LD 19: Comfort in My King’s Return

Within this Lord’s Day, we shift from the already to the not yet.  The movement from HC #50 to #52 takes the reader from what Christ has fully accomplished to what He has promised yet to do.  On this Lord’s Day our comfort comes in Christ’s promised return.  The two final phrases pertaining to Jesus in the Apostles Creed highlight this Lord’s Day:

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.  From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

Like the saints of the Old Testament and those in the intertestamental periods who awaited Christ’s first incarnation, we too wait eagerly for Christ’s second coming.  For now, Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  This is not seat of rest from weariness.  It is taking a seat in satisfaction of what one has accomplished.  Christ’s position at the right hand of God is not only a display of power and rule but of completion.  The work Christ has wrought for our salvation is done; we now wait for our King to bring us home to enjoy the glory of that salvation righteously merited in our stead.

Consistent with the major theme of the Catechism, we find the word comfort again in question #52.  My comfort comes in the King’s return, because with, “…me and all his chosen ones he will take along with him into the joy and the glory of heaven.”  Heaven has been earned and my comfort resides in the King of Heaven who will bring me there as surely as He seats there even now.  In the meantime, He will keep me safe from my enemies and bless me with all the spiritual blessings of the heavenly realms.  I can also find comfort in the past because Jesus is, “the very One who has already stood trial in my place before God and so has removed the whole curse from me.”

To sum up Lord’s Day 19 then, we can say that our comfort is twofold.  First, Christ has removed our guilt and paid our punishment in the cross.  And finally, Christ reigns in the very place He will bring us home to for all eternity… heaven.  Jesus has borne our curse and earned for us perfect righteousness.  Hell is paid and removed, while heaven is earned and granted.  This is why my comfort resides in Christ alone both now and for all eternity, so I eagerly wait for my King’s return.

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Lord’s Day 19
Q & A 50
Q. Why the next words: “and is seated at the right hand of God”?
A. Christ ascended to heaven, there to show that he is head of his church, and that the Father rules all things through him.

Q & A 51
Q. How does this glory of Christ our head benefit us?
A. First, through his Holy Spirit he pours out his gifts from heaven upon us his members. Second, by his power he defends us and keeps us safe from all enemies.

Q & A 52
Q. How does Christ’s return “to judge the living and the dead” comfort you?
A. In all my distress and persecution I turn my eyes to the heavens and confidently await as judge the very One who has already stood trial in my place before God and so has removed the whole curse from me. All his enemies and mine he will condemn to everlasting punishment: but me and all his chosen ones he will take along with him into the joy and the glory of heaven.