When Jesus Comes Again
November 20, 2008
The New Testament refers to the return of Christ on some 300 occasions, so it is not something we can easily ignore or simply sideline in our understanding of the Faith. Yet, it is an aspect of the Bible's teaching that has been largely overlooked in recent times - at least in many Reformed churches. There may well be several reasons behind this oversight in the current teaching patterns of the church.
On the one hand it may well be a reaction against the obsession with eschatology and parousia theology which dominated the post-war and Cold War eras. The general uncertainty of those times, with national emotions still raw from the memory of two World Wars and the very real fear of a nuclear holocaust with burgeoning stockpiles of atomic weapons, meant that apocalyptic literature in the Bible seemed all too relevant. Authors like Hal Lindsay had a field-day, playing fast and loose with imaginative exegesis of every end-of-the-age prophecy from Daniel to Revelation. But, when it turned out that Henry Kissinger was not the False Prophet after all and the European Common Market did not become the final catalyst for the Rapture, their credibility began to wane. That in turn has fed into a growing cynicism, fuelled more recently by the multi-million dollar Left Behind industry.
On the other hand, the movement away from interest in the Second Advent has also been fostered by the apathy that has emerged out of growing global prosperity. The sense of our having 'Heaven on Earth' in a relatively comfortable standard of living and 'war' becoming an increasingly regionalised phenomenon has steered interest away from the Age to Come. (One can only watch with interest to see what will happen if we end up in a prolonged global recession and an escalation of international conflicts.)
Regardless of where public interest - both Christian and secular - may currently be leaning, we cannot ignore the weight and frequency of biblical references to this theme. Indeed, going back to where we left off in our last article, the Christ who is resurrected, ascended and enthroned is the Christ of whom the angels said, 'This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven' (Ac 1.11). So, as we follow the Creed at this point, it takes us from the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus to his return in glory. Having acknowledged his exalted status at 'the right hand of God the Father Almighty', its next clause goes on to say, 'from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead'.
It would be impossible to justice to all that is contained in that brief statement, but let me try to tease out three major implications of this strand of theology that come to light in one of Christ's own references to his return: 'The Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels and then he will reward each person according to what he has done' (Mt 16.27).
The Direction of History
We cannot help but be struck by the context in which Jesus spoke these words. At first sight they seem out of place coming as they do after a statement about the prospect of his sufferings and the cost of discipleship. The problem, however, is that we tend to atomise this passage. It is one of the richest segments in the Gospels. It begins with Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ and goes on to record Christ's response to that confession, declaring his avowed intent to build the church on the apostolic 'rock', guaranteeing its survival against every scheme of hell to the contrary. It reaffirms the necessity of Christ's death and resurrection in securing that future for his people and it declares the radical cost of discipleship for those who would become followers of Jesus. Does that mean, then, that Jesus' statement about his parousia and the eternal kingdom it will usher in must sit awkwardly like a 'widow and orphan' at the bottom of the page in all this? The answer to that has to be a resounding 'No!'
The issues and exchanges recorded in this chapter are of such enormous importance that we cannot simply dissect them into their component parts. The central element of the chapter - Peter's confession - marks such a watershed, not only in the chapter, or even the Gospels; but in Scripture itself, it is clear that what follows must have the effect of reconfiguring the way God's people thought. What they had only glimpsed and guessed at in the shadows of Old Testament revelation had now burst forth into the full light of day which in turn made them look afresh at what they thought they understood already.
So, most significantly, the great Old Testament motif of the 'Day of the Lord' began almost immediately to take on a new complexion. What had been perceived in the days of the prophets as a single day marking the end-point of history - simultaneously being the day of judgement on the wicked and deliverance for the righteous - was suddenly seen to be a very different kind of 'day'. Far from being the final 24 hours in the history of planet earth, it is seen to be the final day-age period in God's history of redemption. The judgement John the Baptist so confidently expected would accompany salvation with the coming of the Christ (Mt 3.10-13) was actually judgement deferred. (Or, more accurately, judgement that would be conferred on the Christ 'now' for the righteous, but which was still future for the wicked.)
So, as Jesus moves seamlessly from cross to resurrection to discipleship to his return to the kingdom that is to come, he was giving his followers a deeper understanding of history. The key link in his chain of reasoning that takes us beyond the Jewish concept of history is where he says, 'What good will it be if a man gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?' (16.26). He is reflecting the way the human mind instinctively thinks: always in terms of this 'world' - the here and now. We become so taken up with this life that we do not stop to think what lies beyond it. (And even when people do in theory acknowledge that there is a future life in a world to come, they live in practice as though it doesn't really matter.)
