They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead–Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:9a-10)
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
Paul clearly wrote as if he expected the early return of Jesus, and at the time of his writing he was not alone. This idea was expressed by all of the New Testament writers.
Many people today reject Christ because they do not believe in the Creator God, or they cannot accept the Gospel message. Others simply point to the fact that Christians have been awaiting Jesus' return for over 2,000 years. In their minds that indicates a non-fulfilled prophecy and a gaping hole in the faith.
There are three things that need to be understood regarding this issue:
1. The secular paradigm of evolution and millions of years has distorted the whole reality of time for many inside and outside the Church.
2. God created time for us while we are here on earth and He is totally outside of time.
3. God's thoughts are way higher than man's and we need not question His Word regarding anything, especially the promised return of the Savior.
The proper consideration of these points should be encouraging to the believer and very sobering to the non-believer!
