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There has been a lot of speculation (and prediction in some cases) about the exact day when Jesus would come back to the world. For instance, Nostradamus predicted that “from the sky will come a great King of Terror” in 1999. This was interpreted by some as a prophecy about the second coming of Jesus. When this did not occur, some of his followers claimed that Jesus was conceived in 1998, born in 1999, and is currently living on Earth as a reincarnated person.

How do we know Jesus will return?

In all 4 of the Gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) in the Bible, Jesus says that he will come again and bring in His Kingdom.

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Thessalonica, Greece, writes,

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thess 4:16-17)

When will he return?

Interesting, Paul then adds:

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thess 5:1-3)

Evidently, the question of Jesus’ return plagued people nearly 2 millennia ago!

Paul’s response is in tune with what Jesus had said a few decades earlier before He returned to His Father.

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matt 24;36, 42-44)

Put simply, Jesus could return today! Are you ready for His return? Have you put your faith and trust in him?

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Some people believe that it is rather egotistical of God to demand that he has worshippers. This seems to many people to show God as a kind of overly insecure version of a teenage rocker, who has had a few knockbacks from girls in the past (before he was famous perhaps), and now needs the constant love and adoration of his fans to cover over these previous rejections!

So this begs the question, is God an insecure ageing weather man up in the clouds, desperately looking for an ego-boast, before his fragile little heart can take it no more and he goes to sit in a corner and quietly cry himself to sleep because he is not popular?

The Sufficiency of the Trinity

One of the first things that we learn about God in the bible is his Trinitarian nature. This is what Christians refer to as the holy trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although the word ‘Trinity’ is not actually used in the Bible the concept is very clearly implicit within it. In Genesis 1:26 we see that God says he is creating people in ‘Our Image’ clearly showing that God is plural. Please do not allow this to confuse you, there is one God but three persons within the Godhead. In Matthew 3:16-17 we see another time where at Jesus’ baptism all three persons are present in differing roles.

We will discuss the concept of the trinity at greater length in our up and coming article: What is The Trinity?

The main thing for now to understand is that God the father actually lives in perfect community, with the other two people, Jesus and the person of The Holy Spirit and has done for all of eternity. Because of this perfect relationship (and therefore perfect love) which is experienced, there is no need within God for anything. He is completely self-satisfied (Acts 17:25). He is not requiring us to believe in him for some kind of ego-boast. God is not an ego-maniac.

Isn’t the universe enough for God?

It was out of this state of perfect love that God decided to express himself by creating the universe, and everything else that we see before us, the vegetation, the animals and also ourselves. It may seem surprising but in this vast universe the pinnacle of God’s creation was actually men and women (Genesis 1:26-27). Regardless of whether you believe that this came about through God creating each creature on earth through a process of evolution, or by special creation, one thing we can be sure is that we are no accident. The writer of Psalms says that we have been ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:14). God has taken great care to make sure of our very existence, and the very details of our life.

We need God

The reality is that we have been made with a desire for eternal things (Ecc 3:11). The meta-narrative (or over-arching story) of the bible is that despite the perfect creation in the beginning, we have turned our backs on God, and have fallen short of his perfect standard (Romans 3:23). This means that both our lives and the world we live in is no longer what it should be. This shows us that we need God, not that he needs us. He has promised to renew all things through the Jesus Christ.

We all have a desire to worship

It is very clear that as humans we all worship something. It may sound very primitive and like the kind of thing that people did in ancient times, but if we are not talking about simply bowing down to statues then it becomes obvious.

We all give our best time, money, dreams and passions to something, and this can become the thing that we use to identify ourselves by. This could be absolutely anything, and more often than not it’s a good thing which we have gone and made the ultimate thing.

One example would be having a relationship with someone. This can in itself be a good thing, but if we make this the ultimate thing in our lives then we end up disappointed because the other person may fail us, dump us or even if it lasts, will never treat you perfectly and will not save you for eternity. God on the other hand will never desert you, loves you perfectly as a father and offers you eternal life. He is the only one that we should bow down worship.

Conclusion

The early church father St. Augustine once said, ‘Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in him’. Far from God being needy, it turns out that we need him for fulfilment in this life, and in order to be transformed and to experience eternal glory and perfection in the next. Because God is a completely just judge, he can’t simply turn a blind eye to all the evil that goes on. It had to be paid for, on the cross, by Jesus. If we put our trust in him then we can know this wonderful God personally (Romans 10:9).

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THIS is a two-way street, I would say.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour (i.e. you are a Christian), then it is perfectly normal to go through periods of time in your walk with God where it can seem like a struggle.

This may be brought on for a number of reasons. You may be going through a tough time in your life, and you feel God is not with you in the situation, or maybe you have just drifted away from him. Whatever the reason is why you feel like this - there is an answer.

The first question we must ask is: ‘What is faith?’

Hebrews 11:1 answers with the following: ‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’

The Bible says there are two particular means by which we can actively get this faith ourselves.

First – Romans 10:17 says that faith comes through hearing the message of Christ. As we read the Bible, and understand God’s activity among people, it reminds us that he will act in our own situations.

One aspect that is really important is to remind yourself of what it is exactly that you are trusting in. Paul makes it very clear that the matter of first importance is to know the historical truth that  Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. As far as he is concerned if this is not true then our faith is useless (1 Cor 15:14).

This is great because it shows our faith is not something woolly or about feelings. It is based instead on a tangible historical event as real as petrol prices being 94.9p per litre at Asda today!

Feeling sceptical 

When I feel full of scepticism, and like i’m praying to the ceiling, I go through this train of thought:  The evidence shows me that Jesus lived on earth, died on the cross, rose again and is now seated in heaven.

I have accepted Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour, and I am now considered a child of God (Rom 8:16). I have also been justified before God (Rom 5:1).

Therefore I can come confidently before him and enjoy my relationship with him (Heb 10:19-22).

Meeting together

Another key thing we can actively do is to meet with other Christians to spur each other on in faith (Hebrews 10:24-25).

There is more to the Christian life than Sundays at church, although we can learn much about God and grow in our faith at meetings.

We need good Christian friends to speak into our lives – not to give merely superficial ‘hellos’ – who can access our whole lives.

It’s a gift

Faith is also referred to as a gift from God (1 Cor 12:7-9), so it is something we need to ask God for. The Bible says we have been given this all through the gift of grace, rather than something that we earn through works.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.’

It’s really important to know that you have not earned your way into God’s good books – but he has amazingly decided to love you and to give you this free gift of salvation.

When an orphaned child is adopted into a loving home to be cared for, he experiences a family that choose him to be a part of their home. This is not because of anything the child has done. It is a wonderful gift of love that the family gives him.

If you are struggling with this, always remember that God wants to give you faith. He is a loving father to you and wants to give you the ability to trust him with all areas of your life.

Check out Luke 11:9-13. This will remind you that God is the perfect father who wants to give you good gifts, including helping you to trust in him.

So, in conclusion, you have three things to do to gain faith: Ask God for it, read the Bible and meet up with some Christians – all the while remembering that we have been given it all for free as a gift of grace by God.

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