Jesus challenges that and makes it clear that history has a very definite direction and we are all caught up in its movement. Just as his own death and resurrection were to be decisive moments in the unfolding of that history, so too would be his return in glory at its close. He is saying in brief in this verse what he will say at much greater length in the Olivet discourse (Mt 24.1-51) and what becomes a major theme throughout the remainder of the New Testament right through to its great climax in the book of Revelation: there is one day in the future that colours every other day in between. It is the day of his visible, personal regal return that will bring history as we know it to its conclusion.
There is nothing academic or esoteric about that fact. Just as all our little journeys in life are coloured by the destination to which we're travelling, so how much more the great journey of life itself. As the single thread of our personal history is woven into the tapestry of unfolding world history, so the direction of both is the same as they take us inexorably towards that day when Jesus comes again. Our confession of the Christ who 'will come' is a perpetual reminder of our need to travel through life with a real sense of where it is heading and not just shamble along aimlessly as though this world was all there is to life. He will surely come and we must be ready to meet him.
The World in Eternity
The return of Christ will mark the cut-off point in history. It will be the day when the world as we know it will end and a whole new order will be ushered in. Jesus alludes to this without going into detail as he says that when he comes, 'he will reward each person in accordance with what he has done' - using 'reward' in the sense of 'ushering in the consequences of the choices people make in this life'. There are at least two major issues bound up with that, one of which we will deal with in a moment, but let me focus on the first that relates to the future of the cosmos.
In his call to true discipleship, Jesus has already spoken of the world in its present state. It is a world that is full of attraction and there is a deeply-rooted human longing to have it in full. Jesus puts a monumental question mark over that yearning by pointing to his return at the end of the age. Even if it was possible for one individual to have his wildest dreams come true - he wins the global lottery and the world is his - all that would count for nothing as he crosses the line between history and eternity. He has gained the whole world; but that is all he has gained!
That may sound like weak logic on Jesus' part. If Faust was willing to sell his soul to the devil for the rewards he was offered, then the even greater reward of 'the world' sounds like an infinitely better deal. But, to borrow a title from a James Bond movie, in the eyes of Jesus, 'The World is not Enough!' The 'reward' he will give to those who have lived and laboured only for this world and what it has to offer will be in part that there wish will be granted. They will have their world and their world will turn to dust in their hands.
Jesus knows what such people do not know: this present world is passing away and will one day come to a dramatic end. It will not just be that the earth we regard as home will be finally destroyed; but the entire created order as we know it will be completely dismantled.
It is the apostle Peter who speaks most graphically about the future of creation in its present state in his second letter. There he says, 'But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens [universe] will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare' (2Pe 3.10). The world as we know it is an imperfect world. Worse than that, it is a world under divine curse and it can never be an appropriate and enduring home in which God and his people can enjoy unending communion. So those whose entire life revolves around the here and now are seriously misguided in their outlook on life.
We could well raise issues of man's recklessness at this point - the waste of natural resources, the human factor in climate change and the like - all of which expose our shared guilt as a race for bad stewardship of the planet, but that would be a distraction. As the race increasingly focuses on its own failures which have led to our present woes, there is a shared conviction that manmade problems must also have manmade solutions. But the Bible takes us way beyond that. Wastage is only a symptom of what really lies behind these issues: the problem of human sin. It was because of human sin the creation as a whole was cursed and it is only then the problem of sin is fully dealt with that the curse will finally be lifted. That problem is beyond our reach to solve. The only credible solution is the one that God himself has provided through his Son. It was through his death and resurrection that the new creation has been ushered in (2Co 5.17) and it will only be when the outworking of his redemption is complete that the new creation will finally replace the old.
That brings us to the positive counterpart in what Peter says about the future of the world: 'But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness' (2Pe 3.13). The world in its present fallen state will be destroyed, but in its place will come a renovated world and universe - and event that Jesus describes as 'the renewal of all things' (Mt 19.28). This is the world God has planned for eternity, the perfect home Christ is already preparing for his people (Jn 14.2-3). This is the true 'New World' that Jesus will usher in on his return.
The Race and its Destiny
There is, of course, one final and sombre note to sound in relation to this particular doctrine. It is the fact that the prospect of Christ's future coming is bound up with that of final judgement. 'He will come to judge both the living and the dead.'
It will not be as a helpless babe in a manger, or with his glory veiled behind a humbled humanity; but in the full blaze of his glory, in the glory-clouds of heaven, with the entire host of heaven itself as his entourage. On that day the dead will be raised and every human being who has ever lived will stand before him as the Judge of all the earth. There they will be 'rewarded' [judged] for whatever they have done in this life.
For the wicked, who have never acknowledged their sin and never acknowledged God, there will be no escape. Their sins and guilt will finally catch up with them. They will be called to account and be found guilty as charged before the court of heaven. For them are reserved the horrors of eternal death - permanent separation from God and his goodness: what the Bible calls 'Hell'. It is a doctrine so fearsome that we tremble to believe it and need great care and sensitivity as we proclaim it.
