Why is Jesus Waiting to Return?

 I will now take up the final question that many might be asking regarding God’s timing in the Greatest Book of All Times. Some may wonder: Why is Jesus (Yeshua) waiting so long in order to return and close the last chapters of the Holy God-Story? It has been thousands of years since He first spoke about His plans, and still we don’t see them fulfilled. Well, as stated in the Introduction, besides waiting for the Jews and Christians to get their act together and demonstrate their faith correctly, He is also waiting for the unbelievers to repent and turn to Him. On the other hand, God started His Story in the way and at the time that He desired. He will also finish His Story when He wishes to end it.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal. 4:4-6).

Clearly, God has shown all mankind what they should and should not do. The Mosaic Law is clear, and the law has been revealed to all, whether they have known the Mosaic Law and the Gospel or not. “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them” (Rom. 1:19). And God has clearly stated that all those who sin and act unrighteously shall die. “Each one shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deut. 24:16).

“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath [thumós] and fury [orgé]” (Rom. 2:6-8).

Yet due to the inherent sinfulness of mankind’s nature, and since perfect obedience is impossible on our own, God went out of His way to provide us with a new way outside of mere obedience to the Law. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Yeshua’s or Jesus’ blood and body were given to all for their perfect atonement from sin through the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15). Thus, no one can be saved by their own righteousness, but by faith alone in Him (Gal. 3:7-11), whether Jew or Gentile.

There is no other way to the One True God except through Jesus (Yeshua) the Messiah. But as He said, “the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt. 7:14). “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin” (John 15:22).

So as to not leave a bitter taste in our mouths and a feeling of sadness for all those who choose to remain in their sin rather than join the believers in the Messiah, let’s remember that they perish because of their own rebellion. Not even God feels good about destroying them, which is why He has been waiting so long to bring everything unto fulfillment.

“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” (2 Peter 3:9).

God’s righteous character only permits righteous judgment of people, whether for their salvation or for their destruction. “For God shows no partiality” (Rom. 2:11). On the other hand, none can presume that because God is so good, kind, patient, and forgiving, He will have pity and not destroy anyone. It is because of His mercy and grace that He extends a call to repentance. “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). God has been waiting to display His wrath because of His great mercy!

Since no one can claim ignorance, impenitence is another matter, and this is something that God does not intervene in. “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom. 2:5). He has given us each the freedom to determine our own fate and to choose to follow His holy and New Covenant or submit to Satan’s counterfeit lies. This rebellion has its cost. It is a willful decision, and it is a choice for eternity.

“Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you’” (Acts 13:40-41). 

 

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Rom. 1:21-25).

 

“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature [lesbianism]; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men [homosexuality] and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Rom. 1:26-32).

God’s Spirit can speak to our hearts no clearer than this, nor can He do any more than what He has done through His Son. Those who willingly reject the One True God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and His one and only Messiah, will have to die an eternal death in just consequence. All people have had the chance to know about God’s Law and the New Covenant that He has opened up for us in the Messiah to achieve atonement and remission of sin. There is no excuse.

Importantly, throughout the God-Story, we have seen that God limits Himself because of the free will that He gave us, and waits for us to seek Him and obey Him. This is what God waits for. He is waiting for you to approach Him through the New Covenant. This is something that He cannot do for you! Those who are focused on other things are not seeing the bigger picture. We have a limited gift of time to approach God before we miss our only opportunity to be saved. We can waste our time and our lives in pursuing temporal things, or we can use our only opportunity to accept God on His terms and join Him throughout eternity.

“Seek the LORD and his strength; seek His presence continually!” (1 Ch. 16:11).

 

“…In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:4-10).

 

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).

I pray that my interpretation in the sequence of end-time events does not alienate any Christian or Jew that may have a differing view. Even if we don’t agree, the essential elements of faith and salvation should still be the same, and God can fulfill His ultimate plans, whether we understand them or not. We should have our faith placed on Him, and live for Him.

The doctrines that should remain steadfast in our common faith are as follows: God created humankind in His likeness so as to have a holy communion with them. He chose to reveal Himself to Abraham, and established the Mosaic Covenant with the Jewish people. God’s Torah originally required repeated animal sacrifices in order to obtain His forgiveness when they disobeyed Him. But after many thousands of years, at the fullness of time, God provided a more perfect blood sacrifice in order to obtain full forgiveness of sins. He took on human form as the Son of God, Yeshua the Messiah, and died for our sins once and for all. The Father had sent His Son to the world to be the perfect sacrifice, so that all who would believe in Him could be filled with His Spirit. The New Covenant could now include the rest of the believing people as part of His “elect,” along with Israel. God had announced to Israel about this New Covenant through His prophet Jeremiah long ago, and it was fulfilled just as He proclaimed:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:31-33).

 

“And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore” (Is. 59:21). 

If we believe in God’s plan and conform to His purposes, our souls will rise and be physically transformed and become immortal, according to the Messiah’s glorious resurrected body. This will happen either when we die or at His appearance in the clouds for the long-awaited resurrection/rapture of God’s saints! “…Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Heb. 9:27-28). This has always been God’s main goal, and is what He has always been waiting for!!!

My closing prayer is that God may reveal Himself to you and may you understand and be prepared for Jesus’ or Yeshua’s appearance in the clouds when He raises His people, true believing Jews and Christians, for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The Holy Spirit will transform our mortal and perishable bodies into immortal and imperishable bodies (1 Cor. 15:53-57), similar to Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) resurrected body. Jesus’ resurrection guarantees our own resurrection: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20).

Let us place our hope and faith in this assurance of grace. Jews and Christians will then become “one new man in place of the two” (Eph. 2:15). Those left behind will see the Counterfeit Messiah take over the world, though it will be short-lived, since Jesus will return with His holy people to establish His Messianic Age of true peace and global obedience under the Messiah and One True God. We will ultimately be ushered into the eternal presence of God in the New Jerusalem, where God will dwell with us forever.

“He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).