I Knew You’d Come Back!

Q. I have a question about this verse:

And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is revealed, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him in His coming. (1 John 2:28)

So it is possible then that there will be Christian believers who at the rapture when they see Jesus they could be ashamed of something in their life? For instance, what if at the moment someone is raptured they were involved somehow in some sort of sin.

Would we feel shame inside as soon as we see Jesus? Would Jesus be looking at us with disapproval? I would say this Bible verse is a very good reason to be motivated to not being involved in anything we consider sinful but also it makes me afraid that maybe I will be doing something wrong at that moment and then Jesus will frown at me and I’ll feel shame.

A. Since we won’t know the timing of the rapture in advance, I think a great many of us will be involved in something at least a little embarrassing when the moment comes.  But I think the context of the verse is more one of faithfulness, so that when He appears our initial reaction will be to say, “I knew you would come back” in stead of being ashamed to discover that He really meant it and we didn’t believe Him.

As for frowning at us or expressing disapproval, He already knows what we’ll be doing when He comes so we can’t surprise Him. And if we’re sinning at the moment, He has already forgiven us. But even if we’re not, the Bible is clear that anyone who has found himself in the presence of God has immediately been overwhelmingly aware of his sinfulness.  But He will take away our sin (Isaiah 6:7) stand us on our feet (Daniel  8:18)  and wipe every tear from our eyes (Rev. 20:4)