Revelation question

I received a question from one of my congregants that I thought worth posting here on the blog. 

The Lenten Bible Study, Following at a Distance teaches us of our call to follow Jesus closely, that Jesus is here with us as we travel through our lives and reminds us to reach out to our constant companion.  This class, coupled with our LT reading, particularly the Phil Maynard Membership to Discipleship book brings questions to mind with regard to the second coming of Christ as promised in the New Testament.  The concept of a second coming implies we should be Jesus' disciples on earth and the promise that Jesus will come again in glory to all who believe in him as affirmation of our discipleship(?).  Then, of course, there are the predictions in Revelations, which I don't understand...  The second coming seems irrelevant in light of our call to follow Jesus as disciples and recognize His constant presence.  Why do we, as Christians, need/long for a second coming?  Seems we have all we need in this life to prepare us for the promise of eternal life.

My response:

Great question!!!!

I wish more people dug this deep. So our role is the here and now, to be disciples, followers of Jesus Christ for the world. Our role is to witness to the power of God through our actions, words and deeds. Having said that, God’s plan is still in effect and working through the logistics so to speak. The early disciples thought that Jesus was coming in their lifetime. When it became apparent that was not the case, we began to have written records, ie the Gospel’s. John’s Revelation is the vision that God gave him of the events that would happen up and into the time of Jesus return. This Revelation adds on to the hundreds, if not thousands of prophecy that exists in the Old Testament. When will it happen? Only God knows the hour and day. For us, it is a promise that will eventually be fulfilled. In the greater scheme of things it is somewhat irrelevant. Our role does not change even if this event happens today. Go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching. The urgency of that task should always be paramount to everything else that we do. Eternal life is the promise fulfilled in the profession of faith and we then begin to be transformed into the creation God intended with Adam. Thanks for the question.