Christ has two comings, and these two comings are different. In His first coming to earth, He died on the cross for the remission of sins. Through this, sinners are reconciled to God; they can draw near to God and partake of His life. But this work for man is only half complete. The problem of sin has been settled, but sin itself is still around us. The power of death is finished in us, but our body still has to pass through death. Although we have a new life within us, we do not yet have a new environment. If Christ does not come again, nothing will be completed. The more holy we become inwardly, the darker, more sinful, and more lawless the world is to us outwardly. Our lips were once unclean. One day the holy fire came and cleansed our lips. However, we are still living among men with unclean lips. The second coming of Christ will not settle our personal sins but will settle all the sins in this world. In His first coming, He settled our personal sins. In His second coming, He will settle the sins of this world.
Today the world is full of all kinds of problems. How will these problems be solved? What should be our attitude towards these problems? Many social reformers pay much attention to the problems in society. Some say to Christians, “Your personal problems have been solved. But what do you say about the existence of classes, the poverty of the peasants, the suffering of livestock, and the proliferation of sinful establishments such as theaters, brothels, dance halls, and gambling casinos?” Those who pay attention to society are disturbed to see many social ills such as crime, sickness, poverty, and inequality still prevailing. They ask us what should be done about these things. We must tell them that God is not oblivious to these problems. God is not merely for individuals being saved, forgiven, and going to heaven. We must tell them that the salvation spoken of in the Bible is not only for individuals. Heaven is not merely related to the matter of individual salvation; it relates to a time when the whole world will turn to Christ. (However, we are not talking about universalism.) The Bible first speaks of personal salvation. But this does not mean that it ignores social problems. We cannot tackle social problems now, because they are not within our ability to solve at the present time. According to the Bible, God has called us to a heavenly calling, which means that Christians are only responsible for the preaching of the gospel. The responsibility of the church is to gather men into the name of Christ. Our hope and work are not on the earth. We are not here to improve society. The Lord said that there is no hope or peace in this world. All social problems will be settled when the Lord comes back again. When He comes back, all social ills will be removed. Christianity does address these problems, but there is a matter of time as to when they will be addressed. When the Lord comes again, these problems will be solved.
God’s children have no other obligations besides leading men to Christ and waiting for His return. We do not expect class distinctions in this world to be removed. We do not expect sin and crime to be eradicated from this world. One day the Lord will deal with all the problems that the sociologists and scientists cannot handle today. Our expectation is different from that of the world. We expect the day of the Lord’s return, and this day is drawing near. There are two aspects to the Lord’s return, the personal aspect and the world’s aspect. Personally, we wait for His return because we want to see Him. As far as the world is concerned, the Lord’s return will solve its many problems. Many Christians try to reform society, and in the end they are corrupted by society itself. Many good Christians try to change the world, and in the end they themselves are defiled. We should never be tempted to engage ourselves in these works, because we know that these are the Lord’s work.