With these many and varied perspectives on the clear promises of Jesus’s return, some might wonder if those promises can be trusted. In response, I would point you no further than the promises given in the Old Testament that told of Jesus’s first coming. As certain as were those promises—as we can see in history—his return is just as certain. And Jesus himself spoke of that return as a source of great comfort for his followers. Notice again, how, the night before the cross, in an upper room where they had just celebrated Passover, Jesus told his disciples:

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1–3)

Notice how definitive our Lord is. “I will come again.” As his friends were deeply troubled by the tense, anxious moments they were experiencing, Jesus offered comfort in the form of this promise. He will return to take us to his Father’s house. For people wrestling with anxiety and fear in this present world, thoughts of that eternal home offer great hope. Notice how John described that new home:

For people wrestling with anxiety and fear in this present world, thoughts of that eternal home offer great hope.

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And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3–4)

How good is that? God’s perfect presence, sin’s consequences resolved, and comfort for all who hurt and grieve because the source of those pains has been made right.