Relax, God is in Control

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Relax, God’s in Control

2 Thess. 2:1-13

“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

 

                  We live in a time of rapid change, uncertainty, and disagreement where people live in fear.  No longer is there any moral consensus, so people of every political or moral ideology fall prey to the fear that our world and culture are moving on a downward spiral toward oblivion.  Fear is the opposite of faith, and when our focus shifts away from God and his word, we no longer have a foundation for security.

                  As strong as the faith of the Christians in Thessalonica was, they were beginning to be captured by fear. False teachers were infiltrating the church and proclaiming that the day of the Lord had already happened. In the preaching of Christ and the disciples, the Day of the Lord was the culmination of history, when Christ would return to establish His kingdom, fulfill His promises to Israel, and bring salvation and hope to the world.  The promised Day of the Lord gave hope to Christians amid trials, for it was the assurance that Christ would return to bring our final salvation and deliverance from sin.  However, if, as some were teaching, Christ had already returned, and this promise had already been fulfilled, then there would no longer be any hope for them.  The persecution and struggles they were facing would have no end in sight.

                  Today, people deny that Christ will return, so they fear the uncertainty of the future.  They fear that the world is racing to self-destruction, whether by global warming, nuclear annihilation, or social collapse.  With fear comes anger and hostility as people disagree on how we are to save our world, and so they see others as a threat.  

                  However, just as Paul gave hope to the church at Thessalonica, his message gives us hope today.  Paul reminds us that God is the one who controls history and the events of the world, and the downward disintegration that we see in our society is not a threat to humanity but part of God’s plans.  The moral confusion that our society is struggling with is part of His design as He moves us to His predetermined conclusion.  This culminates when Christ returns and ushers in the prophetic Day of the Lord.  Part of God’s judgment is the acceptance and belief in what is false, that people will reject Biblical morality to follow after their own delusion.  Yet God is still in control.  God is the answer to the fears of humanity for God directs human affairs.  Just as the church in Thessalonica could find security and comfort in God’s plan for the return of Christ, we also find comfort in today's uncertainty in the promise that God is moving history to His predetermined conclusion when Christ will return.  Despite the uncertainty we see in the world, we can relax because we know God is in control! 

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