Is Jesus Christ actually coming soon?

Thoughts seem to vary widely between Christians of different beliefs. I found David Pawson’s book “When Jesus Returns” useful to explore this topic.

Some believe Jesus has returned already, and that we are in a post-millennial era. Not my personal belief.

Some believe Jesus will return at a date that could be calculated. Not my personal belief. So many dates have passed already. I find it amusing to speculate whilst keeping in mind that it could be any time.

Some (even Christians!) behave as if they believe Jesus would never return. This is not my personal belief. It even suggests disbelief, either lawlessness or despair.

Some believe Jesus will return before a time of tribulation, from which believers would be spared. This is known as the “dispensational” view. Not my personal belief.

The early disciples believed that Jesus would return during a time of increasing tribulation and before a “great tribulation”, from which believers would be spared. This is my current view. I believe that tribulation brings out the best in Christians because their faith produces the behaviours of Christ just when people need the benefit of them. This would give those who do not yet believe in Christ the maximum opportunity to see why others do believe, and to choose Christ for themselves before the “great tribulation”.

Some behave as if Jesus will return in the next few minutes e.g. “Are you rapture ready?”. They have a point in that it will be “like a thief in the night” as scripture says, but it is not necessary to stand on the roof! The readiness is in your heart, keeping short accounts with God and knowing Him better.

Some airlines prohibit both pilots to be Christians on the basis that they might both disappear at once with the “rapture” being a common cause. This may also depend on the dispensational view i.e. that there would not be significant tribulation prior to the rapture and hence no warning signs. Silly in my opinion. The probability is many orders of magnitude less than a common soya crop finding its way into both their diverse meals etc… or fire in the cockpit. Perhaps they have not considered that the employees of their insurance company and legal department might also disappear as part of the same common cause! The chance of all those employees being Christians may be small but comparable to “rapture” in a safety assessment! This is just one consequence of pessimism about “how soon is soon”.

I think Jesus will return “soon” as scripture says. The time is known only to Father God. Therefore to be ready, one should get to know Father God, which one does through relationship with Jesus and being filled with His Holy Spirit. The Bible contains quite a few concepts with a sense of the “now” and the “not yet”. While we wait for the “not yet” let us make the most of the “now” by seeking deeper relationship with Jesus and following Him.

In practical terms I think tribulation is just beginning in western nations, e.g. lawsuits against Christian bakers who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage, but tribulation has not yet reached anything like the level that would prompt Jesus’ return. If Christians start being killed for their faith in western nations as they are in some other nations then maybe we would be pleading Father God daily to send Jesus. In the meantime I will follow Jesus and maintain a readiness-of-heart as encouraged by scripture.