The coming of the Lord

459 the coming of the LordIn your opinion, what would be the biggest event that could happen on the world stage? Another world war? The discovery of a cure for a terrible disease? World peace, once and for all? Maybe the contact to extraterrestrial intelligence? For millions of Christians, the answer to this question is simple: the biggest event that will ever happen is the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The central message of the Bible

The entire biblical history of the Old Testament focuses on the coming of Jesus Christ as Savior and King. As described in Genesis 1, our first parents broke their relationship with God through sin. However, God foretold the coming of a Redeemer to heal this spiritual breach. To the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to sin, God said: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Gen 3,15). This is the earliest prophecy in the Bible of a Savior overcoming the power of sin, which sin and death wields over man. "He's going to crush your head." How should this happen? Through the sacrificial death of the Redeemer Jesus: “You will bite his heel”. He fulfilled this prophecy at his first coming. John the Baptist recognized him as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1,29). The Bible reveals the central importance of God's incarnation at the first coming of Christ and that Jesus now enters the lives of believers. She also says with certainty that Jesus will come again, visibly and with great power. Indeed, Jesus comes in different ways in three ways:

Jesus has already come

We humans need God's redemption - His salvation - because we have all sinned and brought death upon us into the world. Jesus made this salvation possible by dying in our place. Paul wrote, "For God was well pleased that all fullness should dwell in him, and that through him he reconciled everything to himself, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through his blood on the cross" (Colossians 1,19-20). Jesus healed the break that occurred in the Garden of Eden. Through his sacrifice, the human family is reconciled to God.

The prophecies of the Old Testament referred to the kingdom of God. The New Testament begins with Jesus preaching "the good news of God": "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand," he said (Mark 1,14-15). Jesus, the King of that kingdom, walked among men and offered “a single and forever sacrifice for the guilt of sin” (Hebrews 10,12 New Geneva translation). We should never underestimate the importance of the incarnation, life and ministry of Jesus some 2000 years ago.

Jesus is coming now

There is good news for those who believe in Christ: "You also were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly lived after the manner of this world... But God, being rich in mercy, has in His great Love with which he loved us, even us who were dead in sins, made alive with Christ - by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2,1-2; 4-5).

"God raised us up with us and instituted us in heaven in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace through his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (verses 6-7). This passage describes our present condition as followers of Jesus Christ!

When the Pharisees asked when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied: “The kingdom of God does not come by observation; neither will they say: Behold, here it is! or: There it is! For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst" (Luke 1 Cor7,20-21). Jesus Christ brought the kingdom of God in his person. Jesus lives in us now (Galatians 2,20). Through Jesus in us, he expands the influence of the kingdom of God. His coming and life in us foreshadows the final revelation of the kingdom of God on earth at Jesus' second coming.

Why does Jesus live in us now? We note: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2,8-10). God saved us by grace, not through our own efforts. Although we cannot earn salvation through works, Jesus lives in us so that we can now do good works and thereby glorify God.

Jesus will come again

After Jesus' resurrection, when his disciples saw him ascending, two angels asked them, "Why are you standing there looking up at heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again just as you saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1,11). Yes, Jesus is coming again.

At his first coming, Jesus left some messianic prophecies unfulfilled. That was one of the reasons why many Jews rejected him. They awaited the Messiah as a national hero who would deliver them from Roman rule. But the Messiah had to come first to die for all mankind. Only later would he return as a victorious king, not only exalting Israel, but setting his everlasting kingdom above all the kingdoms of this world. “The kingdoms of the world have come to our Lord and to his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11,15).

Jesus said, "When I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that you may be where I am" (John 14,3). Later, the apostle Paul wrote to the church: “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a sound of command, with a sound of the archangel’s voice and with a sound of God’s trumpet” (1 Thess 4,16). At Jesus 'second coming, the righteous who have died, that is, the believers who have entrusted their lives to Jesus, will be raised to immortality and the believers who are still alive at Jesus' return will be changed to immortality. All will go to meet him in the clouds (vv. 16-17; 1. Corinthians 15,51-54).

But when?

Over the centuries, speculation about the second coming of Christ has caused a multitude of disputes - and countless disappointments as the various scenarios of the forecasters proved wrong. Overemphasizing "when Jesus will return" can distract us from the central focus of the gospel. This is Jesus' work of redemption for all people, accomplished through His life, death, resurrection, and outpouring of grace, love, and forgiveness as our heavenly High Priest. We can get so caught up in prophetic speculation that we fail to fulfill the rightful role of Christians as witnesses in the world. Rather, we are to exemplify the loving, merciful, and Jesus-centered way of life and proclaim the good news of salvation.

Our focus

It is impossible to know when Christ will come again and therefore irrelevant compared to what the Bible says. What should we focus on? Best to be ready when Jesus comes again, whenever that will happen! "Therefore you also keep yourselves ready," Jesus said, "for the Son of man is coming at a time you do not expect" (Matthew 24,44 New Geneva translation). "But he who endures to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24,13 New Geneva translation). The focus of the Bible is always on Jesus Christ. Therefore, our life as Christ's followers should revolve around Him. Jesus came to earth as man and God. He comes to us believers now through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ will come again in glory "to change our frustrated body, to be like his glorious body" (Philippians 3,21). Then “creation also will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8,21). Yes, I come soon, says our Savior. As disciples of Christ we all answer with one voice: "Amen, yes, come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22,20).

by Norman L. Shoaf


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