If all the sick in this fallen world were suddenly healed; if all the poor were given jobs; the homeless, a place to stay; the hungry, fed; governments passing high-moral laws and crime eliminated - would you still want Jesus to come back?
Is your faith rooted in an unbiblical idea of Utopia or the return of the Person? Does your heart long for a moral world to live in, or for the return of our King? I am all for cities, regions and nations turning to Jesus, but only in the context of salvation! We should not set our eye upon laws and legislation, but on souls who need to be revived by the resurrection power of Jesus! Revival is not transformed areas, but souls being *revived* (brought back from the dead). It is about Jesus having His inheritance in the nations; that He would receive the rewards of His sufferings!
Let it be known to all: righteousness outside of Jesus is the highest form of idolatry. For man to consider himself good would be for man to consider himself God. Jesus communicated this truth clearer than the most refined and purest diamond: "No one is good, except God." God is infinitely above all things - created and uncreated. He is the Creator. To offer even the most highly exaggerated comparison of His glory and Person to anything other than Himself would be hilariously silly, as the comparison would fall infinitely short of how Mighty YHWH is to the competitor. He created the heavens, the earth, and all the things therein. He formed the mighty mountains and the frightening ocean depths. His voice commands the storms and winds and mountains melt like wax in His presence. There is no one before Him, nor will there be any after Him. The highest heavens cannot contain Him and He holds the vast ocean waters in the palm of His hands. Before Adam rebelled against God and allowed the filth of sin to corrupt creation, all things that were created by God reflected a facet of His glory. This is why He deemed them, 'good', because they mirrored a part of Himself. Because of this, when man exalts himself to the position of 'good', his pride soars through the highest of heavens and asserts itself before Good Himself (I said "Good" on purpose). This is why the 'goodness' of man is such an affront to God, and why it is such a vile and ridiculous idea that man could be good - or have *any* good in him at all!
As Christians, we do primarily not long for a changed society. Paul's mission was not to confront Rome with their immorality and change their laws to reflect what he understood in Torah. He was not looking for a Utopia. Paul was obsessed with one thing and one thing alone: the return of Jesus! This was true of all the apostles! They were all lovesick for their Master, Friend, and God. They were pierced by the revelation of Christ, which caused an incurable wound of love that could only be healed by His return. They longed not for a changed society, but as Peter preached, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before". The reason why he preached the Gospel is because he wanted Jesus to come back! He was not looking for 'manifestations', although, he certainly did (Acts 2). He was not looking for 'revival', although, he certainly saw it. He wanted Jesus - and that was it.
One may say in defense, "I am not connected with His second coming because I have not studied the end times." To the extent that your heart burns for His second coming is directly knit to the extent that it was conquered by love in His first. How can you long for someone you do not miss? How can you love someone you do not know? Let us return to our first love, and not our first cause!
So, what does your heart long for? Jesus, or everything else?
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