The Return of Christ

Hello, friends, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus.

Today, I want to talk about something that should fill every Christian's heart with excitement and expectation—something that's both a promise and a mystery. It's the return of Jesus Christ.

Jesus IS coming back. He told us He would, and we have set our hope on His return. But when? When will He come back? I believe there's one verse in the Bible that gives us the clearest picture of when that will happen… Matthew 24:14.

Now, before we dive in, let me say this: I know this is a topic that gets some people nervous or uncomfortable. But I think we need to talk about it more, not less. Because understanding when Jesus might return should radically change how we live right now.

Throughout the centuries, different people have tried to predict when Christ will return. Date-setters have come and gone, predictions have failed, and frankly, a lot of people have made the Church look foolish with their specific prophecies. But you know what? Even Jesus's own disciples were eager to know when He would return.

Listen to this scene from Matthew 24. Jesus is sitting on the Mount of Olives, and the disciples come to Him privately. They ask: "Tell us, when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" It's such a human question, isn't it? They want to know the timeline. They want specifics. They want dates.

And Jesus answers—but not the way they expected. He says: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many." Then, a bit later in that same conversation, Jesus clearly states: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

So Jesus tells them—and us—that no one knows the specific day or hour. Not even Him, at that time. Only the Father knows. But friends, Jesus didn't leave us completely in the dark. He DID make one statement that helps us understand when He will return.

Here it is. Matthew 24:14: "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."

Read that again with me: "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and THEN the end will come." The whole world. Every people group. Every nation must have an opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And here's the stunning part: Who is to do the preaching? The Church. Us. His hands and feet in the world.

Let me read you something powerful from theologian George Eldon Ladd. He wrote: "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."

Did you catch that? We are closer to finishing the Great Commission than any generation in history! He continues: "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."

Friends, can you imagine the privilege and awesome responsibility of having a part in bringing Christ back to earth? Think about that for a moment. Your prayers, your giving, your going, your support of missionaries—all of it could be part of the generation that sees the Great Commission completed. All of it could help bring Jesus back.

Our modern technology has revolutionized missions. We have the internet, smartphones, satellites, translation software, air travel. Things that previous generations couldn't even dream of. Languages that were previously unknown are being recorded and written down for the first time. Bible translation has accelerated at an unprecedented rate.

In 2010, when I first wrote about this topic on my blog, the Word of God had been translated at least partially into over 2,000 languages or dialects. But listen to where we are now in 2025: At least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 4,007 languages out of 7,396 known languages in the world.

As of August 2025, just 544 languages remain on the waiting list for Bible translation to begin—representing 36.8 million people. Think about that progression! In 1999, more than 5,000 languages needed Bible translation. In 2020, it was over 2,000 languages. A year ago, it was 985 languages. Today? Just 544. This acceleration is incredible—Bible translation has engaged more than 4,600 languages since 1999. We are witnessing history, friends. We're seeing Vision 2025—a goal set in 1999 to have Bible translation started in every remaining language—coming remarkably close to completion.

It’s estimated that 28% of the world, approximately 2.3 billion people, still have virtually no exposure to the gospel message. That's a massive number. That's billion with a B. But here's what gives me hope: There are 57,000 Evangelical Christians for every one unreached people group. Read that again. Fifty-seven THOUSAND evangelical Christians for every single unreached people group. The task CAN be completed. The question isn't whether we have the resources. The question is: Will we use them?

Like I mentioned in a previous podcast, of the approximately 400,000 Christians classified as missionaries worldwide, only about 11,000 to 12,000—roughly 3%—are going to unreached peoples. Three percent. That means only 1 of every 174,000 Christians goes as a missionary to the unreached.

Friends, this is what missions leaders call "The Great Imbalance." We have more than enough resources—both people and money—to finish the Great Commission. But 97% of our missionary force is working among people who already have access to the Gospel. That's not wrong, necessarily. Discipleship matters. Church planting among reached peoples matters. But shouldn't more than 3% of our missionaries be going to the 2.3 billion people who have never heard?

The Global Church has roughly 14,000 times the financial resources and 36,000 times the manpower needed to finish the Great Commission. This isn't a resource problem. It's a mobilization problem. It's a will problem. It's a "do we really believe this" problem.

