What is Maranatha?

The Modern State of Affairs

“Maranatha” is a plea, meaning, “Come, Lord.” It was the cry of the early church, asking for Jesus to return. My heart has been crying it for years. I’ve become aware of how broken the world is truly, and I eagerly await “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:14). Though I know I am not the only person with this prayer, it often feels that not many other Christians of my generation dwell on Jesus’s return. I can only guess why this is, but I think one of the main reasons is that we are disconnected from the world.

For context, I attend a private Baptist university. In the few years I’ve been here, I’ve witnessed that my Christian brothers and sisters are both influenced by the world and yet disassociated from current events. I’m speaking broadly here, but it seems as if current events don’t have a place in our biblical discussion. We’re in a bubble. The world seems “out there,” and thus, irrelevant (except for fashion, internet trends, vernacular, and what-have-you). The danger of this is that we become of the world, but not in it — quite the inverse of what we’re supposed to be. We don’t see how broken the world is, and we lose the cry for Jesus to return. We cannot experience how truly blessed our hope is unless we acknowledge the modern state of affairs.

Take a look around. The world is extremely broken. You can see it everywhere. It’s in our nation, our homes, and our hearts.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk. The events of October 7th, 2023. The depression and loneliness in our generation.

You can see the corruption of our world even in trash littering our streets and every dead animal on the side of the road.

Just because it’s “normal” doesn’t mean it should be this way.

All of creation feels the pain of this evil age (Romans 8:22, Galatians 1:4).

But creation is not without hope.

There is Good News.

The Restoration of All Things

The world will be fixed. More specifically, God is going to fix the world.

Standing in Solomon’s Portico, Peter spoke to his Jewish brothers, saying that a day is coming when God will “send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:20-21 ESV). Jesus will return and usher in a massive restoration. I love that phrase, particularly how the NASB renders it: the “restoration of all things.” Furthermore, Peter says that God revealed His plan previously through the prophets. God has always had a plan to redeem the world. We are in a period of waiting between the Cross and the crown.

Dare I say that what Jesus accomplished on the Cross was not the climax in the biblical narrative? I don’t think the Bible permits us to think this. Make no mistake, I am not diminishing the Cross! It was necessary. Indeed, Jesus himself said, “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26 ESV) However, notice that Jesus doesn’t end at the Cross, but his glory. Specifically, his suffering was the road to receive his glory. It was not the final step. The Cross is not the climax.

So what is?

The Crown.

The apostles continually preached that Jesus is coming back to receive his inheritance and be crowned king on earth. This isn’t a vague reality, but a tangible promise for what is to come. The apostles often referenced the prophets as their source material for this concept (cf. Acts 3:21, Acts 26:22, Romans 1:2). However, they often do not go into detail, which I view as an expectation read the prophets and learn more about this future glory. If you want to know more about what the future looks like, you must read the words spoken through the prophets.

The promises of God are real, and they will come to pass. God is not lazy with His descriptions of the future. Rather, He is extremely vivid, and we have some clear expectations of future kingdom.

Consider these descriptions:

There will be no more war (Isaiah 2:4). Every weapon will be forged into a tool that brings life.

There will be no more death (Isaiah 25:8). Period. Never again will we lose our parents, children, or friends.

There will be no more tears (Isaiah 25:8). No more loneliness, hurt, or pain. No more heartbreak.

All the ruined cities will be rebuilt and repopulated (Ezekiel 36:35, Isaiah 49:19). Every effect of war will be reversed.

The desolate wilderness will become “like the Garden of Eden” (Ezekiel 36:35). The earth will bear fruit. No more famine. No more hunger.

A river of life will flow from the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 47:1-12). Beauty inside of and descending from the City of the Great King, where the LORD will dwell.

The most wonderful part is that every nation will stream to Jerusalem to learn how to follow God (Isaiah 2:3)! Reframe this in our modern context. Isaiah says “the nations” will desire to know the Law of the LORD. America. Russia. Egypt. Iran. The United Kingdom. All of them! Every nation that we know of today will acknowledge that God is King.

Isn’t this incredible?! No wonder Paul can say that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18)! Yes, we suffer. The whole world suffers. But God came into the world, and He is yet coming again to restore all things.

Restore the Cry of “Maranatha”

Our generation needs more “maranatha.”

We’re a rather hopeless generation. Even within the Church, Gen Z is perhaps the most depressed, stressed, and anxious of all previous generations. We have faith, but we don’t have hope — and we need both. We trust God to deliver us from sins, but do we hope in the fact that God is coming back to make all things new (Revelation 21:5)? Are we capable of rejoicing in our sufferings in this present age, or will we be found hopeless (Romans 5:3-5)? Our hope is not just in what Christ has accomplished, but what he will yet accomplish when he returns. This hope will not put us to shame. God is faithful, and all of His promises will come to pass. We must restore the expectation of “our blessed hope” which is “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

That is partly why I have started Maranatha Initiative. We need more Christians crying out for the return of Jesus. I hope you find encouragement in this

Maranatha.