This really is a big question, because if there’s one thing that Jesus gave an iron-clad guarantee on, and more than once, it’s that he would come back to earth to take those who choose him as their Saviour, to be with him forever.

For example, Jesus said,

Do not let your hearts be troubled.You believein God[a];believe also in me.2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going thereto prepare a place for you?3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come backand take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:1–3.)

The undeniable reality is that the first Christians, and in particular every one of the writers of the New Testament, thought that Jesus would be returning in their day. But they died, and he hadn’t returned.

Well, ever since then, for the last two thousand years, the followers of Jesus have been waiting for Jesus to come. And he hasn’t come back yet.

In fact, the longer that Christians waited, the more that the nature of the Christian church changed. The church became institutionalised, and various teachings that tried to explain the delay became formulated as doctrines.

So, this is a really important question: why hasn’t Jesus come back already?

Some followers of Jesus believe that it’s their fault that Jesus hasn’t come back already. They think that they haven’t been obedient enough, or that they haven’t preached to enough people.

But I reckon that to think that the second coming of Jesus is up to us is rather self-centred thinking.

Surely, if you believe in God, then you have to also believe that he rules, and that Jesus will return when he is good and ready, and according to his own timeline.

And God does give us one clue about why he hasn’t returned yet. Referring to the second coming of Jesus, the Bible tells us that,

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9.)

This means that despite our impatience, God is being patient with this world, because he wants for as many people as possible to be saved.

At the end of the day, and because we’re talking about the end of the world, I can say that, basically we just need to trust God. We just need to recognise that He is God and we are not. When we can’t understand his reasons, we would agree with him if we knew what he knows.

And I’m happy with that.

The reason why this is an interesting question is because people who aren’t Christians have different ideas about what it means to be “saved.” You might be surprised to know that even Christians have different things in mind when they say they’ve been saved!

• For some Christians, being saved means to stop doing some things and start doing others. For them it’s all about their performance.

• For other Christians, being saved means joining a church. For them, being saved means mainly belonging to one specific church. If you’re in, you’ve been saved. If you’re out, you’re not.

• For some, being saved means being filled by the Holy Spirit so that you feel different and receive special spiritual gifts. Their focus is principally on the experience of having been saved.

• For others, being saved means that whatever you do down here, when you die, you end up in heaven. Their focus in being saved is all about the future, and what God has promised to do down the track.

• And there are many Christians in the world who believe that being saved means discovering a better way to live so that you are more successful in your finances, health, and relationships. For them, it’s mainly about personal development, health family happiness, as well as a big focus on financial and business success.

All those things are good in some way or another, but none of them are what it fundamentally means to be saved in the Bible.

It is true that the Bible refers to things like physical healing or liberation from one’s earthly enemies as “salvation.” It is still important to know what the core of salvation is all about.

You see, the main mistake that people make when talking about salvation is to confuse the actually being saved with the results of being saved.

Yes, being saved from cancer or a relationship breakdown or financial loss are wonderful things. But fundamentally, these are not the reasons why God sent his Son into the world to die for us.

Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that you could have more money in your bank account. Jesus didn’t even die on the cross so that you might have an easier life on earth. In fact, Jesus said that he hadn’t come to bring peace, but a sword. He meant that if you thought that being saved would mean an easier life, then you hadn’t understood what salvation was fundamentally about.

The core meaning of being saved in the Bible means that you have accepted eternal life as a free gift from God, based on his Son Jesus having taken your sin at the Cross and dying in you place. As a result of what Jesus did, you are declared to be righteous, perfect before God. Then he comes into your life through the Holy Spirit to lead you and help you grow as his child.

This might be rather challenging for people who are more interested in the material things of this earth, than those things that the spiritual. And there is no question that being saved can result in many blessings in this world. But that’s not what salvation is fundamentally about.

It’s a change of spiritual status, through which your status is changed from sinner to saint through the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary. Focus on that, because everything else that is good will flow from there.

Have you been saved?