So let me ask something that's been convicting me: Do we eagerly anticipate and desire the Lord's return? How often do you think about Jesus coming back? I'll be honest—when I originally wrote this blog post in 2010, I did not think of His return very often. My life on earth was comfortable and relatively easy. I wanted Him to come back, but I don’t think I eagerly anticipated His return as I should have. But then came 2020. If you are anything like me, a lot changed in the way I looked at the world. My eyes were opened in many ways. Now I do think about and anticipate the return of Jesus Christ almost daily. 

If we really comprehend how incredible Jesus is... If we really understand what life will be like in Heaven with Him... If we look forward just a bit to Heaven... Then I think we all should be thinking about His return a lot more than we are! And if we begin thinking about His return more, we should be doing more to hasten His coming.

Here's what George Eldon Ladd wrote that absolutely thrills me: "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!"

Did you catch that? A relatively SMALL minority. Not everyone. Not even most Christians. Just a small minority who take Matthew 24:14 seriously. We could finish this in our generation. We could witness the Lord's return.

Friends, can you imagine the privilege 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 at the scale it needs to. Why? I think it's partly because we don't think about Heaven enough. We're too comfortable here. We love Jesus, but we love our comfort more.

So what do we do? How do we respond to this reality? First, we PRAY. Prayer is not the least we can do—it's the most powerful thing we can do. Pray for unreached people groups by name. Pray for missionary organizations. Pray for Bible translators. Pray that Jesus will continue to appear in dreams in the Muslim world…more on that in another podcast. Pray for doors to open in closed countries.

Second, we LEARN. Find out which people groups are unreached. Learn their names. Learn where they are. Learn what's keeping them from hearing the Gospel. Knowledge leads to action. 

Third, we SHARE. Not everyone can go overseas as a missionary, but everyone can share the Gospel where they are. Start practicing being a witness in your own neighborhood. If you can't cross an ocean, you can cross the street.

Fourth, we SUPPORT. Give financially to missions. Support Bible translation. Sponsor missionaries. Your money can literally put the Gospel into people's hands in languages they've never had access to before. 

And fifth, some of us need to GO. Not everyone, but some. Maybe you. Maybe your kids. Maybe someone in your small group. Ask God if He's calling you to go to the unreached.

Friends, we are living in an unprecedented time. From May 2019 to May 2021, a new language was being engaged with Bible translation every five days. From May 2021 to May 2023, that increased to every 30 hours. Every 30 hours! That's the kind of acceleration we're seeing. The task can be completed. It WILL be completed. The only question is: When? And the answer has a lot to do with us. Each of us can make a difference. We can pray, learn, share, support, and go.

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 single person—though that would be wonderful. But it does mean at least every distinct people group with their own culture, language, and ethnicity. And we're closer to that goal than we've ever been.

Think about it: What if we're the generation? What if the decisions we make in the next 10, 20, 30 years determine whether Jesus returns in our lifetime or our children's lifetime or our grandchildren's lifetime? What if our prayers, our giving, our going could make the difference?

So here's my question for you today: Will you take Matthew 24:14 seriously? Will you be part of the generation that finishes the Great Commission?

I'm not asking you to quit your job and move to Africa tomorrow—though maybe God is calling you to do exactly that. But I am asking: Will you do something? Will you pray regularly for an unreached people group? Will you give sacrificially to Bible translation or missionary support? Will you learn about the unreached and teach your kids about them? Will you consider short-term mission trips? Will you ask God if He's calling you to go long-term?

This generation could see Jesus return. We have the technology. We have the resources. We have the people. What we need is the will. What we need are Christians who care more about seeing Jesus than about being comfortable. What we need are believers who will sacrifice now so that people they'll never meet, this side of Heaven, can hear about Jesus and spend eternity in Heaven.

Dearest Lord Jesus, we believe that You are coming back. We don't know if You will return in our lifetime but we pray that You will. When You do, we want to hear You say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We want to know that we played our part—however small—in getting the Gospel to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

We want to be able to look into the eyes of believers from unreached people groups in Heaven and know that our prayers, our giving, our going helped make it possible for them to be there. Holy Spirit, make this true in each of our lives as we willing obey You. In Jesus’ name, Amen,

Thank you for joining me today in this conversation about the return of Jesus and our role in His coming. I pray this has stirred something in your heart—excitement, conviction, hope, urgency. Whatever God is saying to you right now, don't ignore it. Respond. Take a step. Do something.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the nations, remember that Jesus is coming back, and live like you believe it.

Sources: Joshua Project, Wycliffe Bible Translators, ProgressBible, Global Frontier Missions, The Traveling Team, Radical.net, SIL International

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