Whenever we see an Advent wreath this season, we are reminded that Jesus Christ will return to earth. His Second Coming is one of the most encouraging truths in the Bible.

Just as Jesus foretold His own death and resurrection, He also proclaimed that one day He would return. However, God the Father is the only one who knows the exact day and hour.

We do know, according to Acts 1:9-11, that His return will be personal and visible, and He will be recognizable. There will be heavenly activity we can only imagine as we read the prophecy.

It was important for the disciples to see Jesus taken up into heaven; they knew without a doubt that he was God and that his home was in heaven.

The two men dressed in white in the Acts passage above, were angels who proclaimed to the disciples that one day Jesus would return in the same way he had gone – bodily and visibly.

History is not haphazard or cyclical; it is moving toward a specific point – the return of Jesus to judge and rule over the earth. We should be ready for his sudden return (1 Thessalonians 5:2) not by standing around ‘looking into the sky,” but by working hard to share the gospel so that others will be able to share in God’s great blessings.

But the kingdom Jesus talked about was first to be established in the hearts and lives of believers, by the person of the Holy Spirit. This power includes courage, confidence, and ability. Everyone who believes in Jesus receives the Holy Spirit and these attributes.

The Spirit marks the beginning of the Christian experience. We cannot belong to Christ without his Spirit (Romans 8:9); we cannot be united to Christ without his Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17); we cannot be adopted as his children without his Spirit (Romans 8:14-17 and Galatians 4:6,7). We cannot be in the body of Christ except by baptism in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).

When we receive Christ by faith, we begin an immediate personal relationship with God. The Holy Spirit works in us to help us become like Christ in our heart.

Before His ascension to heaven, Jesus instructed the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, and then go out into the world, and to witness to all nations. Like a stone thrown in quiet water, when ripples release wider and wider, over the years the gospel message continues to go forth.

Now there are millions of disciples of Christ, and each one has taken the first step to witness. That step includes repenting of personal sins and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

In Luke 17, when Jesus talks about faith, He emphasizes that faith is not a show we put on for others. It is a humble obedience to God’s will in our lives, a readiness to do whatever He calls us to do. Obedience is our responsibility to God.

And to know what to do, and how God thinks, we have to get into our Bibles and follow His rules. He is not asking us to all be great scholars, but to have true faith in what we read. With faith, the Holy Spirit puts this knowledge into our minds, each to the amount we need for whatever circumstance is before us.

Even a small genuine taste of scripture, studied with devotion, is used by God in our lives. If the Holy Spirit is living in us, then our presence is Christ’s presence to someone else.

If we stay close to God through prayer, Bible study and obedience, we can help others learn how to commit their lives to Christ.

History is moving toward an extremely specific point and that is the return of Jesus to judge and rule over this earth. The great hope of Christians is the return of Jesus the Christ. Jesus will receive us to Himself as He said to the disciples in John 14:3, “And, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

And His return could happen any day now. In heavenly hope, Merry Christmas!