The work of the Spirit is revealed in that, “…we ourselves groan within ourselves” while waiting. What does this mean? It means that God has something more for us, that which exceeds what we could ever ask or think. The context of such truth is the sin, suffering, and conflicts of earth, and an increasing knowledge of what we are as sinners, were it not for Christ.
Why then does the Lord Jesus speak to all believers of such things, especially concerning the greatest of all these things, which is the appearing of Christ? It is to give us hope, the certainty of God’s blessing, the highest being that experiential knowledge of His eternal life by the Spirit, when the limitations and sinful inclinations of earth, are forever removed, discarded and buried, to know the perfect freedom, and joy, of knowing God without reserve, and loving Him with a sinless heart. So, the Lord Jesus, as the Beloved Bridegroom, calls to His Bride, and every member of His body on this earth, His church, to eagerly wait for Him, more than watchmen waiting for the morning.
Dear Father, Come quickly Lord Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.