“and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
1 Thessalonians 1:9 offered two distinguishing characteristics that serve to identify a God-honoring life. Those characteristics involve turning away from idolatry and serving the one true God. A third characteristic of an authentic Christian life is now given to us here in verse ten: “…to wait for His Son from heaven.” This passage describes a person who lives in anticipation of Jesus’ second advent, or the return of Christ in association with the culmination of this age.
The New Testament book of Hebrews expands on this thought with the following message: “…Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people; and he will come again, but not to deal again with our sins. This time he will come bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28 TLB).
Of course, there are many who dismiss the idea of Jesus’ return in light of the time that has passed since His crucifixion and resurrection. The Biblical book of 2 Peter addresses that mindset with the following prophetic observance: “…scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation'” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
Then there are others who sincerely find it difficult to understand why centuries have elapsed between Jesus’ first and second advent. To address that question, we can move forward a few verses in the book of 2 Peter to the following statement: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NIV).
While it may seem as if an inordinate amount of time has passed in light of Jesus’ promised return, we can be sure that there is a good reason for any apparent delay. That reason appears to be related to God’s patience in waiting for those who will come to repentance in these intervening generations. But those who choose to disregard the Scriptural teachings related to the return of Christ would be ill-advised to ignore them. We’ll conclude our look at 1 Thessalonians chapter one with a parable from Jesus that offers a warning for those who might be tempted to ignore the Biblical teachings related to His return.