Eagerly Awaiting the Savior

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
– Philippians 3:20 –

This verse teaches us that the posture of the heavenly citizen is one of patient, eager anticipation of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. While we usually think of “waiting” and “anticipating” as generally being passive endeavors, the Greek word apekdechomai has a much more active force. The great 19th-century Scottish expositor, Alexander MacLaren, commenting on this verse, wrote, “The eagerness of the waiting which should characterize the expectant citizens is wonderfully described by the Apostle’s expression for it, which literally means ‘to look away out’ … like a sentry on the walls of a besieged city whose eyes are ever fixed on the pass amongst the hills through which the relieving forces are to come.” This eager anticipation is nothing less than the active fastening of one’s gaze and attention on a dearly desired end.

This is how the New Testament speaks of the Christian’s enthusiastic anticipation of the return of Christ. Continue at Mike Riccardi