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To end this school year, we will look at our final of the 11 foundational doctrines, the Second Coming. This is a topic that usually elicits one of two responses. You have those that fit into one of the well-defined camps (we will talk about those more this week) that will fight for their position and argue at the drop of a hat. Then you have those that have gotten burned out on the arguments or who haven’t studied it much who kind of just shrug and say, “he’s coming back and that’s all that matters.”
It is a popular subject for works of fiction and is a favorite subject of many pastors, but there are few areas of Christian theology more contentious or confusing than eschatology, the study of the end times. Should the Book of Revelation be interpreted literally or symbolically? Will Christ establish his Kingdom on earth or has his millennial reign already begun? Is the millennium a literal 1000 years or not? Don’t know what some of that means? That’s okay we’ll get there.
FOUR POINTS OF AGREEMENT
Before we dive into all of the disagreements, I want to make it clear that there are areas that all Christians can agree on. These are the bare basics of the discussion of the Second coming and we should start there. There are four general points of agreement:
1. Jesus Christ will physically return to earth one day.
When you read the gospels, Jesus speaks extensively about the Kingdom of God. His parables described this Kingdom. The Jews were well-versed on the Old Testament prophecies that foretold the expecting the messenger to come to pave the way for the kingdom of God. However, the kingdom of God that Jesus described was not the kingdom that the Jews were expecting.
Instead of the powerful, militaristic kingdom that the Jews thought their God would give them, the gospel of Jesus Christ described a kingdom of love, meekness, and peace. Not only did Jesus come proclaiming a kingdom unlike any the Jews had ever heard of, but he also came proclaiming Himself as the king of this new kingdom.
This gives a deeper sense of why the disciples were so distraught at the thought of Jesus’ crucifixion. That would mean that they would lose their friend and their king. The good news for us is that we don’t just look backward to Jesus’ first coming as king, we also look forward to the second coming, the return of the King.
Christ was raised physically from the dead. He ascended physically into Heaven. He transcends time and space, and He will return again physically. We see this most clearly in the angel’s words to the disciples after they had watched the ascension.
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:11
There are hundreds of biblical references to this return of the king, and they are often referenced in the term “The Day of the Lord.” Watch the video below for a primer on the Day of the Lord.
He will enter as the Master of a restored universe. Christ’s return will be very different from His birth. When Jesus came the first time, it was in quiet and humble conditions, but when Jesus returns, He will come with power and glory to conquer evil and establish His Kingdom of righteousness and justice. What was hidden during his first coming will now be revealed.
2. There will be a bodily resurrection of all people who have ever lived.
Not only is Jesus coming back, but everyone will see him. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. When Jesus returns, he wants the biggest audience possible to witness the culmination of his coronation as King. He will physically raise all those who have died, giving them back the bodies they lost at death.
These will be the same bodies people had in earthly life—but our resurrection bodies will not die and, for the righteous, they will be transformed into a glorified state, freed from suffering and pain, and enabled to do many of the amazing things Jesus could do with his glorified body.
I know that sounds kind of weird, but listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
This has been an essential teaching of the church from the beginning. Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope and a picture of our resurrection. The second century theologian Tertullian put it this way. “After the present age is ended he will judge his worshipers. . . . All who have died since the beginning of time will be raised up again and shaped again and remanded to whichever destiny they deserve.”
3. Satan will be defeated and constrained forever.
There was a promise made, a prophecy foretold all the way back in the Garden of Eden just after the fall that the serpent’s head would be crushed. That promise was fulfilled at the cross, however as we look around us we can still see evil rampant. There is coming a day when it won’t be like this anymore.
There are even debates around the capabilities of the adversary now that he has been defeated at the cross. Some would hold that evil is being restrained even now so the gospel would be allowed to go forward while others see that this world is filled with all kinds of demonic activity. We’ve already covered Satan and Demons in this class so I’m not going to go over that again. But when Jesus returns, he will put a final end to them. They will be cast into the Lake of Fire and all of their evil activity will be ceased forever.
4. There will be a final judgment of believers and unbelievers.
We covered this pretty well two weeks ago talking about the afterlife, but when Jesus returns, there will be a judgment in which believers will be joined with Christ for all eternity and where unbelievers will be separated from the love of God forever.
There are debates over how many judgments that there will be, exactly what the timing will be, and how it will be conducted, but the important thing to understand today is that there is a coming judgement in which all of mankind will be reckoned based upon their relationship to Jesus Christ.
The biggest issues in coming to a greater consensus on the second coming are the understanding of Revelation in the context of the rest of scripture, remembering what Jesus said about his second coming, and understanding the different positions. One of the central issues involves the millennium, the thousand-year period during which Christ is said to rule the world. (Revelation 20:1-10). The four most popular views rotate around Jesus return in relationship to this 1000 years. We’ll talk about those more as we go through the week.
Which of these 4 common teachings do you have the most trouble believing? Why?
I learned that in the second coming, it was thought Jesus came back on a white steed, sword in hand and all of his power. But, in Revelations, Jesus comes back on a white horse, sword in mouth and he already has his blood spilled on him before the final battle. Jesus vs Evil!
I learned that
jesus will come again in the flesh
i learned that all the dead will rise and take their place in God’s new kingdom. we will also be able to do some of the stuff Jesus was able to do when he was on earth.
I learned that eschatalogy is the study of the end times.
Their will be a final judgement for believers and non-believersr n
I learned that we must always be ready and live every day as off it is the day Jesus will return to us.
i learned that one day the devil will be banished forever.
Jesus Christ will physically return to earth one day
For me the 2nd one is the hardest for me to believe. About all people being resurrected from there body from all who have lived.
Jesus will be resurected and will return to the Earth in body form. When he does he will banish the devil.
I learned that Jesus will return physically just as he ascended physically
It’s a little hard to believe the second point- about how ALL of the ppl on the earth will see him at the same time and at once.
I also have a hard time with #2. I believe that the dead in Christ will rise up with there before they died body but its hard to really imagine this really happening.
I learned w need to live like Jesus is coming today, tomorrow, next week. we need to be ready!
Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom of God. The kingdom Jesus was talking about wasn’t the one the Jews were expecting
When Jesus returns there will be a judgement who don’t believe in him