Is He Still an On-Time God?
Yes, He is.
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6–8.
At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
The word “time” in this passage is translated from the Greek word kairos, which refers to the right, critical, opportune moment. Due time. A fixed time. A set time. An appointed time. Kairos. To put it plainly, Christ died at the appointed time that God decreed in heaven and on earth. It wasn’t random selection. It wasn’t happenstance that it happened when it happened. God appointed the moment. The right time. He decided when Jesus would be born (Galatians 4:4). He chose who would carry Jesus in her womb (Luke 1:26–38). He determined when and where Jesus would grow up (Matthew 2:13–23; Luke 2:39–40). God had a time in mind.
Christ died at the right time. On time.
The Right Time for His Return
If there was a right time for Christ to die, then by default there was an inopportune time, or an inappropriate time, for Him to die. The timing of Christ’s death and resurrection mattered to God. Likewise, when Jesus returns, it will be at the right time. The appointed time. Jesus has not cracked the clouds yet and has not come back in all His glory because it is not the right time. Kairos.
Jesus Himself said: “Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—but only the Father. Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.” Mark 13:32–33 (CSB)
During His earthly ministry, Jesus said that even the Son did not know the day or hour of His return. Let that sink in. Emmanuel. God with us. Son of God. One with God. All authority under His feet. The name above every other name. During His earthly ministry, Jesus said that He did not know the appointed time, the set time, the opportune moment of His return. Theologians continue to discuss whether that changed after Jesus was raised, glorified, and seated at the right hand of the Father. Scripture does not explicitly answer that question. What Scripture does clearly reveal is that the Father has fixed that day by His own authority (Acts 1:7), and Christ will return at the appointed time. But please understand, the second that God the Father tells Him it’s time, Jesus will be ready. He will be in position. He will not hesitate or contemplate or delegate His duties to another. The second God says, “Now,” Jesus is coming for His Bride. He’s coming. And at that time, that appointed time, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9–11).
Jesus has been promised His people as His reward. Isaiah prophesied that after His suffering, “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11, ESV). The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured the cross “for the joy that lay before Him” (Hebrews 12:2, CSB). You and I are part of that joy. We are part of the reward the Father promised His Son. Jesus is our chief example of what it means to wait for the Kairos. The right time.
Even Jesus Waited
In John 2:1–11, Jesus and His disciples are at a wedding, and the bride and groom have run out of wine, which would have brought great social shame upon the family. Jesus’ mother, being a typical mom, tells her Son, in so many words, “Do that thing You do. They’ve run out of wine. I know You can do it. Just do it, Jesus.”
Jesus’ response is recorded in John 2:4: “What does that have to do with you and me, woman? My hour has not yet come.” In other words, “My time. My hour. My Kairos has not yet come. I can’t publicly reveal My glory yet. It’s not the time.” Mary ignored Jesus and turned to the servants and said: “Do whatever he tells you.” And as we know, Jesus had compassion and turned the water into wine (John 2:5–11). But even Jesus was aware of and sensitive to His appointed time. His critical timing. His Kairos. He was cautious about moving outside of the Father’s timing and publicly revealing Himself before the appointed hour. God in the flesh cared about time.
The God Who Appoints Time
To be clear, Jesus was not looking at His Rolex and suggesting that a certain hour on His watch had not yet come. He was referring to the hour in which He would be revealed for who He truly was. Not an hour on a clock, but an hour in eternity, established before the foundations of the earth by God Almighty, who is outside of time. God the Father is outside of time. He sets time. He appoints time. He releases time. He created time. He is not moved by our clocks, nor is He impressed by our calendars. He has a right time in mind. Because He has a right time in mind, it is possible for us, as humans, to move outside of His right timing. We can make the grave mistake of moving before the Kairos.
Abraham and the Appointed Time
I’m reminded of Abraham, who was called Abram when God promised him that an heir would come from his own body.
