Jesus Will Return Because God Will Vindicate His People
From that time onwards, many of God’s people have experienced reproach and affliction in various ways (see Heb. 11:35–38). This history of opposition continues until today: the execution of Jesus, Steven, James, Peter, Paul, and countless other Christians throughout the ages being only the more explicit examples of prejudice and discrimination.
This is also why Jesus returns: when God restores his perfect creation, he will vindicate all those who have obeyed his will throughout the ages. It is not “the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars” who will live in God’s new world (Rev. 21:8). It is “those who conquer” (v. 7), that is, the people who followed the revealed will of God in a fallen world, the people who followed God’s provision for dealing with sin (sacrifices in the Old Covenant; Jesus and his death and resurrection in the New Covenant), the people who refused to compromise their faith in God and his salvation despite the hardship and the persecution that following God and his Messiah may bring.
This is also why Jesus returns: when God restores his perfect creation, he will vindicate all those who have obeyed his will throughout the ages. It is not “the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars” who will live in God’s new world (Rev. 21:8). It is “those who conquer” (v. 7), that is, the people who followed the revealed will of God in a fallen world, the people who followed God’s provision for dealing with sin (sacrifices in the Old Covenant; Jesus and his death and resurrection in the New Covenant), the people who refused to compromise their faith in God and his salvation despite the hardship and the persecution that following God and his Messiah may bring.
The cry of the blood of Abel (Gen. 4:10) and the cry of the Christians martyrs (Rev. 6:10) will be answered when Jesus returns. God is indeed just, and he will punish sin because he is the “Sovereign Lord, holy and true” (v. 10). When Jesus returns, God will execute his judgment against the unrighteous and unholy who have refused him, who have refused Jesus, and who have refused God’s people.
Schnabel, E. J. (2011). 40 Questions about the End Times. (B. L. Merkle, Ed.) (pp. 249–250). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional.
Schnabel, E. J. (2011). 40 Questions about the End Times. (B. L. Merkle, Ed.) (pp. 249–250). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional.
