The secret of belief

“Where has the promise gone?”

Knowledge is relative. For someone who cannot read, for example: E.g. a letter, even one written for him, is a secret. Where mathematics is a great mystery to the first grader, it is clear to an eighth grader. In this way you can make further comparisons in every direction of knowledge. As is well known: for some it is a secret - for others it is a clear object.
It is conceivable: if you had told the great physicist Albert Einstein about a smartphone, he would have viewed it as a mere utopia or even described it as a prank. And yet today children can use this device quickly. It's clear - the more you learn, practice, gain experience, the fewer secrets remain. And yet there remains a large amount of it that is not understood and will never be understood. So far so good.

Belief is similar to knowledge. It can also be relative. The Bible speaks of small and large faith. “When Jesus saw what was bothering her, He said, You of little faith, …” (Matthew 16,8:15,28a) Or: “Then Jesus said to her, Woman, your faith is great!” (Matthew XNUMX:XNUMX)
Faith is important and often unavoidable in almost all areas and situations of life. In fact, it is so very important that: “And without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11,6:XNUMX) Adequate faith can effectively bridge many a small or large mystery.

There are moving stories in which people continued to suffer considerably despite many prayers. They have often believed in vain certain promises of the Bible, such as these: “Cry to me in days of trouble. Then I will save you, and you will praise me.” (Psalm 50,15:XNUMX) Because they felt no satisfactory response to their requests and supplications, and received no answer to the question “why,” many have given up their faith in an all-powerful God Love gradually given up.

A special, biblical promise shaped the faith and thus the lives of countless people throughout world history - including the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ - the promise of His soon return: “Behold, I am coming quickly; Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown!" (Revelation 3,11:22,7) "Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book!” (Revelation 22,12:22,20) “And, behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward with me, to reward each one according to his work.” (Revelation XNUMX:XNUMX ) “He who testifies this says: Yes, I am coming quickly! Amen. – Yes, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation XNUMX:XNUMX) etc. etc.
With great enthusiasm a considerable number believed in this promise: “But according to his promise we look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3,13:XNUMX) When the waiting never ended, so did it Reason that many have lost faith in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus.
According to 2 Peter 3,3.4:XNUMX, not only will faith be lost, but some will oppose it with ridicule and scorn. “Above all, you must be aware of this: in the last times there will appear people who follow only their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you and say: He promised to come back! Where is He then? Meanwhile our fathers' generation has died; but everything is still as it was since the creation of the world!”

Such people still appear today. From the perspective of general human understanding it would be justified. In fact, thousands of years have passed and the longed-for fulfillment of this promise has not yet occurred.
The fact that these people gave up their faith in disappointment must be because they did not fully understand the Bible's statements! Fortunately, not all mysteries, even those of God, have to remain incomprehensible or hidden. For it is written:
“But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16,13:8,10) Or: “Then he said, It is given to you by God to understand the mysteries of his kingdom.” (Luke XNUMX:XNUMX)

