10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:10
What is to be taught from this one verse is not that Christians will be off the scene when what is described as the tribulation or the Great Wrath begins, but the Doctrine of Imminency, that no event stands in the way of the return of Christ to earth. If this doctrine was in play at the time of Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians, then it follows that the same is true today.
What’s incumbent upon us is to live daily with the expectancy that the Lord could return today! Later in the letter Paul addresses the harpazo, the snatching away of believers in the air. But here we are encouraged to simply “wait” for the Lord Jesus.
As an illustration of imminency, I can only think of our dog. So alpha is my wife to him, even if I am home, he sits patiently and alertly by the door, possibly for hours, with eyes riveted on the knob, until she returns. Then even at an advanced age, he excitedly runs circles around her with tail and tongue wagging.
One certain thing this does for us is to get our eyes off the chaos of this world and onto the hope to come. Come Lord Jesus!
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