God promised that Abraham would father a child, specifically, an heir. At first, however, God did not reveal the appointed time when this would happen. He simply said: “One who comes from your own body will be your heir.” Genesis 15:4 (CSB). Abraham was 75 years old when God made this promise. In Genesis 16, Sarah, who was called Sarai at the time, said to Abraham: “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave. Perhaps through her I can build a family.” Genesis 16:2 (CSB). Abraham agreed. Hagar became pregnant with Ishmael, and things quickly began to unravel. As the story progresses, however, we discover that God had a right time in mind for His promise to be fulfilled.
The Lord later declared: “Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.” Genesis 18:14 (CSB). The appointed time. Kairos.
Three chapters later, a year down the road, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, exactly as God had promised (Genesis 21:1–3). Isaac—not Ishmael—was the son God established as Abraham’s heir. God had a right time in mind. How do we know? Because Matthew chapter 1 opens the genealogy of Jesus with these words: “An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1 (CSB). The timing of Isaac’s birth was never just about Abraham and Sarah. It was part of God’s unfolding plan of redemption that would ultimately lead to the coming of Jesus Christ.
Prevented for the Promise
Though Sarah accused God of preventing her from having children, could it be that God had a right time in mind for the Savior to be born over 42 generations later? If God had given Sarah children in her youth, could it be that Jesus would have come too early? At an inopportune time? Outside of Kairos?
What have we been accusing God of?
“God has prevented me from getting married.”
“God has prevented me from getting the right job.”
“God has prevented me from having abundant finances.”
“God has prevented me from getting healed.”
“God has prevented me from bearing children.”
“God has prevented me from doing ministry full time.”
“God has prevented me from moving out of state.”
“God has prevented me from buying a house.”
“God has prevented me from being in leadership.”
“God has prevented me from retiring.”
“God has prevented me from living.”
“God has prevented me from dying.”
Could it be that all of your accusations are valid, and He is indeed preventing you, not from the promise, but for the promise? Preserving you for the promise. Preserving you for His purposes. Leading you to His opportune time. His Kairos and not your own. Some of us only want the promise. However, God is up to something that is bigger than your happy marriage. Bigger than you getting rich. Bigger than your comforts and what you think you deserve. Zoom out. You’re playing a much smaller role in God’s exceedingly great plan.
The more we look at Abraham, the more we see that it had very little to do with what he and Sarah wanted and everything to do with what God was accomplishing across generations. He had a set time in mind for the coming of Jesus. Some of us believe God is punishing us by preventing the promise, when in actuality, He is protecting His purposes. This story is not ultimately about us. We get to partake. We get to play a part. We get to be a small puzzle piece in God’s great redemptive plan. But above all, God desires that His will be accomplished. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10 (CSB).
He is establishing His Kingdom. He is gathering a people for Himself. He desires that souls be saved. And He desires that His Son receive the reward of His suffering (Isaiah 53:11; Hebrews 12:2). Ultimately, it’s about God’s glory. It’s about what He wants. And if you fear Him with the reverential fear Scripture calls us to have, then more than anything else, you want Him to have His way.
“The fear of the Lord leads to life.” (Proverbs 19:23)
“The fear of the Lord is a strong confidence.” (Proverbs 14:26)
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)
Do You Fear the Giver More Than Losing the Gift?
Do you remember when God tested Abraham?
He told him to sacrifice the very son He had promised him. The one He had given him. Abraham obeyed. He took his son Isaac up the mountain, laid him on the altar, and prepared to take his life. Then God stopped him and said: “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” Genesis 22:12 (CSB)
Some of us are so busy engaging in self-preservation. Preserving our comforts. Preserving our handicaps. Preserving our earthly treasures. We’re so self-centered that God can’t even trust us with the promise yet because we don’t fear Him more than we fear not receiving the promise, or having to surrender it back to Him if He asks for it. Again, Sarah said to Abraham: “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children…” Some of us who are living through what feels like providential prevention have come to a place where, through our words and our actions, we say:
“Since God has not…go.”