Let us try to look at this problem of the “soon” return of the Lord Jesus objectively in order to understand it as correctly as possible. The following quote should also help in the search for this secret:
“And all these, although they received a good testimony through faith, did not obtain what was promised, because God had planned something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect apart from us.” (Hebrews 11,39.40:11,40, XNUMX) “They “We should reach our goal together with us.” (Hebrews XNUMX:XNUMXb/GN)
"Without us!". This is an overwhelming mystery of God; something that is incomprehensibly abstract to a person with 3D thinking. According to this verse, God reckons with people who will only live in the future.
When solving this difficult mystery of God, the following must be taken into account:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord; but as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” ( Isaiah 55,8.9:XNUMX) And:
“But you must not overlook this one thing, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day!” (2 Peter 3,8:XNUMX)
On the one hand, there are facts that need to be dealt with; on the other hand, the obstacle of limited human thinking. A small example of limitation - inability to understand and see through “infinity”:
We take a journey to the end of the vast cosmos. When you arrive, your mind will ask what lies beyond this end. This will lead to never-ending disruption, because here every ending is like a beginning.
The inability to understand some things lies in the limitations of 3D thinking. The physicist, Albert Einstein, with his theory of relativity could perhaps understand infinity. He added the fourth to the three physical dimensions - the current time. It plays a big role in the processes. E.g.: Two hours in the arms of a loved one seems like 2 minutes; but two minutes before the execution felt like two hours.
On the one hand, “eternity” means a time without a beginning or an end, but at the same time it is incomprehensible that the God of the universe - his existence - has no beginning. Or to understand that: “Even heaven and the whole universe cannot contain Him (God)” (2 Chronicles 2,5:XNUMX)
This is also incomprehensible: keeping someone awake, but at the same time knowing about it for a very long time. “Wake up then! For you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24,42:XNUMX)
Let us put ourselves in the position of the first people who expected the promised Messiah in their first son. If you had told them back then that this promised seed would only come into the world after 4.000 years…; or the apostles who expected the return of the Lord Jesus during their lifetime (1 Corinthians 15,51.52:2.000), that He would only come after XNUMX years - would they believe in this promise? Would they take on some heavy burdens for their faith; Give up a lot, even risk your life? One can speak of an insoluble dilemma here.
And yet: If there were no hope of the Lord Jesus' imminent return, what meaning would life have at all? What driving force would that be for surviving some of the difficult and strenuous situations that life drags along mercilessly? How often crisis situations lead to bitter despair and often to suicide!
All of these things, which are incomprehensible with a healthy mind and which one would remain hopelessly stuck with, are possible to overcome with faith. After crossing such a bridge, a new breath comes into a person's life and the hope for the return of the Lord Jesus, which is actually close in our time, is also revived.
A good help for understanding this great dilemma lies in the mystery of God's so-called "predestination": "Your election (providence) corresponds to the plan that God the Father made before time - the plan for you through work “To make his holy people his holy people, people who submit themselves to Jesus Christ in obedience and are cleansed from all guilt by his blood.” (1 Peter 1,2:XNUMX/NGV)
Accordingly, this election is not only based on faith, but also depends on works. The problem lies in this guideline, because one can assume that people could always come to prove this faith and works. From this point of view it would then be said: due to the endless waiting, the return of the Lord Jesus could never occur.
It is a fact that although God still keeps His arms open, interest in His work is diminishing. It will come to a point where waiting will become superfluous and the start of the gigantic procession of the Lord Jesus and His angels will begin to move! The following text speaks about this:
“But God, shall he not carry out the justice of his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night, and shall he tarry long with them? I tell you that he will execute their justice without delay. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18,7.8:XNUMX, XNUMX)
What now? A simple example: A good potter knows in advance which clay can be used to form a suitable vessel. As long as this material is available to him, he builds suitable vessels; when there are none left, he closes his workshop. I believe that election went something like this - the predestination of people who were suitable for transformation for life on the new earth. Predestination is not to be understood as fate, in the sense: “I am just like that. I can’t help it!” Every person has the free choice to shape their life.
Current biblical prophecy, especially chronological prophecy, also serves this transformation. These include: The 2nd chapter in the book of Daniel, represented by a statue of world political history; the story of the gospel, presented by the seven seals in the book of Revelation, chap. 4 – 8; the history of the great wars depicted in the seven trumpets of Revelation, chapters 8-11; the prophecies in the OT and NT about the people of Israel at the end of time; Predictions of the Lord Jesus about the time of the end, anchored in the Gospels according to Matthew, chapter 24 and Luke, chapter 21; also the prophecy of the 2.300 evening-morning in the book of Daniel, chap. 8 and 9, which leads to October 22, 1844, the beginning of the end times.
I believe that God presented all of these prophecies in an optimal way to keep people in anticipation. In this way they can be continually roused, reminded, and ready—for you never know exactly when He will come.
I hope that after this short explanation it is no longer so difficult to believe that the promised “soon” return of the Lord Jesus will actually take place “in the near future”.
What might be difficult is to live in white garments, purified in the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, prepared for this return with a character conforming to the standard of God's moral law, and waiting patiently!
The unexpected “coming” can also be fulfilled if one suddenly falls into the sleep of death and then awakens again when the cloud with the new world ruler and his entourage, the thousands upon thousands of angels, stands over our earth to be His prepared people for to collect the long journey to the heavenly Jerusalem.

“And although Abraham did not close his eyes to all this, he was not discouraged in his faith. Instead of questioning God's promise, as unbelief would do, he honored God by trusting Him and was thereby strengthened in his faith. He was firmly convinced that God has the power to fulfill what HE has promised. So this is the reason why, as it says in the Scripture, faith was credited to him, Abraham, as righteousness.” (Romans 4,19:22-XNUMX/NGV)
But whoever remains steadfast to the end will be saved.