Christ's return

Jesus IS coming back. He told us He would and we have set our hope on His return. But when? I believe there is one verse in the Bible that gives us the best idea of when that will happen...Matt. 24:14.

Throughout the centuries, different people have tried to predict when Jesus Christ will return. Even His disciples were eager to know when He would return: "As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "'Tell us,' they said, 'when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?' Jesus answered: 'Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.'" (Matt. 24:3-5) Jesus clearly stated that "No one knows about that day or hour (the hour of His return), not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matt. 24:36)

But Jesus did make one statement that will help us to know when He will return. He said: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matt. 24:14). The whole world...every people group...every nation, must have an opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And who is to do the preaching? The Church, us, His hands and feet in the world.

"God has entrusted to us the continuation and the consummation of that task. Here is the thing that thrills me. We have come far closer to the finishing of this mission than any previous generation. We have done more in the last century and a half in worldwide evangelization than all the preceding centuries since the time of the apostles. Our modern technology has provided printing, automobiles, aeroplanes and radios. These and many other methods have allowed us to speed our task of carrying the gospel into all the world. Previously unknown languages are being recorded into writing. The Word of God has now been rendered al least partially into over 2,000 languages or dialects, and that number is growing yearly. Here is the challenging fact. If a relatively small minority of God's people took this text seriously and responded to its challenges, we could finish the task of worldwide evangelization in our own generation. We would then witness the Lord's return!" (George Eldon Ladd)

Wow! Can you imagine the privilege and awesome responsibility of having a part in bringing Christ back to earth? It should be something that causes all Christians to do all they can to spread the good news of Jesus to every people group. But that isn't happening. Why? I think it's partly due to whether or not we eagerly anticipate and desire the Lord's return.

Do we? How often do you think about Jesus coming back? I know I don't think of His return very often. My life on earth is comfortable and relatively easy. I want Him to come back but I don't think I eagerly anticipate His return as I should.

But, if we really comprehended how incredible Jesus is, what life will be like in Heaven with Him, if we even looked forward just a bit to Heaven, then I think we would be thinking about His return a lot more than we are!!! I encourage you to read a wonderful book, Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. It takes Scripture and paints a picture of what Heaven will be like...how awesome it will be!!!

And Jesus tells us plainly that He will return once every nation has had an opportunity to hear the Gospel message. That doesn't necessarily mean every person but it does mean, at least, every nation (people group with a distinct culture, language, ethnicity, from those around them). According to 2020 Vision by Bill and Amy Stearns:

- There are 6,600 Unreached / Least-Reached ethnic people groups out of 16,300 total groups in the world. (“Unreached - Least-Reached” is defined as less than 2% evangelical individuals and less than 5% Christian adherents in the people group.)

- 3,700 of these Unreached / Least-Reached groups are small, under 10,000 in population, so the task isn’t as large as it first appears.

As you can see, the task can be completed...it will be completed...the question is When? The answer has a lot to do with us! Each of us can make a difference...we can pray, learn, share, support, go!