Why Hasn’t Jesus Come Back Yet?

In quiet moments, do you sometimes wonder when Jesus is ever coming back?

When Jesus came the first time, it had been hundreds of years since the predictions about the Messiah had been given by the prophets. When he came, it was in an obscure place, on an obscure night, born to an obscure couple.

Jesus promised to return, just as surely and in the same manner as he left, but it’s been nearly 2000 years. Many people don’t believe him; many who once believed have given up on him.

Let’s see what God says about this subject in 2 Peter 3: “You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’”

And a bit further down: “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness…!”

On God’s word, we who have entrusted our eternity, faith, and lives to Christ have sold out to eternal truth. God may appear slow, but his slowness is really patience. We who have trusted Jesus’s promise to return have a mission—to focus our lives and efforts toward the future fact of his return.

We who are steadfast will not be disappointed. We have a guaranteed eternity to enjoy our relationship with Jesus Christ. We need only be patient, as God is patient. 

In Christ,

Chris Heinss