The Second Coming of Christ  

After dying on the cross, resurrecting from the dead, Jesus Christ promised to return someday and take Christians to heaven with Him (see John 14:2-3; Acts 1:10-11).  We can be confident because Jesus’ track record of promises is perfect!  He said exactly how He’d die and why and that He’d resurrect from the dead, proving who He is…and He did!  His resurrection is proof and preview of our own (see 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Philippians 3:10-11). 

Christians agree with certainty that Jesus WILL come back…however, it’s the details that are disagreed upon.  And this make sense, the bible is super clear about the details of Christ’s second coming.  Revelation is all about it and it’s all one of the most difficult books in the bible to understand.  Here’s what we can know FOR SURE about the second coming of Christ:

>>We won’t know when!

Matthew 24:36, No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Jesus then uses an analogy of a thief breaking into a home…no one knows when he’ll strike (24:42-43).  Paul uses this imagery 1 Thessalonians 5:1, NLT For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

>>Evil will have it’s time in a big way!

Many people use the term “Anti-Christ” as someone Satan will use to deceive the world and turn most people against Christ.  The word anti-Christ is used only 4 times in the bible, all in 1 & 2 John and here’s the definition: anyone who says Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh is an anti-Christ (2 Jn 1:7).

However, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, 7-10 NLT does speak of a leader of evil.  Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun…3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.  7For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.  9This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 

>> Christians, dead and alive will meet Jesus at His return!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, NLT And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.  16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air [get to fly!]. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.

So, what happens to a Christian when they die, anyone?  A clue comes from Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5:4-6, While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.  6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.

At the Second Coming, the bodies of dead Christians will be resurrected and transformed into new bodies for heaven (see 1 Corinthians 15 for indepth look at this, especially verses 35-56).  But before Jesus returns, after a Christian dies, it seems their soul is with God immediately…Isn’t this what Jesus told the thief on the cross?  “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42).  See also Revelation 6:9-10.

>>It’s the end of the world as we know it!

The bible speaks in 2 Peter 3:8-13 of people who mock the idea that Jesus will return – they say, “Come on, everything has gone on the same as always…He’s not returning.”  The bible responds: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.  When Jesus returns, this old earth and heaven are gone and the new one that Jesus builds will be ready.

>>Everyone will be amazed!

2 Thessalonians 1:10, NCV, This will happen on the day when the Lord Jesus comes to receive glory because of his holy people. And all the people who have believed will be amazed at Jesus. You will be in that group, because you believed.  Are you in that group…do you believe?  What is it that we are to believe?  [That Jesus is who He said He was – the Son of God who came to earth, died for your sin, resurrected from the dead, promising to come back some day and get us]…ROMANS 10:9, 13

The bible says that people, at the end – people wont be amazed at the battle between good and evil or the angels or demons or whatever else you get hints about in the bible.  It says that we’ll be amazed at Jesus!  And why wouldn’t we be…if He indeed created the world…He’s amazing! 

Look how John describes him in Revelation 1:12-18, I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man" dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.  17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.