God's Work with Planet Earth

First let’s take a look at these promises Jesus is recorded as speaking Himself, and then we can look at why He still hasn’t returned.

Jesus’ Promises

“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” Revelation 3:11

• A glorified, ascended Jesus (in Heaven) was dictating to John a letter to the churches, specifically the church of Philadelphia. Jesus commended this church for being faithful even though they lived surrounded by “the synagogue of Satan” (in a town dominated by the occult).
• The Greek word “tachu” (quickly) means by surprise or suddenly
• Jesus encourages Christians to hold onto the faith and truth they have received so that they will not be deceived and lose their crown of life (James 1:12)

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” Revelation 22:12

• The Greek word for “quickly” here also means suddenly or by surprise, though it has also been translated “soon”
• It’s important to know that according to the rest of the Bible, we are not saved by works. But here Jesus says He is bringing a reward for works? Salvation vs. destruction are separate from reward vs. punishment. We’ll get deeper into this in a future post.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2-3

• There’s a sequence here we should pay attention to:
  • There are many dwellings in the home of God the Father (Heaven)
  • Yet Jesus is going to Heaven to prepare a place for His followers
  • He will come again with the purpose of taking His followers to be with Him, to those dwellings He has prepared for them in Heaven

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:16

• Are we orphans? We live in this world and we’re surrounded by violence, suffering, and death. And where is God?
• Jesus has promised to come to redeem His followers in physical person (He is here in spirit now)

Why the Delay?

How do we reconcile “I am coming soon/quickly” with 2,000 years having passed since these words were spoken? God knew this question would come up, and He inspired Peter to write an answer.

“knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 2 Peter 3:3,4

It is not true, of course, that all things have “continued as they were” since Creation. Peter goes on to say these people “willfully forget” (vs. 5) that God created the world, then used the water under the earth and the water over the earth to cause a global flood “by which the world that then existed perished” (vs. 6). According to Genesis 7:22, “All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life,” “died”. Except for Noah and his family of 8, who were the only ones still listening to God at that time.

Then Peter says something to address our perspective:

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8

• If a thousand years is like one day to God (one cosmic day), then it’s only been like two days since Jesus ascended to Heaven.
• For us who only live 80 to 100 years, 2,000 years seems like forever, but in the scope of eternity, it’s a short time.

Another reason God/Jesus is waiting to return is stated in the very next verse:

“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” 2 Peter 3:9, NLT

God is “being patient for your sake”. Each person who chooses Him is one more person who will be in His forever kingdom. This is what He wants.

Wheat & Weeds

Jesus’ told the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-30, and then interpreted or explained the spiritual meaning of that parable in verses 36-43. We don’t always get this interpretation after visions or parables so it’s nice to have it here.

Jesus started the parable by saying “the Kingdom of Heaven is like…” and went on to describe a man who planted good seed in his field. But his servants came to him later to let him know that there were a lot of weeds in the field. He told them “an enemy has done this”.

They suggested pulling up the weeds to clean up the field, but the owner said this could uproot a lot of the baby wheat. “Let them grow together” until the harvest, he told them. Then they could pull up both, burn the weeds, and save the wheat into his barn.

Later in Matthew 13, Jesus defined the characters in the story:

• “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man”
• “The field is the world”
• “the good seeds are the sons (children) of the kingdom”
• “the tares are the sons of the wicked one”
• “The enemy who sowed them is the devil”
• “the harvest is the end of the age”
• “the reapers are the angels”

So what’s going on here? We saw in 2 Peter 3:9 that God does not want anyone to be lost, so He wants to save as many people as possible into His Heavenly Kingdom. This is a reason for what we humans perceive as a delay in Christ’s return. God has chosen a day which results in the highest number of people being saved. And right now, many people are still coming to a knowledge of the truth.

“Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18

Walking (Living) by Faith

“For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith;” Hebrews 10:37-38

That reminds me of another verse:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

And this is an appropriate place to bring in Jesus’ words to Thomas. This applies to you and I, “who have not seen”.

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

In the meantime, while we wait for Jesus to come, we have hope and believe by faith that God will keep His promises, just like He has kept so many other promises during the history of Planet Earth.