Love His Appearing

In his latest book, Come Lord Jesus, John Piper quotes Paul, writing from prison, facing execution: “My life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the reward awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who who love [eagerly look forward to] His appearing” (2 Timothy 4: 6-8)

I don’t think my earthly departure is quite as imminent, but there have been some moments during the past couple of months when I wondered if it might be. A Christian should be in the habit of waking up each morning and spiritually prepare for the day, to put on his armor, sort of speak, as Paul described in Ephesians 6. But with terminal cancer, the first thing I tend to do when waking up is to do a quick physical check-up. How am I feeling? Do I have nausea? Any abdominal pain? How’s my breathing? So far, I have recovered from days when I haven’t felt well. But each time I wonder if this is it? Is this when the serious symptoms start? Will I ever feel well again?

Now that I’m in a new place, I have a new oncologist. He tried to persuade me to do a systemic therapy using either oral medication or chemotherapy. But either one would cost at least $5k per month. He said he had one patient who had been on Sunitinib - a kidney cancer fighting drug, for nearly 7 years. But then I reminded myself that I was first diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in 2004, nearly 20 years ago. So, I guess I’m doing ok without treatment. I know my cancer is now very advanced and my time is short, but I’m glad to have saved the IMB a lot of money that was better used in getting the gospel to the nations.

But back to Paul’s letter to Timothy. Paul spoke about those “who love the Lord’s appearing”, when Jesus will return to raise up those who have treasured Him as their first love. Paul’s ultimate joy wasn’t in leaving this sin-cursed earth, or being in heaven, as good as both of those will be. Paul was eager to see the Lord, Jesus Christ, the One who “chose him before the foundation of the earth” (Eph. 1:4) to be a part of God’s forever family. “It is far better to depart [from this earth] and to be with Christ” (Phil. 1: 23).

Do we “love the Lord’s appearing” – eagerly anticipate His return so that we will see Him face to face and be with Him forever? Or do we only hope for His heavenly home? When you become a grandparent, will your grandkids want to come to your nice house or will they want to come see you? When I think of heaven, I can’t help but imagine what an amazing place it will be. But my joy could not be complete without being with the Person who made it possible for me to be there. I hope you have grown to treasure the Lord, His grace, His mercy, His compassion, His wisdom, His love, His joy, so that you, too, will “love His appearing”.