The Second Coming and The Resurrection of the Dead

Introduction

We’ve talked about Christ’s identity, his passion, resurrection, and ascension. The last doctrine of Christ that we’ll cover is Christ’s return, or ‘the second coming’. This goes hand in hand with another doctrine - the resurrection of the dead. Collectively these form an ‘eschatology’, which is theology related to the end of the world. Every culture and religion has an eschatology (and a creation story).

Christian eschatology can be summed up as this: We believe that Jesus Christ will return, the dead will rise, and He will judge everyone (the living and the dead).

The second coming of Christ

Has there been a more talked about, debate aspect of theology than the second coming? Unfortunately probably not. It’s mystery has led to speculation, conspiracy theories, false teachers, fear mongers, and greedy peddlers in every generation. And yet, many of them miss the key point of the second coming: hope. So what does Scripture say?

First of all, nobody knows when Jesus will return - Jesus himself made that crystal clear in Matthew 24:36 ““But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

But Scripture also speaks of Christ returning ‘soon’. Jesus himself also says that in the very last chapter of the Bible:

Revelation 22:7 ““And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.””

Revelation 22:12 ““Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.”

Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

Contrary to what many say, we are not approaching the ‘last days’ - we’re living in them. The ‘last days’ or final period of history, began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

In Peter’s sermon on Pentecost he quotes Joel 2:28, saying that Joel’s prophecy was now fulfilled: Acts 2:16–21 “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

The author of Hebrews opens up by telling us that in these ‘last days’ God has spoken to us by His Son. Hebrews 1:1–2 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

Other passages indicating that we’re in the last days:

2 Timothy 3:1 “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.”

1 Peter 1:20 “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you”

2 Peter 3:3 “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.”

Jude 18 “They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.””

Since Jesus is coming soon, but we don’t know when, and we’re living in the last days, we should be ‘awake’ in our faith and vigilant. The parables Jesus tells in Matthew 24-25 illustrates this. They can be summed up in Matthew 24:42–44 “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Paul echoes this sentiment in 1 Thessalonians 5:1–4 “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.”

When Jesus returns, what do you want him to catch you doing? 2 Peter 3:11–14 “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”

Scripture often describes the return of Christ in apocalyptic language. Apocalyptic language is the usage of symbols and words that can ‘hide’ meaning. That means when discussing apocalyptic passages, we should be hesitant to always take everything literally. Nonetheless, Scripture does paint a picture of the second coming that can be understood.

Right after the ascension, the two men tell the disciples that Jesus will return ‘in the same way they saw him go’ .

This idea of Jesus ‘returning on the clouds’ in a recurring theme in the New Testament, and it ties back to Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah, such as Daniel 7.

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

And so Christ will return, all will be resurrected from the dead, and then the judgement will occur. This judgement will be for everyone, but it will obviously be worse for non-believers, but it will bring redemption to the entire world and everything will be made new - hence the heavens and the earth will be made new.

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

Romans 8:19–25 “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Revelation 21:1–8 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 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.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

1 Corinthians 3:13–15 “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.”

Ultimately once all has been said and done, the wicked will off to eternal punishment, and the righteous will go off to eternal life - living in the presence of God forever, and God will be ‘all in all’.

Matthew 25:46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.””

1 Corinthians 15:28 “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.”

Jesus does say that there will be ‘signs’ in Matthew 24:4-14

Matthew 24:4–14 ESV

And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

If these signs make you say, “Gosh that sounds like today!”....that’s the point. Apocalyptic language, which Jesus is using, is meant to have meaning for the entire community, regardless of time. And so for 2000 years, Christians have been seeing ‘nation rise against nation’ ‘famines, earthquakes’ ect. Truly these are signs that we’ve been living in the ‘last days’.

