The Return of the King

The Return of the King

1) Is Jesus Christ coming back to earth?

A) Yes, Jesus Christ is coming back to earth! Though He is spiritually present in the hearts of believers now, the day is coming when He will physically return to earth and rule the world from the city of Jerusalem in Israel.

B) Jesus’ return—the return of the King—is often called the “Second Coming” or the “Second Advent.” These terms are used to distinguish Jesus’ first coming as the lowly baby of Bethlehem (His incarnation) from His second coming as the mighty and glorious Son-of-God-in-power (cf. ; ).

(1) Another word that refers to the Second Coming is parousia. This is a Greek word meaning “coming, arrival,” and it is used in several passages to refer to Christ’s return (cf. ; ; ; ; ; ; ).

2) How do we know that Jesus is coming again?

A) Jesus told us He would return:

(1) “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done” (, ESV).

(2) “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (, ESV; cf. ).

(3) “He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (, ESV).

B) The angels said He would return:

(1) “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven’” (, ESV).

C) The apostles said He would return:

(1) Paul – “so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” (, ESV).

(2) James – “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming (parousia) of the Lord is at hand” (, ESV).

(3) Peter – “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (, ESV).

D) The prophets said He would return:

(1) Enoch – “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him’” (, ESV).

(2) Daniel – “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (, ESV; cf. ; ).

(3) Zechariah – “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him” (, ESV).

3) What are the two phases of the Second Coming?

A) The Scripture passages that mention the Second Coming indicate that there are two distinct stages or phases to Christ’s return. The first stage, called the Rapture, is when Christ returns in the air for His church (; ). The second and final stage, called the Return, is when Christ returns to earth with His church and establishes His thousand-year (Millennium) reign (; ).

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B) The Rapture.

(1) The Rapture is the first phase of the Second Coming—Jesus Christ will descend from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God (

1 Thessalonians 4:16 NIV

For 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, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

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(a) First, the bodies of believers who have died will be resurrected as new spiritual bodies and reunited with their spirits (;

1 Corinthians 15:42 NIV

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;

, 52; cf. ;

Philippians 1:21–24 NIV

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

(b) Next, the bodies of believers who are still alive will be changed into new spiritual bodies. They will never have to experience physical death (

1 Corinthians 15:52 NIV

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.

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(c) Then, all believers will be taken up (lit. “to seize, to catch up”) into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (

1 Thessalonians 4:17 NIV

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

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(2) The Rapture is a future, signless and imminent event. It is future, meaning it has not yet taken place. It is signless, meaning no sign must precede its occurrence. It is imminent, meaning it could take place at any moment. Unlike the Return, there is no prophecy that must be fulfilled before the Rapture can occur—it can happen now.

(3) The Rapture will be covered in more detail in a separate lesson. For now, it is enough to understand that the Rapture is the first stage of the Second Coming and will take place prior to Christ’s physical return to earth.

C) The Return.

(1) The Return is the second and final phase of the Second Coming—it is the visible, physical and glorious return of Jesus Christ to earth with His church.

(2) The Return is a future, signed and non-imminent event. It is future, meaning it has not yet taken place. It is signed, meaning certain prophecies and signs must precede its occurrence (cf.

Matthew 24:4–14 NIV

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

). It is non-imminent, meaning it will take place after the Tribulation and in connection with the Campaign of Armageddon (, ; ; ).

). It is non-imminent, meaning it will take place after the Tribulation and in connection with the Campaign of Armageddon (, ; ; ).

4) What will happen when Jesus returns?

A) Christ will defeat the Antichrist. At the end of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will gather his forces together in the plain of Megiddo (the Jezreel Valley). He will attack Jerusalem and ravage the Jews (

Zechariah 14:2 NIV

I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.

). Then Jesus and all the saints will come from heaven on white horses. Christ will destroy the armies of the Antichrist, and the beast and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire ().

). Then Jesus and all the saints will come from heaven on white horses. Christ will destroy the armies of the Antichrist, and the beast and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire ().

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B) Christ will bind Satan. After the defeat of the Antichrist, Jesus will send His angel to seize the devil, “that ancient serpent,” and bind him. Satan will be sealed in a pit and prevented from deceiving the nations for a thousand years (cf. ).

C) Christ will gather and restore Israel. The most frequently mentioned promise in the Old Testament is God’s promise that He will one day gather and restore the nation of Israel (cf. ; ; ; ; ). During the Tribulation period, the Jews will be scattered for the last time. When Christ returns, He will gather them and bring them into the wilderness for judgment. All rebels will be purged and only the faithful will be allowed to enter the land and Christ’s kingdom ().

D) Christ will judge the Gentiles. When Jesus returns, the nations will stand before Him and He will separate them into two groups—the sheep (believers) will stand on His right and the goats (unbelievers) on the left. The righteous will enter into eternal life, while the unrighteous will depart into eternal punishment. This is known as the judgment of the sheep and the goats ().

E) Christ will resurrect those martyred during the Tribulation (). This resurrection is called the “first resurrection” ().

(1) It is “first” in the sense that it comes before the resurrection of unbelievers at the end of the Millennium. It is also “first” in the sense that it is a resurrection of believers to eternal life (), while the last resurrection is a resurrection of unbelievers to eternal death ().

(2) The term “first resurrection” applies most directly to the martyrs of the Tribulation, but it also applies to earlier instances of a resurrection to life: (1) Jesus Christ is the “first fruits” of the first resurrection (), and (2) the “dead in Christ” will be resurrected at the Rapture ().

F) Christ will establish His earthly kingdom. Christ’s return will mark the beginning of His 1,000 year reign—the Millennium—on this present, fallen earth. He will establish and expand the borders of Israel (cf. ) and build a new temple in Jerusalem (). Christ will rule the world with a rod of iron (). It will be a time a great spiritual triumph in which ethnic Israel will fulfill her destiny, and the Gentiles will partake in tremendous blessings through Christ and His nation of priests.

5) When will Jesus return?

A) The disciples asked Jesus this same question after His resurrection. He told them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (, ESV; cf. ). Thus the answer to this question is—no one knows when Jesus will return. Since it is not for us to know, we should not be caught up in trying to figure out the date of Christ’s return. Those who claim to know when Jesus will return are wrong—you should not listen to them or believe them.

6) Why has Jesus waited so long to return?

A) The apostle Peter said “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. The 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” (, NIV).

B) Peter’s point is that we should not be worried or discouraged by the fact that Jesus has waited so long to return (more than 2,000 years so far). The Father knows the right time for His Son to return and is waiting patiently, not wanting anyone to perish. We should imitate His example and work as hard as we can to achieve His desire for “all people to be saved” (

1 Timothy 2:1–4 NIV

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

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7) How then should we live?

A) Charles Dyer once said, “God gave prophecy to change our hearts, not to fill our heads with knowledge. God never predicted future events just to satisfy our curiosity about the future. Every time God announces events that are future, He includes with His predictions practical applications to life. God’s pronouncements about the future carry with them specific advice for the ‘here and now.’”

B) The apostle Peter tells us that our knowledge of the Second Coming should affect the way we live (

2 Peter 3:10–18 NIV

10 But 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 done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as 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. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

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We should live holy and godly lives (v. 11). We should wait patiently (v. 12) We should hasten Jesus’ coming by working to save the lost (v. 12). We should be diligent to live peaceful lives that are pure and blameless (v.14). We should understand that God’s patience is for our salvation (v. 15). We should be on guard so that we are not led astray by error (v.17). We should grow in grace and in the knowledge of God (v.18).