Why The Delay?

“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” (1Co 15:25 AV)

 

Although in the context of sin and death, the statement above begs a question.  If Jesus is as much God as the Father (which HE is), then He has the ability to defeat all enemies instantaneously.  Then why not?  If Jesus is as much God as the Father (which He is), and He knows how much suffering mankind will endure, then why not conquer all enemies instantaneously?  As God, why doesn’t Jesus destroy Satan before he has any chance of inflicting damage?  The tense above is the present tense.  That is, Jesus presently reigns.  He is in control.  He has never been out of control.  The Godhead has maintained and governed all of creation from the moment all things were set in motion.  Knowing, then, that God in the person of Jesus reigns and must reign, begs the question of why bad things happen to good people.  This further begs the question as to the duration of this struggle.  If Jesus Christ could conquer all enemies in the instant of a nano-second, then why tarry as He is?  There really are two applications here.

The first is to understand that Christ must reign.  He will always reign.  There is no beginning nor end to His reign.  No matter what our senses tell us, Jesus Christ reigns.  No matter what the world may appear to be, Jesus Christ reigns.  This is simple enough.  There is another application here.  That is if Jesus Christ could conquer all enemies by a mere thought, yet has chosen to belabor that end, there must be a reason.  That reason speaks to a process that accomplishes a certain goal that otherwise could not be accomplished.  If we understand there is a process tied with a goal, then the saint will be apt to exercise a bit more patience in that process.  All things considered, most of that to which the saint is destined could be accomplished in a moment.  We will be transformed into the image of Christ in an instant.  Our old man of sin will be destroyed in an instant.  We all have a place in heaven that is prepared for us.  So many blessings will be instantaneous at the coming of Christ or our graduation thereto.  So, there must be something that Jesus desires to accomplish that cannot be accomplished outside of delaying the inevitable.  IF we can answer that question, we will answer one of life’s greatest puzzles as to the purpose of our existence.

There are two traits we cannot learn once we are glorified.  That is, self-abasement exercised through self-denial and sacrifice, and living by faith.  Both require we live in the limitations of our human experience.  We will no longer live by faith when we see face to face our dear Savior.  What we once took by faith, we shall see face to face.  When we are given a glorified body and live in the glory of the LORD Jesus Christ, there will no longer be self-denial.  For, we will by nature desire to do that which pleases Him without having to wrestle with ourselves.  Paul describes this in Philippians chapter two.  It is called the mind of Christ.  When we wonder why the LORD just doesn’t end it all as quickly as He could, we have to remember there are greater goals here at play.  Mainly, that the child of God can learn by experience the nature of Christ.  He can learn by a choice challenged by two opposites.  Trust Him, or deny Him.  Sacrifice and serve in self-denial, or please self.  Once the old man is gone and we see Him by sight, there will be no more opportunity.