People focus a lot on the second coming. Some are even obsessed with it. But I think we often miss the point. Christ’s return will be fearful for those who refuse Him, but glorious for those of us who do. Still, we shouldn’t be focused on the future - we should be focused on the now. Peter lays this out well:

2 Peter 3:4–9 “[Scoffers] 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.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Someone once said, “We speak of the second coming…when most of the world has never heard of the first.” Maybe instead of praying ‘Come Lord Jesus.’ we should be asking, ‘One more day Lord?”

The Resurrection of the Dead?

It is the Biblical teaching that the dead will rise. Often viewed in light of God’s people being raised from the dead.

This doctrine was firmly believed among (most of) the Jewish people of Jesus’ day. At the death of Lazarus, Jesus tells Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” To which Martha responds, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” - She misunderstood Jesus in the moment, but this shows us that the people commonly believed in the resurrection.

The Sadducees were notable exceptions, who didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead (compared to the Pharisees). When they challenge Jesus on this, he points back to the story of the burning bush when the Lord says, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Jesus’ conclusion here is that, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living!”

The resurrection of the dead became a key doctrine of the church - we see it in the Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed - but we also see it brought up in many of the New Testament letters. Evidently the believers at Thessalonica feared they had missed the final resurrection (and return of Christ), and thus Paul had to encourage them on this issue in 1 & 2 Thessalonians.

The key difference between the Old Testament and New Testament understanding of the Resurrection of the Dead, is that Jesus Christ shows himself to be ‘the Resurrection and the Life’, and that he became the ‘firstborn from among the dead’. Christ’s resurrection enables and became a template for our own future resurrection from the dead.

Breaking down the Resurrection of the Dead

1. Christians will rise first.

According to Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

One day, on the last day, Christ shall descend from heaven, and bring the dead with him (souls?) who will be raised from the dead first. Then, those of us who happen to still be alive, we also will be transformed - given our resurrected bodies without having died first.

Note on ‘caught up in the air’: This phrase was have invoked the idea of a town finding out the emperor was coming to see them. They would have left the town to meet him while he was still far off, and ushered him back to the city. The same idea is conveyed here by ‘meeting Christ in the air’ i.e while he is still far off, and then ushering him back to Earth.

2. Everyone will rise after.

Now notice that Paul specifically says, “and the dead in Christ will rise first”. He echoes this in 1 Corinthians 15. This is important, but it doesn’t mean that only the dead in Christ will be risen from the dead. Jesus himself says in Matthew 25: 31-46 that on that last day He will separate the sheep from the goats, implying that everyone, including the wicked, will be raised from the dead.

We see this confirmed in Revelation 20: 12-13 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.”

3. The first and second deaths, the first and second resurrections.

We also see in Revelation 20, mention of the ‘first resurrection’ and the ‘second death’. Both imply that there is a second resurrection, and a first death.

The ‘first resurrection’ is happening now. John says, “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection.” Through our baptism and faith in Christ, our souls have been resurrected and are being restored right now. Because of this, “The second death has no power over them”.

Not everyone participates in the first resurrection. We know this. We hope they do, but many will not. Therefore, they will experience the second death that John mentions. However, we all experience the first death - this is the physical death we know very well, that even as believers, we too will experience.

But what of the ‘second resurrection’? This is the physical resurrection of the dead we’ve been discussing. As we have seen, everyone will participate in this second resurrection as well.

First Resurrection (of the soul) - Few Participants

First Death (of the body) - All participants

Second Resurrection (of the body) - All participants

Second Death (of the soul) - Few participants

The Resurrected Body

What will the resurrected body look like? Paul discusses this in 1 Corinthians 15: 35-58. In summary, our resurrected bodies will be eternal, but in order to receive them, our current bodies must die. He compares it to a seed being planted. The seed has to ‘die’ for the new body to be created. But he says, “Just as we have born the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”

Here we see that the ‘template’ for our new eternal bodies will be that of Christ’s body after his resurrection. We see that after his resurrection his body was very real, very physical, and that he could even eat!

