“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” Hebrews 1:3
I often hear people say “Jesus is still on the throne!” when emphasizing that God is in control of certain situations. But He is not… yet. Currently, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God the Father, who is sitting on the throne of heaven. Jesus’ time is still in the future. Right now, Jesus sits to God’s right, and He waits.
Jesus is waiting for His Father to tell Him when to return to earth to gather all those who have trusted in Him as Saviour and Lord. He waits because only God the Father knows the exact time for this event to happen (Matthew 24:36). And it will happen!
When Jesus is told to go, He will come with great fanfare. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:” (1 Thessalonians 4:16), and we will then rise to meet Him in the air! (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This event, referred to as “the rapture” by many Christians, will happen fast… so fast in fact, that people will not have any time to prepare. There will be no time to “get right with the Lord.” The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:52 that it will happen “… in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…” The next time Jesus comes, it will be so quickly that we must be ready! It could happen at any moment because every single prophecy that has to be fulfilled before the rapture occurs has already come to pass! The next event on God’s calendar is the return of Jesus for His own!
After the Christians have been “caught up” and taken to heaven, there will be a seven-year period of God’s judgment upon the earth referred to as the “Tribulation.” It will be a time when “…the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;” (Romans 1:18).
Thankfully, those of us who have accepted God’s gift of salvation and eternal life will never experience the Tribulation. We will be in heaven celebrating our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ! Oh what a day that will be!
But for now, Jesus is still waiting for God to send Him. Why? Because God is “…not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9), which explains why He continues to wait in regards to sending His Son back to earth. God is waiting for everyone to have the opportunity to repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. But He won’t wait forever.
If you have never accepted Christ’s forgiveness of sins and His gift of eternal life, won’t you consider bowing before Him today and asking Him to become Lord and Saviour of your life?
If you are saved, please take the time to share the gospel with someone today, so they will have an opportunity to receive Christ’s forgiveness of sins and not be left behind when Jesus returns to take us back to heaven with Him.
Coming again, coming again
Maybe morning and maybe noon
Maybe evening and maybe soon
Coming again, coming again
O, what a wonderful day it will be
Jesus is coming again!
(from “Jesus is Coming Again” by John W. Peterson)
“And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10-11
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It could happen today!