“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1 ESV).
The following commentary offers an excellent overview of Jesus’ second advent in the context of 2 Timothy 4:1…
“Christ’s appearing and His Kingdom are not the same thing. His appearing is the epiphany, the rapture of the church. His Kingdom refers to the revelation of Christ when He returns to earth to establish His Kingdom. Twice He will do some judging. He will judge His own when He takes them out of the world. Also, He will judge those who turn to God in the Great Tribulation.
All of us who are believers will come before Him for judgment at one time or another. Our lives are going to be tested to see if we are to receive a reward or not. Paul is saying, ‘In view of the fact that you, Timothy, are going to stand before Him to have your life judged, this is what you are to do.’ These instructions to Timothy are just as pertinent in our day as at the time they were given by the mouth of Timothy. This is what God is saying to you and me right now.” (1)
Another source adds the following words of encouragement…
“Sometimes we are tempted to be discouraged, to doubt that He is coming back, because it has been almost two thousand years since His ascension. But the people of God had to wait millennia for His first advent, and their faith was vindicated when He was born in Bethlehem. Our faith will be vindicated as well when our Savior comes in glory. ” (2)
Since this world will eventually be replaced by “…a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13), Paul the Apostle encouraged Timothy to live and work in light of that reality. Thus, every man or woman of God should be motivated (at least in part) by the anticipation of “…Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom” (NET).
As Jesus reminded us in John 9:4, “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the One who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work” (NLT). Therefore, the certainty of Jesus’ return should prompt us to prayerfully consider how we can best redeem the time that God has graciously allotted to us. We’ll see what that meant for Timothy (and us as well) in the following verse.
(1) J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee, “2 Timothy 4:1-5 Paul’s Charge To Timothy” Copyright 1981 by J. Vernon McGee
(2) “The Advent of Christ” Tabletalk magazine, March, 2013 [pg. 59]