The apostle Paul often spoke to Christians of the need to be heavenly minded. This is more than living in the present with an eternal perspective. It means that you are governed by Christ and that you shape your life according to that allegiance, and it means you know he will come in glory to judge the world in righteousness.
In Revelation 22:12, the Lord says, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay to each one for what he has done.” Christ’s appearing in glory is often represented as soon. When you consider that his coming will be the end of time, “soon” carries significant weight.
“Soon” is meant to be an encouragement to Christ’s people in this world. The glory of Christ is to be the Christian’s greatest joy and his coming will vindicate their faith in him. The apostle Paul spoke of “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2).
The apostle Peter told Christians that their present trials and sufferings made their faith more precious than gold and would result in praise, honor, and glory when Christ is revealed in glory to the world (1st Peter 1). “Soon” is good news to those who love Christ and desire to see him exalted. Find you comfort and joy in Christ and “soon” will seem too slow.
When Christ comes, his light will reveal all things. He comes “to repay to each one for what he has done.” This doesn’t mean one is justified before God by his good works. That requires perfection. Instead it points to the root cause of man’s works; they either proceed from faith in Christ or from the sinner’s wants and desires.
What we must understand is that coming to Christ requires repentance and faith, both being low positions from a dependent condition. Repentance means conviction that your own way is a way of sin and rebellion toward God and that your only hope is turning from it to God for mercy. Faith is embracing Christ’s death and righteousness as the only means of being made right with God. Faith encompasses repentance; both refer to conversion which unites the soul to Christ.
It is only from this position that one can live by the Spirit of God and do acceptable works for Christ. We can see an example in the letter to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3. The Lord tells the people he has not found their works complete in his sight and that they must repent soon or risk being unprepared for his coming.
They had the reputation of being alive but were dead. Wherein lies the problem? The Lord compares their situation to “soiling their garments.” Their works were unacceptable to the Lord. To walk with Christ in white is to live by faith in the Lord’s good and forgiving grace. The works of the church in Sardis had not proceeded from this root anymore but were corrupted with pride and compromised with the world in some way.
Christ will render to people according to their real character. Fighting against pride and worldly motives in our works is difficult, but the Lord helps us with verse 13: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” He is sovereign over creation history and redemption history. He says this emphatically to help his people be humble and watchful for his coming. The godly are not only blessed in glory, but on the journey to get there.
People in the world dwell together and there may seem little difference in them from a distance, but the Lord makes clear there shall be on that day a great difference between those who belong to Christ and those who belong to the world (verses 14-15).
Think upon the blessedness of having a washed robe. There is a dress code for entering the gates of the city of God, the covering of Christ. The Lord Jesus knows who his sheep are, and they know him. Whatever troubles they have in the world, they know they are saved from worse ones, such as having a hardened or proud heart toward God.
