Immediate or Imminent?
Tomorrow is Tax Day in America. Sunday is Easter. Both events may spawn anxiety, even fear. While we understand the potential fear of dealing with the IRS—even if your reporting is totally honest—there are a lot of folks that should fear what Easter represents, especially if they don’t embrace the truth of the event celebrated. Chocolate Easter bunnies, colored eggs, marshmallow “peeps” are the farthest things from the truth of Easter.
At first glance,
you may read today’s title and think, “what’s the difference?” Immediate is a relative term. It means “near to or related to the present.” Imminent, on the other hand, means “ready to take place at any moment without any further actions or events.” Most of us live in an “immediate” frame of mind. We want what we want when we want it. We’ve all experienced the boss or auto mechanic or salesman say something like, “I’ll get on it immediately.” When we’ll see results depends on their definition of immediate and who controls the priority.
Imminent doesn’t depend on anything external happening; it’s ready now and could happen any moment, without warning. Fortunately, we’ve had millennia filled with warnings. So many warnings without apparent consequences have led to a ho-hum apathy that I’m sure is why they’ve gone unheeded. But consider the penultimate verse of the entire Bible: (Jesus speaking) “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Bring it down to your personal level. Will your death be immediate or imminent? We can’t answer that because we don’t control the events leading to it. But God does.
Easter is the last chapter
of God’s love story to His family (see No Good Thing). Jesus’ resurrection from the grave confirmed God’s authority over death, paid the full price for our redemption from sin, and fills us with hope for an indescribable eternity with Him. But…
As I look around our world and see the evil that is rampant everywhere, both here at home and abroad, and consider the warnings the world has had about Jesus Christ’s return for His church, the word imminent takes on more significance. When it happens (imminent), it will be “in the twinkling of an eye” (I Cor. 15:52) and the family of Christ will be gone from the earth. Those who are left on earth—everybody who hasn’t believed in Jesus’ death and resurrection as total payment for their sins—are now facing seven horrific years of God’s wrath.
If you’re reading this,
it’s not too late. You may already be experiencing the seven years of God’s wrath toward Satan’s hate-fueled rebellion, or you may be bouncing along oblivious to the downward spiral of society’s rejection of Jesus. As long as you have breath, you can turn from your sin and humbly embrace the truth that Jesus died for your sins too, no matter how bad you think they are. Jesus said, “…the one who comes to Me, I will certainly not cast out” (Jn.6:37). For a detailed look at your position in God’s eyes, check out our Steps to Salvation page. The empty cross and empty tomb are the truth about Easter, a truth that is filled with God’s love, wonder, and amazing, awesome future for anyone who comes on His terms. I’ll look for you there.