We've come to the last of the four truths that give our Foursquare family its name. Jesus is Savior. Jesus is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Jesus is Healer. And finally, the one that pulls all of it forward: Jesus is the soon-coming King.
This is the truth that tells us where the whole story is going. And where it's going changes how we live today.
History is headed somewhere
A lot of people quietly assume history is either running in circles or slowly winding down to nothing. The Christian story says otherwise. History is going somewhere, because it's going to someone. The same Jesus who came once, humbly, in a manger, has promised to come again, openly, as King.
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.
That's Acts 1:11, spoken to the disciples as they stared up at the sky. It's a promise, not a mood. The one who left is the one who's coming back, and when he does, he comes not as a baby but as the rightful King over everything.
Why "soon"?
People have asked for two thousand years, if he's coming soon, what's taking so long? Scripture answers it two ways, and we hold both.
First, "soon" means certain and always near, not a date on a calendar. Jesus was blunt that no one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36), so anyone selling you a timeline is selling something. We live ready, not anxious. Second, the delay is mercy. Peter said the Lord "is not slow in keeping his promise," but "is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish" (2 Peter 3:9). The waiting isn't God being slow. It's God holding the door open a little longer so more people can come in.
What his coming sets right
Here's why this is good news and not just a warning. When the King returns, he doesn't just show up, he sets things right. Every injustice that got away with it, answered. Every tear you've cried, wiped away. He is "making everything new" (Revelation 21:5), and the broken world we've been aching over is finally, fully healed. The healing we prayed for and didn't always see, the peace this world couldn't give, the loved ones we grieved, all of it caught up in a kingdom that has no end.
That's the hope that lets us look at hard headlines and hard diagnoses without despair. We're not pretending things are fine. We're saying the King is coming, and he gets the last word.
How the King's return shapes today
You might think a doctrine about the future would make people check out of the present. It does the opposite. Because we know how the story ends, we throw ourselves into the work now, with courage and without panic.
It shapes our whole mission. We help people follow Jesus, become like him, and do what he did, precisely because the King is coming and we want our neighbors ready to meet him. It's why we're pouring into disciples instead of rushing to look impressive, and why we serve our city, participating in a kingdom that is already breaking in and will one day come in full. Live like he could return today; build like his kingdom will outlast everything.
Come and see
If you've never made peace with the King, there's no better day than now, while the door is still open. And if you're weary, let this be the hope that steadies you: the story ends in his hands, and it ends in glory. Come as you are and let's talk about it. That's the invitation, text Pastor Brian and join us.
That's the four: Savior, Baptizer, Healer, and soon-coming King. Four faces of one Jesus, and the reason our name is Arise. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you" (Isaiah 60:1). The light has come. The King is coming. We'd love for you to rise with us.
Pastor Brian