The Return of the King of kings
“The return of Jesus over the clouds goes beyond its literal meaning” (Paiva Netto)
The world has been facing great unrest in national and international relationships. This reality creates the expectation to find or receive in our lives someone who can be the great savior of our material or spiritual misery.
It has already been shown throughout history that there is no savior in this material world. Also, we shouldn’t “bet all our money” on a fallible human being or nation as the great savior of our lives.
This mandate belongs to Jesus Christ, the One and Only who can give us God’s salvation.
Even though there is anxiety for Christ’s Triumphant Return, there isn’t and won’t ever be a privileged person who will know with certainty about this day. God does not contradict His Own prophecy.
The Expectation of the Unknown Day and Hour
“But concerning that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray. For you do not know when the time will come.” Jesus (Mark 13:32-33)
Spectators or Agents of Christ’s Triumphant Return
Although it seems that this announcement may prevent us from actively participating in the greatest event of all time, a profound study of Jesus’s words gives us the realization that He is calling everyone to be participants in His Divine Plans, not spectators. The key is in what the Divine Master said: “Take heed, watch and pray.”
The Apostles were able to understand that, and after Christ’s Ascension, each one of them worked in their own ways and within their limitations and capabilities for this moment. Christianity is a divergent heritage in a universal and congregational divine purpose. Simon Peter, the Apostle of Ecumenism, as my grandfather Paiva Netto emphasizes, understood our role as Christians and, in his common initiative, expressed in his second epistle (3:9):
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Prayerful, Vigilant, and Repentant
Those words of Jesus Christ give us the correct path to be agents of His Will in this world. By asking us to be vigilant and to pray, Jesus gives us the means to be connected to Him and His Divine Phalanx so we can act for His Triumphant Return.
What does it mean then to be vigilant and to pray? Well, the first one demands a capacity to consciously observe the activity in our inner and outer worlds. That is the spiritual and material. In short, it is to achieve a spiritual state of being present in the moment.
The second one, Christ is calling us to an open dialogue and to realize that we are not alone in this path. He is literally telling us that we can communicate with God, with Him, and the Holy Spirit, that is all the Spirits of Light that work for God’s Kingdom in this world. It shows us that the only way forward is union through a Higher Purpose in life.
When those two are practiced, the third one must be manifested. Why? Because observation and communication only have an effect in life when it is followed by a purpose. Repentance is not a pitiful purpose in life; it is an active and divine purpose of change and transformation.
You can only perceive the need for repentance through seeing, and you can only work for repentance through prayer.
The 3 Rs of Spiritual Journey and its material effect
In this imperfect world, repentance is not an option, but a necessity for survival. Jesus already revealed to us: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
There is a lot of work to be done in this world. Just look around. The idea of solving problems in the real world is, in essence, a Christian Principle.
As Emmanuel (Spirit) says in his psycographed message by Chico Xavier, “Jesus is calling”: “Jesus continues to call collaborators for His sublime Work of improvement and redemption. There is service for everyone, steps of light for all. Where are you going, Brother? Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross for us. What do we do for Him?”
If you don’t know where to start, observe the world and pray. Once the decision to follow Jesus is taken, a spiritual journey and its three phases start. These phases can be summarized as: Repentance, Redemption, and Resurrection.
When vigilant, the perception of what needs to repent becomes evident, and blessed action by prayer becomes a must, leading us to redemption, which will undoubtedly resurrect us for a new life in Christ.
The Universality of Christ’s Kingdom
Jesus’ preachings were always directed to everyone in this world. He preached to Jews and Gentiles, without distinction, not to convert them to any restricted religion, but to make them recognize the intrinsic religiosity and spirituality that connect ourselves to God. Also, in His Book of Revelation, Jesus prophesied about a Glorified Multitude from every people, tribe, nation, and language. No one else did it. That is why He has the primacy on Ecumenism and is the Light of the World.
From His example, we can affirm that the act of universally attending to the other and, consequently, yourself for the betterment of their current state is a Christian Principle. Because Christianity is purposeful Ecumenism. Brother Paiva, commenting on Brother Zarur’s quote “All humanity is Christian”, once explained its Ecumenical aspect: “(...) refers to the sense of Brotherhood, Understanding, Fraternity, that is, of Ecumenical-Planetary Spiritual Citizenship, in which the entire world understands or seeks to understand each other.”
If you dedicate yourself to a universal purpose of helping others regardless of their background, you are a Christian. A police officer who works for the security of all is a Christian, a doctor who cares about the health of others is a Christian, a teacher who educates everyone for the prospect of a better future is a Christian, a gardener who attends the garden of his clients regardless of who they are is a Christian, a custodian who takes care of the building for a clean establishment for all is a Christian, a businessman that serves anyone is a Christian, a child that plays with any other child is a Christian, a scientist who looks for theories for the improvement and betterment of society’s ethical progression is a Christian, a preacher who preaches the Gospel and Revelation of Jesus so everyone can hear it is a Christian.
It doesn't matter whether you're North American, South American, Italian, Egyptian, Israeli, Russian, Chinese, German, Japanese, Palestinian, Indian, or any nation on Earth. You are first a Christian.
Christianity is a Universal Religion that leads us to the greatness of the Kingdom of God, which is not confined to human conventions. The Kingdom of God is above all else.
Jesus must return to everyone's hearts
Our work then is to, through our examples, make the Beloved Friend return to everyone’s hearts, as He commenced us in His Gospel (Mark 16:15): “Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.”
As humanity, unfortunately, walks on a path of its own destruction, leading everyone to the depths of hell, the preaching of Jesus Christ’s Gospel and Revelation cannot be postponed. Because it will be in the darkest moment of humanity or ourselves that we will perceive the Brightness of the Morning Star, and realize that it was there all along. We were the ones who didn’t perceive it.
This action of turning ourselves back to Jesus will naturally affect everything in this world, because it is through the hearts and minds that we have all areas of knowledge manifested.
At the moment that we become agents of His Will, contributing to the completion of His Prophecies in this world, we are then working for the Return of the King of kings.
