Great Bible Truths Podcast 131
The Promises of God Talk 12
The Promise of Christ’s Coming
So far in this series we have considered promises made by God that are actually referred to as promises in the New Testament. By that I mean that the word promise is specifically used in connection with the particular blessing that is being promised. These have included:
- The promise of salvation
- The promise of righteousness
- The promise of sonship
- The promise of victory over death
- The promise of eternal life
- The promise of an inheritance
- The promise of the Holy Spirit.
All these blessings are specifically referred to as promises in the New Testament. And there’s just one more – the promise of Christ’s coming. 2 Peter 3:4 tells us that, because it’s been so long since this promise was made, some people will say:
Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.
So today we’re going to consider:
- The fact of Christ’s coming
- The nature of his coming
- The purpose of his coming
- The need to be ready for his coming.
The fact of his coming
The apostles and leaders of the early church taught very clearly that Christ would return.
James tells us that the Lord’s coming is near (James 5:8).
Peter assures his readers that the day of the Lord will come (2 Peter 3:10). Jude declares The Lord is coming (Jude 14).
And Paul tells the Thessalonians that:
…the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet-call of God…
(1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Finally, John, exiled on Patmos, cried Amen, come Lord Jesus
(Revelation 22:20).
So the apostles were quite sure that Christ would return. This was because of three main facts:
- they were directed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as they wrote the scriptures.
- they remembered the promise of the angels at the ascension:
This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come in the same way as you have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11).
They were sure he would come because they had seen him go.
- they were sure that Jesus was coming again because they had his personal promise that he would do so:
I am going to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me (John 14:2-3).
The Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his holy angels (Matthew 16:27, Mark 8:38, Luke 9:26).
So we can be quite sure that Jesus is coming. It is promised by the apostles, by the angels, and by Jesus himself.
The nature of his coming
There have been considerable differences of opinion among Bible-believing Christians as to the precise nature of the second coming of Christ. It is not possible in one short talk to enter into discussion upon the various points of view held by equally sincere evangelical Christians. It should be fairly safe to say, however, that there are certain facts about the return of our Lord which must be accepted if we are to be consistent in our belief in the authority of scripture.
The statement of the angels at the ascension (Acts 1:11) is sufficient evidence alone that the return of Christ will be personal, physical, and visible.
Jesus will return personally for it will be this same Jesus. It will be the Lord himself who will descend from heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Jesus will return physically, for he is coming in the same way as they saw him go. He will descend with the same resurrection body with which they saw him ascend.
And Jesus will return visibly, for he will return in the same way as you have seen him go. The early disciples were privileged to see him go into heaven. How marvellous to consider that we may very well be among those who are privileged to see him return!
The purpose of his coming
Since the second coming has yet to take place, all that we know about it is what God has chosen to reveal in his word. As we examine the New Testament there seem to be five main purposes of our Lord’s return.
- He is coming for us
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 tells us that when the Lord returns
the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever.
Jesus is coming. We will meet him and be with him for ever. Hallelujah!
- Jesus is coming for the destruction of death
In those majestic verses in 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 Paul gives us another description of the events which will take place when the trumpet sounds. Then, he says, the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory (v.54). For more on this, please see talk 8.
- Jesus is coming to judge the world
Those who have rejected him will be judged. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 tells us that the Lord Jesus will be:
revealed from heaven with his powerful angels in blazing fire. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished with everlasting destruction, shut out from the presence of the Lord and the majesty of his power.
True Christians, of course, will not be judged for their sins. Our sins were judged at Calvary. John 3:18 tells us that whoever trusts in Christ will not be judged. It does seem, however, that there is to be a judgment for Christians which is related to reward for service:
- For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
- Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest,
- for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
- If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
- If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
- He is coming as king
Closely connected with the fact that Jesus is coming as judge is the glorious truth that he is coming as king. He is coming to reign. Paul tells us that Jesus must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). The kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ and He shall reign for ever and ever (Revelation 11:15).
- Jesus is coming to make all things new
There are to be new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell:
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13)
There will be no more death, no more sorrow, or crying, or any more pain; they will all have passed away:
- He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
- And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:4-5).
What a wonderful promise! What a blessed hope! Thank God, Jesus is coming!
The need to be ready for his coming
So the return of the Lord is certainly something to look forward to. But the Bible also tells us that we must be prepared for it. Jesus said that it’s not for us to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put under his own authority (Acts 1:7) and that no one knows the day or hour when he will come again (Mark 13:32). The day of the Lord will be as unexpected as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). We do not need to know the time of his coming and we certainly should not be trying to calculate it. But we do need to be ready.
In Matthew 24:42-51 Jesus warns us of the dangers of those who say, My master is staying away a long time. In the next chapter he tells us that we are to be ready by keeping watch (v.13). The fact that in the parable the foolish virgins were those who had no oil in their lamps may well suggest that Jesus meant that we should take care that we are spiritually ready.
And in the next parable he warns us to be ready by making sure that we are using faithfully the talents which the Lord has entrusted to our care (Matthew 25:14-30). If we do, we may be sure that we too will hear the commendation of our Lord when he comes:
Well done, good and faithful servant… come and share your master’s happiness.
So the Lord is certainly coming. He is coming personally, physically and visibly. He is coming for us. He is coming for the destruction of death. He is coming to judge. He is coming to reign. And he is coming to make all things new. As we rejoice at the prospect, let’s make sure that we are ready.