Why Hasn't Jesus Come Back Yet? (Part 2)

The delay in Jesus coming again isn’t just due to His not having the same perspective on time as we do, as we saw yesterday. It is also rooted in another aspect of God according to 2 Peter 3:9 – His compassion. Peter says that God is not slow concerning His promise to return. The word “slow” means that He is not late. It is a word that carries the idea of loitering. Jesus isn’t just loitering around up in heaven, apathetic, with nothing to do. That’s not why He hasn’t come back yet. Instead, the delay in our minds is explained by the fact that God is patient. This is a compound word made up of the word “large” and the word “great anger.” It means that God has a large capacity to store up anger before it spills out. That’s hard for many of us to understand because we don’t necessarily share that same quality. How many times does it take for someone to cut you off in traffic before your anger spills out? How many times does someone have to mistreat you before your anger spills out? How many times do your kids have to disobey you before your anger spills out?

But the key is in understanding why God is patient, why He has a large capacity to store up anger before it spills out. It is because God does not want anyone to perish but all to repent. The word “perish” speaks of being utterly destroyed. I believe it is referring to eternal punishment – yes, I am talking about hell. Why hasn’t Jesus returned yet? He hasn’t returned yet because God is patient, not wanting to see anyone spend eternity in hell. Instead, He is giving time for sinful man to repent. He is giving time for sinners to change their mind about Jesus and realize that He is the Son of God, that He is the only one who died to pay the penalty for their sin, that He is the one who rose from the dead, that He is the only way to heaven. In other words, why hasn’t Jesus come back yet as He promised? Well, if you have yet to put your faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, you are the reason. He is giving another chance for you to admit your sin and turn to Jesus.

But don’t be mistaken. Don’t think that this additional opportunity for repentance will last forever. It won’t. God’s compassion does not eliminate judgment. Peter is clear about this in verse ten. Though God, in His patience, is giving additional time for sinners to repent and turn to Jesus, the bottom line is that the Day of the Lord will come. The Day of the Lord is a time of judgment which starts at the beginning of the Tribulation period. This is a 7-year period of judgment on the earth due to unbelief. I believe that the tribulation does not begin until Jesus returns to take His church, those who have put their faith in His death and resurrection, to heaven in an event we call the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4). At the end of this tribulation, Jesus will return to this earth and set up His kingdom that we refer to as the Millennial Kingdom, where He will reign supreme in righteousness for 1,000 years. During that time Satan will be locked up in a pit. But at the end of this 1,000 years, Satan will be loosed and lead one last and final rebellion that will be squelched by God as He destroys the present heavens and earth with fire and creates a new heaven and earth. So the Day of the Lord that Peter refers to starts at the beginning of the tribulation period and lasts through the destruction of the present heavens and earth. Right now, He is giving more time to repent – but the Day of the Lord will come.