Opening Scripture
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”
1 Peter 2:9
A Reflection on Christ’s Coming
What if the day everyone fears most could actually become the day you look forward to? Somewhere out ahead of every single one of us is a verdict we don’t get to write, and none of us gets a vote on when it arrives. Most people spend enormous energy trying not to think about it: the jury filing back in, the test results still sitting unopened, the phone call you know is coming but hasn’t come yet. Scripture calls it Judgment Day, and it won’t let anyone opt out. Some try to ignore it. Some choose to deny it outright. It comes anyway (Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10; Hebrews 9:27-28).
Here’s the turn, though: for the baptized believer, the one who has repented, confessed Jesus as Lord, and dedicated their life to Him through the way they actually live, that day was never meant to carry dread at all. Why? Because of what already happened at the cross.
“Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:9-10).
The wrath has already been dealt with. For those in Christ, the verdict isn’t hanging in suspense; it’s settled.
And that offer was never reserved for a spiritual elite.
- “God our Savior… desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-6).
- The gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16-17).
- Not a remnant. Not a pre-selected number. Anyone willing to make the choice to follow Him faithfully.
But how does a person know they’re actually standing inside that offer, rather than just assuming it? John doesn’t leave it vague; he gives the test three times in one letter.
- Obedience proves we’ve come to know Him: “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar” (1 John 2:1-6).
- Love proves whose children we are, and as a result John writes: “By this we know that when He appears, we will be like Him” (1 John 3:1-6).
- And discernment proves which spirit we’re listening to at all (1 John 4:1-6).
Knowing God was never meant to be a private feeling; it shows up as a life.
That’s why distinctive living matters so much for the Christian: it gives us the confidence to face God on that great day rather than dread it. Nobody illustrates the difference better than Paul, writing from what he knew was the edge of his own execution:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
That’s not bravado from a man with nothing to lose. It’s the settled confidence of a man whose verdict had already been decided at the cross, who then spent his life living like it was true.
This truth isn’t just ancient doctrine. It speaks directly to us:
- Judgment Day isn’t optional, and it isn’t avoidable. Scripture presents it as certain for every person, believer or not (Acts 17:31; Hebrews 9:27-28).
- For the person in Christ, that day carries confidence rather than dread; the wrath was already settled at the cross (Romans 5:9-10).
- Salvation was never reserved for a select few. God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-6).
- Obedience and love are the tests John gives for knowing we truly belong to God: not a feeling, but a life (1 John 2:1-6; 3:1-6).
- Distinctive living is what turns dread into anticipation. Paul faced his own death anticipating a crown, not a sentence (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
You are chosen, royal, holy, His own possession (1 Peter 2:9), and that identity changes how you wait for the verdict. The day is coming whether or not you’re ready for it. The only real question this reflection leaves us with is which way you’re facing it: bracing for it, or anticipating it.
