Usually the second part of a movie does not attract much attention. For some reason, the sequels are boring. Tedious. But even if that is a reality of this world, in the Kingdom of God it is quite the opposite.
The sequel of Jesus
The second parts are better when we are in Christ. The Bible says it this way:
‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts…
Haggai 2:9 NKJV
The prophet Haggai spoke those words to encourage the Israelites in ancient times to rebuild the temple that was destroyed. That construction represented a sequel! And Haggai assures them that the sequel would be better than the first storyline!
In the same way you and I must live waiting for the future glory of Christ. Jesus already came once to this earth. That was the first part of the movie of humanity. Now, the second (and best) part is coming!
Although we do not know when it will happen… The good news is that his first coming left us good advice and examples to follow in order to prepare. One of the best examples that he left us was John the Baptist.
The example of John the Baptist
The Bible teaches us that John the Baptist was the chosen person to prepare the way for Jesus. John helped prepare the first coming of Jesus (Matthew 3:1-12). John dedicated his life to the service of Jesus.
Nevertheless, John had followers. So when Jesus’ ministry began to raze the entire area, John’s disciples wanted to warn him that Jesus was gaining more popularity. Automatically John affirms that Jesus must gain all the attention. John lets them know that there is no need to be jealous. His words were:
It is the groom who marries the bride, and the friend of the groom is simply by his side and listens to him, he fills with joy when he hears the voice of the groom. Therefore, hearing that Jesus succeeds fills me with joy. He must have more and more importance and I, less. (John 3:29-30)
John 3:29-30
I love John’s answer!! He compares himself to the “best man” at a wedding.
“Best man” is a friend or male relative chosen by the groom to help him with his wedding; equivalent to a maid of honor.
Let’s be better people
Literally “best man”. So the example of John the Baptist teaches us how to be the best version of ourselves!
The second coming of Christ will mark the union of the church with its savior. It will be the most important wedding of all humanity. And the greatest aspiration that you and I can have is to help prepare that union!
So let’s keep the same feeling as John the Baptist. His answer teaches us 3 qualities that we should adopt in our living:
- Be friends with Jesus.
- Stay next to Jesus and listen to him.
- Give more importance to Jesus than to ourselves.
The benefit is that all of this produces joy and brings out the best version of us!!
To be continued..
