Jesus is given the name Faithful and True in Revelation.  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war (19:11). It is absolute truth, a foundational truth about Jesus, that he is both Faithful and True.

When I was a child, we made promises all the time, and of course, broke promises all the time. I suppose that is part of the nature of being a child. But we had a saying, that if uttered, made a solemn promise that was not to be denied. I would cross my fingers on both hands and utter the words: “Cross my fingers and hope to die”. At that point, my opponent, probably sitting on my chest and thumping it to elicit promises, would probably believe my promise, for there was no other promise given by us young people that was so trustworthy. I think I see something of this in more modern times when children shake pinky fingers and make a “pinky-finger” promise.

Christ gave his solemn word that he would come back, and any cursory study of Scripture shows that God indeed has much left to fulfill his promise of peace and goodwill toward men. Why then, after two thousand years, are we still waiting? And to answer that, we must put our question in the proper perspective. Looking at the times given us in the Bible, we quickly are forced to the conclusion that the story of God interacting with mankind has three main events. They are the Creation, the Advent, and the Second Coming. Please note the years between them.  Creation was apparently about 4,000 years BC. The coming did not happen until the death of Christ and his resurrection from the dead in 33 AD. This time span between the two major events was 4,000 years. The Second Coming has now gapped 2,000 years and may yet gap more.

What should this teach us? God is not treating time in the same fashion that we do. Something to ponder, I think, for if we consider it even simply, we can discern that God does not quantify time in the manner which we do. And I do not understand it. How do I explain something for which I have no point of reference? All our understanding of God seems to indicate he lives totally apart from time. Cognitively, I can say that. Conceptually, I am not sure I can understand it. Everything I have ever done is done within the duration of periods of time.

Perhaps Peter comes the closest to understanding in his comparison: (2 Peter 3:8) But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The apocryphal book of Barnabas takes the idea of Peter and expands it, telling us that God intended to make an earth that lasted one week, each day lasting a thousand years to total 7,000 years. Now, this is not scripture, and should not be taken as such, but I do note that the timeline seems to roughly follow where we are at now, that is, if we take creation to have happened around 4,000 BC.

I do note that Peter reminds us that God is not at all on our timeline, that he views time significantly different than we do. So just how are Christians to view the solemn promise of Christ to return to earth? I daresay with all the expectation that the first generation (the apostles and disciples) of Christians had. We are to look beyond the bounds of time to the one who created time and space. It is, after all, something that we would expect from a Creator not subject to time and space constraints.

There are many commands for us to watch, to be vigilant, and to be ready. For this short piece I have selected just two for us to look at. First, there is the admonition to watch given to us in Matthew 24:42: Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. I have included just one more passage, though the scriptures are replete with examples of how we are to look for the Lord’s coming. I love the last testimony from heaven, the angels themselves testifying to the beginning church: 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 1:11) The angels themselves attest to the Faithful and True one. He is coming again.

               One last thought. I think perhaps some of you might wonder, especially those who might not have thought it through before. To those outside the faith looking in, perhaps this belief appears as folly. But something happens to the new believer that is taught in Scripture. At the point of belief, the very Spirit of God enters into the believing person as God seals them into his forever hand. Jesus reminds up of this with the statements in John both that neither shall anyone pluck them from his hand, and again, neither shall anyone pluck them from his Father’s hand. We have been, at the moment of belief, placed firmly into “God’s Forever Family”. That presence of God himself is constantly attesting to our inner spirit of his being completely Faithful and True. No wonder we find it so easy to believe, even when in a skeptical world.