The Second Advent of Christ: scripture overview
1. Introduction
Since sin entered the world and the plan of salvation was formed it has been the intention of Heaven that Christ will come the second time to bring an end to sin - it is mankind’s only hope in an extremely wicked world.
It has always been Christ's will that the redeemed will be united with Him:
Jn 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Christ's intent will be realized when He returns in glory to this Earth.
However, the manner of Christ's coming is misunderstood by many. Thus we must be clear on the manner of His coming and on the events that follow so that we are not caught unawares.
2. The Second Advent foretold
Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Isa 66:15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given [Strong's H3052, was delivered] to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Note. In Da 7:22 'was given' is in the past perfect (qatal) form, meaning it is a completed action, even though it was still future. This indicates the certainty of the fulfilment of the prophecy.
Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Zec 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
Jude 1:14,15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
The second advent of Christ has been made known (not the time, but the event) from the beginning of this sinful world, when the plan of salvation was set in place - the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world (Re 13:8). God’s plans cannot be thwarted.
3. The Second Advent taught by Christ
Mt 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Mt 24:30,31 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mt 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Mk 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Mk 14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Lk 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
Jn 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Christ's final promise in Scripture
Re 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Re 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Re 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
4. The Second Advent taught by Angels
Ac 1:9-11 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
5. The Second Advent taught by Paul
1Co 15:51,52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
1Th 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1Th 4:16,17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without [Strong’s G5565, beside, apart from] sin unto salvation.
Paul teaches that Christ, at His second advent, will not be coming to be a sin offering, but to bring salvation to His redeemed.
6. The Second Advent taught by the disciples
Ja 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
When Christ returns, those who are looking for Him will be able to look upon Him because they will have been made the Righteousness of God in Him (2Co 5:21). In contrast, the wicked will be slain by the brightness of His coming (2Th 2:8).
7. The world will not be expecting Christ’s coming
Mt 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn…
Mt 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Lk 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
To the worldly the coming of Christ will be unexpected, just as a thief in the night is unexpected. Christ’s advent will come to them as an overwhelming and devastating surprise.
7.1 The world will scoff at the idea of His coming
2Pe 3:3,4 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
They will be willingly ignorant:
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
The world is almost entirely seduced by irrational, nonsensical evolutionary theory that removes God and flatters mankind - a masterpiece of deception.
8. The nature of Christ’s coming
Mt 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mt 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty (also Mt 26:64; Mk 14:62).
Ac 1:9-11 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Re 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Christ’s second advent will be loud, and visible to all. This comprehensively rules out a secret rapture, which very many Christians believe.
8.1 Clouds
The clouds that accompany Christ’s coming are understood to be clouds of angels. This is based on:
Mt 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Christ appears with the clouds of Heaven, and with all the holy angels - thus the clouds are composed of angels.
Furthermore, the cloud that received Christ at His ascension (Acts 1: 9-11) must also have been a cloud of angels - the angel that spoke to the disciples said that Christ would come in the same manner as He went.
9. What happens when Christ comes
The Redeemed at his coming
1Co 15:51,52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Th 4:16,17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
At Christ’s second advent, those who have died having faith in Him (including all those from Adam who believed God’s promise of a Saviour) will be resurrected.
Then all the redeemed, both the resurrected and those who remain alive until His coming, are caught up to meet Him, to be with Him for ever.
Note, at his coming, Christ does not set foot upon the Earth - He comes to take His redeemed from the Earth, to be with Him, where He is (Jn 14:3;17:24). Thus, because Christ does not touch the Earth when He comes, we know that any today who claim to be Christ must be false (because they are on the Earth).
The wicked at his coming
The wicked dead will not be resurrected, and the living wicked will perish (2Th 2:8) and join the wicked dead in the grave.
Satan will be bound for a thousand years (Re 20:1,2). The events occurring during the thousand years are addressed in study: ‘The end of sin and sinners: judgment and eternal death’.
10. Christ’s coming delayed
To those who have been looking for Christ’s second advent for many years there seems to be a delay. The reason for the delay is plain and simple: the Lord does not want any to perish:
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Christ is delaying His coming that sinners may come to repentance.
Christ knows what is in everyone (Jn 2:24,25) - when all who will repent have done so, then Christ will come.
Until that time, Heaven’s attitude is ‘spare the sinner, just a little longer’. In fact, those who have repented recently have reason to be thankful for the delay.
Meanwhile, we who are looking for His coming may, by living Godly lives, hasten the day:
2Pe 3:11,12 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [Strong’s G391, behaviour] and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting [Strong’s G4692, urge on] unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
We must be patient and steadfast until Christ returns:
Ja 5:7,8 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish [Strong’s G4741, set fast] your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
11. Summary
In all ages the second advent of Christ has been the great hope of God’s people. Christ’s coming will mean great joy and life for the redeemed, but overwhelming terror and death for the wicked.
As we have seen, Scripture is clear: on the fact, on the manner, and on the purpose of Christ's coming. Thus we may be certain that the redeemed will live in Glory for ever, and sin will come to an end.