Why Jesus Waits
But do not ignore 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 about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing 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 loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:8-10, RSV.
Surely I am coming soon" (Rev. 22:20, RSV). The last words of Jesus in the Bible, we find them repeated three times in Revelation 22. When I get to heaven I want to ask Him what He meant. After all, it has been more than 2,000 years. And, no matter how patient you are, that is hardly soon.
Peter, a man not always known for his patience, may have been asking himself the same question. I don't know what he was thinking, but I do know that he has provided us with an inspired answer.
He handles the topic on two levels. The first is that God doesn't have the same level of impatience as humans. In fact, He doesn't even view time as we do. Our personal lives are bounded by birth and death. In between we may have 60 or 70 or even 100 years. But when death comes, time is over for us. We are very conscious of time and its shortness. As I grow older I find myself taking a greater interest in obituaries. My consciousness of the time I have remaining becomes more acute with each passing decade.
But what if I existed from eternity in the past through eternity in the future? Time would take on new meanings. So it is with God. The time panic of humans does not cause Him to forget His ultimate purpose on earth.
And that purpose is Peter's second response to God's delay in returning. Namely, He allows time to go on because He desires to give as many people as possible a chance to repent and enter His kingdom. From that perspective, the delay itself is an act of mercy.
Yet the end will come, and when it does it will happen spectacularly with loud noises and fire and earth-shaking events.
But the Second Advent itself will arrive like a thief to a scoffing world lulled by its amusements. And here we have another possible meaning for Christ's final words in Scripture. The word used for "soon" also means "quickly." When the clock of heaven signals the end of time, Jesus will quickly come in the clouds and earth's affairs will wind up rapidly for both scoffers and believers.
But do not ignore 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 about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing 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 loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:8-10, RSV.
Surely I am coming soon" (Rev. 22:20, RSV). The last words of Jesus in the Bible, we find them repeated three times in Revelation 22. When I get to heaven I want to ask Him what He meant. After all, it has been more than 2,000 years. And, no matter how patient you are, that is hardly soon.
Peter, a man not always known for his patience, may have been asking himself the same question. I don't know what he was thinking, but I do know that he has provided us with an inspired answer.
He handles the topic on two levels. The first is that God doesn't have the same level of impatience as humans. In fact, He doesn't even view time as we do. Our personal lives are bounded by birth and death. In between we may have 60 or 70 or even 100 years. But when death comes, time is over for us. We are very conscious of time and its shortness. As I grow older I find myself taking a greater interest in obituaries. My consciousness of the time I have remaining becomes more acute with each passing decade.
But what if I existed from eternity in the past through eternity in the future? Time would take on new meanings. So it is with God. The time panic of humans does not cause Him to forget His ultimate purpose on earth.
And that purpose is Peter's second response to God's delay in returning. Namely, He allows time to go on because He desires to give as many people as possible a chance to repent and enter His kingdom. From that perspective, the delay itself is an act of mercy.
Yet the end will come, and when it does it will happen spectacularly with loud noises and fire and earth-shaking events.
But the Second Advent itself will arrive like a thief to a scoffing world lulled by its amusements. And here we have another possible meaning for Christ's final words in Scripture. The word used for "soon" also means "quickly." When the clock of heaven signals the end of time, Jesus will quickly come in the clouds and earth's affairs will wind up rapidly for both scoffers and believers.
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