For those who in this life have believed the good news and put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, although they too must stand before that throne of judgement, it will be to hear in court what they have been assured already: that they have been acquitted. Not because of any righteousness of their own or atonement they could make; but all because of the Lamb who sits in the midst of the throne. The One they face as Judge is the One they have already known as Lord and Saviour. He has taken their place, secured their righteousness, paid their penalty and drawn the sting of death so that for them it is no more.
That day will indeed be the 'great' day of the Lord; but it will also be 'terrible'. The mere thought of it drives home the exhortation of Peter to all who will listen: 'Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming' (2Pe 3.11-12). The day of man is nearly over, the day of God is coming and all should live in the light of what it will bring.
The brevity of this little clause in the Creed belies its enormity. It should make us think again about the doctrine of the Second Coming and the place it has in our lives and preaching.
Mark Johnston is Senior Minister of Grove Chapel in Camberwell, London.
On the one hand it may well be a reaction against the obsession with eschatology and parousia theology which dominated the post-war and Cold War eras. The general uncertainty of those times, with national emotions still raw from the memory of two World Wars and the very real fear of a nuclear holocaust with burgeoning stockpiles of atomic weapons, meant that apocalyptic literature in the Bible seemed all too relevant. Authors like Hal Lindsay had a field-day, playing fast and loose with imaginative exegesis of every end-of-the-age prophecy from Daniel to Revelation. But, when it turned out that Henry Kissinger was not the False Prophet after all and the European Common Market did not become the final catalyst for the Rapture, their credibility began to wane. That in turn has fed into a growing cynicism, fuelled more recently by the multi-million dollar Left Behind industry.
On the other hand, the movement away from interest in the Second Advent has also been fostered by the apathy that has emerged out of growing global prosperity. The sense of our having 'Heaven on Earth' in a relatively comfortable standard of living and 'war' becoming an increasingly regionalised phenomenon has steered interest away from the Age to Come. (One can only watch with interest to see what will happen if we end up in a prolonged global recession and an escalation of international conflicts.)
Regardless of where public interest - both Christian and secular - may currently be leaning, we cannot ignore the weight and frequency of biblical references to this theme. Indeed, going back to where we left off in our last article, the Christ who is resurrected, ascended and enthroned is the Christ of whom the angels said, 'This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven' (Ac 1.11). So, as we follow the Creed at this point, it takes us from the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus to his return in glory. Having acknowledged his exalted status at 'the right hand of God the Father Almighty', its next clause goes on to say, 'from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead'.
It would be impossible to justice to all that is contained in that brief statement, but let me try to tease out three major implications of this strand of theology that come to light in one of Christ's own references to his return: 'The Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels and then he will reward each person according to what he has done' (Mt 16.27).
The Direction of History
We cannot help but be struck by the context in which Jesus spoke these words. At first sight they seem out of place coming as they do after a statement about the prospect of his sufferings and the cost of discipleship. The problem, however, is that we tend to atomise this passage. It is one of the richest segments in the Gospels. It begins with Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ and goes on to record Christ's response to that confession, declaring his avowed intent to build the church on the apostolic 'rock', guaranteeing its survival against every scheme of hell to the contrary. It reaffirms the necessity of Christ's death and resurrection in securing that future for his people and it declares the radical cost of discipleship for those who would become followers of Jesus. Does that mean, then, that Jesus' statement about his parousia and the eternal kingdom it will usher in must sit awkwardly like a 'widow and orphan' at the bottom of the page in all this? The answer to that has to be a resounding 'No!'
The issues and exchanges recorded in this chapter are of such enormous importance that we cannot simply dissect them into their component parts. The central element of the chapter - Peter's confession - marks such a watershed, not only in the chapter, or even the Gospels; but in Scripture itself, it is clear that what follows must have the effect of reconfiguring the way God's people thought. What they had only glimpsed and guessed at in the shadows of Old Testament revelation had now burst forth into the full light of day which in turn made them look afresh at what they thought they understood already.
So, most significantly, the great Old Testament motif of the 'Day of the Lord' began almost immediately to take on a new complexion. What had been perceived in the days of the prophets as a single day marking the end-point of history - simultaneously being the day of judgement on the wicked and deliverance for the righteous - was suddenly seen to be a very different kind of 'day'. Far from being the final 24 hours in the history of planet earth, it is seen to be the final day-age period in God's history of redemption. The judgement John the Baptist so confidently expected would accompany salvation with the coming of the Christ (Mt 3.10-13) was actually judgement deferred. (Or, more accurately, judgement that would be conferred on the Christ 'now' for the righteous, but which was still future for the wicked.)
