Jesus is presently seated in Heaven at the right hand of the Father. We know He is there in His resurrected body, even while He lives in our hearts by His Spirit. But Jesus is coming again! Peter gives us some insight when he preached to a crowd who had gathered after a man was healed.
Acts 3:19–21
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, interprets verse 21 like this: “Whom heaven must receive [and retain] until the time for the complete restoration of all that God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets for ages past [from the most ancient time in the memory of man].”
Everything that has ever been recorded in the Word concerning Jesus’ Second Coming must come to pass exactly the way the prophets foretold it. Therefore, Jesus must stay in Heaven for a specific time. For example, Mark 16:15 records, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” If Jesus came before everyone heard the Gospel, God’s Word would have returned void!
If Jesus doesn’t know the date of His return, how could we?
Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV)
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
People seem to have a fascination about knowing exactly when Jesus’ return shall be. If we could figure out exactly when everything would be fulfilled, we would know when He was returning. But that’s not the will of God. So all such calculations are vain and fruitless!
Matthew 24:36 (NLT)
36 However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
If Jesus doesn’t know the date of His return, how could we?
Peter mentioned “times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21). All that God meant for the Church to have is being restored to it. A full restoration is underway! Wave after wave of revivals have come, but the restoration is not yet complete.
Until Jesus returns, the Church has a task He gave us to do: preach the Gospel and harvest the souls that Jesus’ blood purchased. He didn’t say, “Go and correct everything that’s wrong.” Jesus told us to proclaim the Good News. When we finish doing that, He will come again and gather us unto Himself!
Author
Brian McCallum
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