Essentially, mortal (dying) bodies cannot inherit or dwell in a place that is not dying “the imperishable” as Paul says. But our new bodies will be undying and immortal and there we shall live with Christ in the kingdom, right here on Earth (see Revelation 21-22). This is also why Jesus says we will ‘be like the angels’ at the resurrection. In Scripture we see the angels have physical bodies, but they are far greater than ours.

Note on spiritual vs natural in 1 Corinthians 15:44-46: This does not mean that our new immortal ‘spiritual’ body will be incorporeal, or a ‘ghost’. It simply means that will be a physical body governed by the Spirit rather than by the flesh (‘natural’).

What the resurrection of the dead will mean for the wicked and the righteous.

We have already learned that both the wicked and righteous will be resurrected and given eternal bodies that will never die. That’s good news for some, but not for others!

For the righteous: those of us who have put our faith in Christ now, who have experienced the ‘first resurrection’ eagerly await the day when our resurrected soul is united with our resurrected body. We know the pains of having a living soul constantly fighting a dying body! In this sense, the ‘first death’ will be somewhat freeing - though I’m sure our souls will long to be reunited with our bodies again. But upon our resurrection, we will finally get what we want: spending an undying eternity in the presence of our Lord and Savior.

For the wicked: those who have no repented and turned to Christ find themselves in a dark place even now. Their dead souls attached to a dead body place them squarely in a life we might call hell even now. Though many of them don’t even realize it. Should they fail to repent before the final resurrection of the dead they will find themselves in an even worse spot! Unlike us, they will be a dead soul trapped inside of a living body. At least with the ‘first death’ they will experience some release. But, upon receiving their eternal body, they will never find peace or relief from their suffering and torment. St. Augustine famously called this state, ‘The place where death can never die.” This so called ‘Second death’ will be eternal, and their suffering will know no end. It truly will be hell. They too will get what they have always wanted: an undying eternity without their Lord and Savior.

What happens next?

Many Christians today often associate ‘heaven’ with some spiritual or astral plane where our souls go after they die. For many, that’s where their concept of ‘eternity’ ends. If that’s true, there still one problem, we’d all still be dead! True life consists of soul AND body, which is why the resurrection of the dead is such a key Christian doctrine, and the hope we have.

But what exactly does happen after we die? Scripture isn’t very clear on this. The Old Testament often refers to a place called Sheol, or ‘Land of the Dead’, but doesn’t tell us much about it. We do see Samuel’s ghost apparently brought from this place. David mentions after his child dies that ‘The child will not come back to me, but I will go to him.’ All vague concepts of some afterlife.

The picture doesn’t get much clearer in the NT either. Jesus gives the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, who both die and Lazarus goes to the ‘bosom of Abraham’ while the rich man evidently goes to hell. As with many parables, it’s hard to tell how much this depicts reality, or it’s just a story meant to convey a certain meaning.

Paul talks about his longing to go ‘be with the Lord’ but he chooses instead to stay in this body. Peter tells us that while dead, Jesus went and preached to the ‘spirits in chains’. The author of Hebrews tells us that we are ‘surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses’. And finally in Revelation we see the souls of the saints who have been killed under the alter of heaven praying and crying out, ‘How long oh Lord?’

To add to all this, we are never told what the people Jesus (and the disciples) brought back to life experienced while they were dead. Lazarus is obviously the biggest name here.

Conclusion

I think the Scriptures are vague on what happens immediately after death because the Scriptures want us to know that life is greater than death. Remember, ‘God is the God of the living, not of the dead.” So our focus should not be on what happens when we die, but rather on life now, and life after the Resurrection. The ‘afterlife’ is more of an ‘in-between life’. Whatever happens, wherever our souls go, it will only be temporary. We shouldn’t be focused on it, we should be focused on our life now, which should be focused on The Life, and if we are focused on the Life, we will have eternal life after the resurrection, and that is the hope we have!