To our selfish ambition we say,
“Go. Accomplish my desires and my will, in my time.”
To our fleshly passions we say,
“Go. Make me feel better about where I’m at in life. Bring me temporary pleasure to numb this painful process.”
To our sinful nature we say,
“Go. Do what you desire. Since God has not…fill in my blanks…go.”
And we give birth to things that God never intended because they do not serve His purpose.
Remember Ishmael? After Ishmael was born, God reiterated that Abraham’s promised heir would still come through Sarah.
Abraham pleaded: “If only Ishmael were acceptable to you!” Genesis 17:18 (CSB). In other words: “If You would just accept Ishmael. If You would just accept the thing I produced outside of Your timing.” But God’s response was direct: “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him…” Genesis 17:19 (CSB).
Do You Want Jesus More Than His Promises?
Do you yearn for, long for, and hope for Jesus more than you do His promises? More than His gifts? Are you more excited about what you can receive in this life than about who you will have for eternity? Jesus warned that many will stand before Him and begin listing everything they accomplished in His name. “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?” And His response will be: “I never knew you. Depart from me…” Matthew 7:22–23 (CSB). Do you know the One who promised? Or have you only acquainted yourself with His gifts?
The Dream That Exposed My Heart
God gave me a dream a few years ago.
In the dream, there was this little girl waiting to receive a bunch of presents. Waiting anxiously, like a self-centered 6-year-old on Christmas morning. She was just waiting. And it’s interesting because, in the dream, I could feel all of her emotions. How she felt. How her heart was racing. How excited she was. The anticipation. Everything. She was on a stage, in fact, looking around for her gifts. And finally, the gifts began to come. They just popped up. One by one. Big gifts. Little gifts. In-between gifts. And I remember observing this little girl, just watching her as she received the gifts. As she got them, she would do something that I couldn’t imagine doing with a gift.
She would get the gift, glance at the card attached to it, and she would chuck the card. Wouldn’t read it. Wouldn’t open it. Totally disregarded it. Didn’t care about the card. Didn’t care that the card revealed who gave the gift. She would chuck the card and just rip open the gift to see what was inside. And she would do that with each gift. She’d get it, chuck the card, rip open the gift, see what was inside. And she wouldn’t even ponder the gifts. She would just move on to the next one. It was so messed up.
But I remember waking up from that dream. And you know how sometimes you really have to go into deep prayer about the interpretation of a thing? Holy Spirit was like, “Nah, girl, that’s you. You know that’s you.” And I remember that being a time in my life when I was waiting for the promises of God to come to pass. And if I’m honest, I longed for the gifts more than I longed for the Gift Giver. I wanted the promises more than I wanted the Promise Maker.
And so God has made me some really big promises over the course of my 33 years of living. Big promises. But if those promises are released prematurely, I will miss His purpose. And I will miss Him. And I will stand before God at the end of my days, with all my gifts and promises fulfilled, having lived my best life then, only to be separated from God for the rest of forever. For eternity in hell.
Jesus Is the Reward
Jesus is our reward. No matter what. He is the reward. He has to be.
If you don’t desire Him the most, more than anything, then you need to repent. Because there’s something or someone that you love more than Him. There’s something or someone that you long for more than Him. Something has taken His place and, by extension, your gaze. It has to be Jesus more than anything. Yes, the promises are coming. The husband, the wife, the child, the wealth, the job, the healing, the ministry, whatever God promised you, you can take it to the bank that He didn’t lie. But God forbid you get the promise at the expense of your intimacy with Him. And God forbid those things are released to you outside of the appointed time. Jesus is coming back, and He is waiting expectantly for what God the Father promised Him. He is at the right hand of the Father, waiting, praying, in oneness with Him. He is our example.
Is He still an On-Time God? Yes, He is.
He has a right time in mind.
An appointed time.
Kairos.
