As we consider the reason that Jesus must return to the earth in the future, we start with the most glaring reason, and that is that the promise of God demands Christ’s return. The first hint of a Messianic Redeemer came in Genesis 3, right after Adam’s fall, when God promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpents head (Genesis 3:15). In the closing chapter of Malachi, God promised that “the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2). In between those two promises, the entire Old Testament is filled with prophecies of the coming Deliverer (Some say there are at least 333 distinct promises). More than 100 of those prophecies were literally fulfilled at the first advent of Christ, which were fulfilled precisely, and literally. Since the prophecies concerning Christ’s first coming were fulfilled literally, it stands to reason that the remaining two-thirds of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies pointing to the return of Christ will be fulfilled literally. Much of what God promised about Christ requires that the Savior return to the earth in triumph in order to bring it to pass. Passages like Titus 1:2 remind us that God, cannot lie, and therefore, the truthfulness of the Word of God is at stake. Since God cannot lie, we can say with certainty that if the Bible says something is going to happen, we can trust the credibility of the Author and watch for it to happen. This should be an encouragement to us in the dark days we live, and a motivation for us to share the good news of Christ’s return in the days that lay in front of us.
