Everyone has doctrines about how the Lord is returning. Huge segments of Christianity are caught up in the idea of a rapture, and it is the focus of their belief system. They write books about the Rapture, make movies of airplanes with no pilots or cars with no drivers, and tell of people being pulled away into the sky. Even if others do not believe in a rapture, there is still a major focus on the return of Christ: “Is it going to be tomorrow? Maybe He will return today.” It is interesting that so much teaching is focused on this event of Christ’s return.
But what did Yeshua (Jesus) address when He walked on the earth? When a crowd followed Him into Jerusalem, they wondered, “Is this the time? Is the Kingdom of God going to appear immediately?” (see Luke 19:11). They were supposed to be listening to Yeshua’s instruction and receiving what He was imparting. But instead, they were distracted and caught up with something else. The Lord must have been frustrated that they were missing the opportunity to receive from Him because they kept looking for the Kingdom to appear. As a result, they missed the very thing that God was doing then because they were looking to the future for something else to happen.
In addressing this issue of His return, Yeshua told the crowd a parable. “He said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, “Do business with this until I come back”’” (Luke 19:12).[1] You see how Yeshua was directly addressing their focus. In the parable He told them what to do, how to think, how to live, and how to act. But they were waiting for Him to do something that was not going to happen right then. It is true that we live in the end-time and there is a sense of imminency. But do not be fooled; a lot is yet to happen before the event of Christ’s return. We are to do business right here for the King and pursue it with vigor.
Yeshua has given each of us a gift, an anointing, and a commission to be occupied with until He comes. Our children should get a good education and find answers to problems such as pollution. Pollution is a result of sin. So as we see righteousness ushered into this earth, we will see the removal of pollution. I do not want Yeshua to come back to a world full of sickness and death. I want to show Him how we invested our talents and found the answers for life and health. I want to say, “Look, we are growing our own clean food without chemicals. And we found ways to create life in the bodies You gave us.” Our physical body is one of the greatest coins or minas that God has given us to do business with; it is the first place He comes to dwell (2 Thessalonians 1:10; Romans 8:11).
When Yeshua comes to dwell with us, I want to show Him the good things we accomplished by faith with what He gave us. Each of us has some piece of the puzzle and with it we will help Him build the Kingdom of God. This earth must be made worthy for our Lord to dwell here. And as the executioners of what Christ won on the cross, we will make that happen.
[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).
Listen to this entire message: GIG151 Meditation and the Mind of Christ