Promise Keeper

The Unshakeable Promise: Living in the Hope of Christ's Return

In a world filled with uncertainty, broken promises, and disappointments, there exists a hope so certain, so unshakeable, that it has the power to transform how we live each day. This hope isn't found in political systems, financial security, or human achievement. It's anchored in something—or rather, Someone—far more reliable.


The God Who Keeps His Word

Consider for a moment the most reliable thing you've ever owned. Perhaps it was a car that refused to quit despite every mechanical failure imaginable—a vehicle held together by coat hangers and banana boxes, burning oil and overheating, yet somehow always getting you where you needed to go. If something so flawed could prove reliable, how much more trustworthy is the God of the universe?
The book of Isaiah presents us with a remarkable truth: God is a promise keeper of the highest order. This ancient prophetic text, written centuries before Christ's birth, predicted with stunning accuracy the details of Jesus's first coming—the virgin birth, His suffering, His servant's heart, His redemptive sacrifice. These weren't vague predictions open to broad interpretation. They were specific, detailed prophecies that history has proven accurate.
Here's what should capture our attention: if God was so precise about Christ's first coming, we can have absolute confidence in what He's promised about the second.


A Kingdom Worth Waiting For

Isaiah chapter 2 paints a breathtaking picture of what's coming. The prophet describes a future where "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains." This isn't poetic metaphor—it's a promise of a literal kingdom established in Jerusalem, where Christ Himself will reign.
Imagine this scene: all nations flowing to Jerusalem, people from every corner of the earth saying, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths."
Think about what this means. Every theological debate, every question about Scripture, every confusion about God's will—all of it will be clarified when Jesus Himself teaches from His throne. If you've ever been moved by a particularly insightful sermon or teaching, that experience pales in comparison to what awaits when the Word made flesh exposits the Father's heart directly.
But perhaps the most stunning detail is this: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."
Weapons of destruction transformed into tools of cultivation. Military might converted to agricultural productivity. War replaced by peace. This is the kingdom Christ will establish—a reign of perfect peace because the Prince of Peace rules.


The Storm Before the Calm

Yet Isaiah doesn't skip over what comes before this glorious kingdom. The prophet describes a day of reckoning, a time when God's justice must be satisfied before His perfect kingdom can be established.
The imagery is sobering. Everything humanity has built to showcase its own glory—the high towers, fortified walls, merchant ships, and luxury dwellings—will be brought low. The pride and arrogance that characterizes human achievement will be humbled. People will throw away their idols of silver and gold and flee to caves and clefts in the rocks, desperate to hide from "the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty."
This parallels what we find in Revelation 6, where the sixth seal is opened and the earth experiences a great earthquake. The sun becomes black, the moon turns blood-red, stars fall from the sky, and mountains and islands are moved from their places. The response? Kings, commanders, the rich and powerful, along with everyone else, hide in caves and among rocks, crying out, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
This is the day of the wrath of the Lamb—a phrase that should give us pause. When Jesus came the first time, He gave us a glimpse of this righteous anger when He cleansed the temple with a whip. But His second coming will be exponentially more powerful. He's coming to clean house on a cosmic scale, to remove all that is corrupt before establishing His perfect kingdom.


Living in Victory Today

So what do we do with this hope? How should the certainty of Christ's return shape our daily lives?
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He instructed them to say, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This isn't a throwaway line—it's a call to actively long for and pray for Christ's return, for His kingdom to be established on earth so that God's perfect will in heaven can be matched here.
But here's the challenging question: Do we actually pray this way? Do we live with this hope burning inside us? Or have we become so consumed with the battles of today that we've forgotten the victory that's coming?
The apostle Paul understood this tension. He wrote honestly about his daily struggles, acknowledging the war between flesh and spirit, admitting that he often failed to do what he wanted and did what he didn't want. He lost individual battles. Yet at the end of his life, he could confidently say he had finished the race well, that he would hear "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Paul lived in victory not because he was perfect, but because he kept his eyes fixed on the ultimate prize—eternal life with Christ and reigning with Him in His kingdom.


The Call to Hope-Filled Living

Living with this hope doesn't mean we ignore present struggles or pretend everything is fine. It means we maintain perspective. We remember that whatever we face today is temporary, but what's coming is eternal.
It means we stop being chronic complainers who only see defeat and start being people who radiate hope because we know how the story ends. We know God is a promise keeper. We know Christ is returning. We know peace will reign and righteousness will rule.
This hope should be part of our daily meditation, woven into our prayers, and evident in how we face challenges. It should give us peace in chaos, strength in weakness, and joy in sorrow.
The prophecies concerning Christ's second coming outnumber those about His first coming eight to one. If God fulfilled the first set with such precision, we can be absolutely certain He'll fulfill the rest.
The question isn't whether Christ will return. The question is: Are we living like we believe it?