“Salvation and deliverance must come from above. Once again, just as it is in the natural life, so it is in the spiritual life.
In the same way that the earth must receive its light and its air, its rain and sunshine, its growth and fertility from above, so also it is in mankind’s spiritual life. It is dependent on the world of the invisible and eternal treasures where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God [Col. 3:1].
From above, therefore, He— who is the light, the life, and the salvation of the world—descends [John 8:12]. From above, He gathers, preserves, and protects the church, which is His body [Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22].
Because of this, He has been exalted as head to the Father’s right hand, that He should fulfill all things concerning Himself, and as king He must reign until all enemies have been brought under His feet [1 Cor. 15:25; Ps. 110].
And so, He will one day descend from above [1 Thess. 1:9–10; 4:16–17]. His second coming is understood in connection with the first and necessarily flows out of it in time.
His second coming is not an arbitrary addition to, but is inseparably united to His first appearance [John 14:1–3]. The work of Christ consists in saving; not in the opening of the possibility of salvation, but in the giving of salvation itself, perfectly and eternally.
His work was therefore not finished with the purchasing of salvation on earth. Of what benefit to us would a Christ be who would only die for us but not live and pray for us and be present before the face of God’s for our good?
Nevertheless, He who has descended is the same one who has ascended far above all heavens, that he should fulfill all things [Eph. 4:10]. What He merited, he also applies.
What He began, He consummates [Phil. 1:6]. He does not rest and cannot rest until He has saved His people to the uttermost and renewed heaven and earth [Heb. 7:25; Isa. 62:6–7].
Maranatha! The Lord comes! [1 Cor. 16:21]. He comes again to reveal Himself to the whole world.
Revealing that He is the true, the perfect Savior.
Revealing that He will save not in name but in deed and in truth.
Revealing that He grants eternal life to all who have been given to Him by the Father.
Revealing that no one has been able to pluck or rip them out of His hand [John 10:28–29].
Revealing that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever [Heb. 13:8].
He comes again to take vengeance with a flaming fire upon all those who do not know God and who are disobedient to His gospel. Yet He also comes to be glorified in all His saints and to be admired in all who believe.
He comes to be recognized and honored by all creation as the Lord, the only and true Lord, to the glory of God the Father [Phil. 2:11]. The unity of confession, accordingly, is the purpose of the history of the world.
One day, angels and devils and the righteous and the ungodly will agree, acknowledging that Christ is the firstborn Son of the Father and therefore the heir of all things [Heb. 1:2]. Then every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord [Phil. 2:10–11].
Today, that confession can be contradicted and opposed, for it holds a world of invisible things as its contents. To have insight into its truth, faith is necessary—faith being the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen [Heb. 11:1]. We walk by faith and not by sight [2 Cor. 5:7].
The world, which reckons only with things visible, can contradict the church, considering its faith foolishness and looking upon its hope as an illusion. Even this appearance is against us, for from the days that our fathers died, all things remain the same.
Even from the beginning of creation all things remain the same, so that mockers can ask, “Where is the promise of his coming?” [2 Pet. 3:4]. But a change is coming. Maranatha! John had a vision:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. [Rev. 19:11–16]
When Christ appears in glory, no one will be able to resist Him. All will see Him, even those who pierced Him [Zech. 12:10; cf. John 19:37].
All will see Him with their own bodily eyes and no unbelief, no doubt will be possible. Then all creation will have to acknowledge that Christ is the Lord.
They will have to recognize it; if not freely, then compelled; if not voluntarily, then reluctantly; if not with, then against their will.
From the throne in the midst of the heavens, throughout all the realms of creation, to the very depth of the great abyss, only one voice will be heard: “Christ is Lord!”
All creation together shall bow the knee before Him, who was deeply humbled and died on a cross, but who is also highly exalted and seated on the throne of the universe at the Father’s right hand [Phil. 2:9–10; Rom. 14:11].
What a future, what a sight! The whole of creation on its knees before Jesus!
Upon all lips one, brief, recurring, foundational, all-embracing confession that is now by many scorned but will then be confessed and acknowledge by all: that Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father!
Come, Lord Jesus, come; yes, come quickly! [Rev. 22:20]. He who overcomes will be clothed in white raiment [Rev. 3:5]. And He, who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, will by no means blot his name out of the book of life, and he will confess His name before the Father and before His angels [Rev. 3:1, 5].”
–Herman Bavinck, The Sacrifice of Praise: Meditations Before and After Admission to the Lord’s Supper, Trans. and Ed. Cameron Clausing and Gregory Parker Jr (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2019), 84-87.
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