John 14:2-3
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Colossians 1:27
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
2 Corinthians 13:5
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
Reflection
Saying “Jesus is not coming back” is an understandable conclusion when one is waiting for an external event that never seems to arrive, but it is a conclusion born from looking in the wrong place. Jesus Himself defined with precision what His return would mean: “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” The right question is not “when will Jesus return?” but “where is Christ now?” And Scripture answers with complete clarity: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
If Christ already dwells within every believer through the Spirit, then the return He promised has already been fulfilled—not as a past, finished event, but as a present, ongoing reality. Every time a person consciously enters the presence of God—in prayer, in worship, in communion with His Spirit—they are experiencing anew that fulfilled promise: where He is, there we are also, because He is already in us.
This truth doesn’t remove wonder or expectation; on the contrary, it intensifies it. It’s no longer about passively waiting for an uncertain future moment, but about actively recognizing an already-established presence. Paul invites the Corinthians to examine themselves precisely to confirm this reality: Christ is in you. It is not a distant possibility or a hope conditioned on the future; it is a present fact that can and should be tested and experienced in the believer’s daily life.
When we understand this, the way we seek God changes completely. We no longer look outward, toward the sky, waiting for a sign; we look inward, recognizing that Christ’s dwelling place is already established in our heart. Jesus’s return is not an event we still await with uncertainty; it is a presence we can inhabit every day, every time we choose to consciously enter into communion with Him.
Meditation for today
Have I been waiting for a future return of Jesus while overlooking His presence already established within me?
What does it mean for my daily life to examine myself and confirm that Christ is in me?
How would my way of praying and living change if I recognized that, in entering His presence, Jesus has already returned?
Prayer
Father, thank You that the return Jesus promised is not a distant, uncertain promise, but a reality already living in me through Your Spirit. Forgive me for the times I have looked outward, waiting for a sign, when the answer has always been within me.
Help me examine myself and know with certainty that Christ dwells in my heart. May every moment I consciously enter Your presence be a reminder that You have already fulfilled Your word. May I no longer live waiting for what I already have, but dwell fully in the reality that You are in me and I am in You. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Blessings beloved
Ana Mendez Ferrell