So, as Jesus moves seamlessly from cross to resurrection to discipleship to his return to the kingdom that is to come, he was giving his followers a deeper understanding of history. The key link in his chain of reasoning that takes us beyond the Jewish concept of history is where he says, 'What good will it be if a man gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?' (16.26). He is reflecting the way the human mind instinctively thinks: always in terms of this 'world' - the here and now. We become so taken up with this life that we do not stop to think what lies beyond it. (And even when people do in theory acknowledge that there is a future life in a world to come, they live in practice as though it doesn't really matter.)
Jesus challenges that and makes it clear that history has a very definite direction and we are all caught up in its movement. Just as his own death and resurrection were to be decisive moments in the unfolding of that history, so too would be his return in glory at its close. He is saying in brief in this verse what he will say at much greater length in the Olivet discourse (Mt 24.1-51) and what becomes a major theme throughout the remainder of the New Testament right through to its great climax in the book of Revelation: there is one day in the future that colours every other day in between. It is the day of his visible, personal regal return that will bring history as we know it to its conclusion.
There is nothing academic or esoteric about that fact. Just as all our little journeys in life are coloured by the destination to which we're travelling, so how much more the great journey of life itself. As the single thread of our personal history is woven into the tapestry of unfolding world history, so the direction of both is the same as they take us inexorably towards that day when Jesus comes again. Our confession of the Christ who 'will come' is a perpetual reminder of our need to travel through life with a real sense of where it is heading and not just shamble along aimlessly as though this world was all there is to life. He will surely come and we must be ready to meet him.
The World in Eternity
The return of Christ will mark the cut-off point in history. It will be the day when the world as we know it will end and a whole new order will be ushered in. Jesus alludes to this without going into detail as he says that when he comes, 'he will reward each person in accordance with what he has done' - using 'reward' in the sense of 'ushering in the consequences of the choices people make in this life'. There are at least two major issues bound up with that, one of which we will deal with in a moment, but let me focus on the first that relates to the future of the cosmos.
In his call to true discipleship, Jesus has already spoken of the world in its present state. It is a world that is full of attraction and there is a deeply-rooted human longing to have it in full. Jesus puts a monumental question mark over that yearning by pointing to his return at the end of the age. Even if it was possible for one individual to have his wildest dreams come true - he wins the global lottery and the world is his - all that would count for nothing as he crosses the line between history and eternity. He has gained the whole world; but that is all he has gained!
That may sound like weak logic on Jesus' part. If Faust was willing to sell his soul to the devil for the rewards he was offered, then the even greater reward of 'the world' sounds like an infinitely better deal. But, to borrow a title from a James Bond movie, in the eyes of Jesus, 'The World is not Enough!' The 'reward' he will give to those who have lived and laboured only for this world and what it has to offer will be in part that there wish will be granted. They will have their world and their world will turn to dust in their hands.
Jesus knows what such people do not know: this present world is passing away and will one day come to a dramatic end. It will not just be that the earth we regard as home will be finally destroyed; but the entire created order as we know it will be completely dismantled.
It is the apostle Peter who speaks most graphically about the future of creation in its present state in his second letter. There he says, 'But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens [universe] will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare' (2Pe 3.10). The world as we know it is an imperfect world. Worse than that, it is a world under divine curse and it can never be an appropriate and enduring home in which God and his people can enjoy unending communion. So those whose entire life revolves around the here and now are seriously misguided in their outlook on life.
We could well raise issues of man's recklessness at this point - the waste of natural resources, the human factor in climate change and the like - all of which expose our shared guilt as a race for bad stewardship of the planet, but that would be a distraction. As the race increasingly focuses on its own failures which have led to our present woes, there is a shared conviction that manmade problems must also have manmade solutions. But the Bible takes us way beyond that. Wastage is only a symptom of what really lies behind these issues: the problem of human sin. It was because of human sin the creation as a whole was cursed and it is only then the problem of sin is fully dealt with that the curse will finally be lifted. That problem is beyond our reach to solve. The only credible solution is the one that God himself has provided through his Son. It was through his death and resurrection that the new creation has been ushered in (2Co 5.17) and it will only be when the outworking of his redemption is complete that the new creation will finally replace the old.
That brings us to the positive counterpart in what Peter says about the future of the world: 'But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness' (2Pe 3.13). The world in its present fallen state will be destroyed, but in its place will come a renovated world and universe - and event that Jesus describes as 'the renewal of all things' (Mt 19.28). This is the world God has planned for eternity, the perfect home Christ is already preparing for his people (Jn 14.2-3). This is the true 'New World' that Jesus will usher in on his return.
The Race and its Destiny
There is, of course, one final and sombre note to sound in relation to this particular doctrine. It is the fact that the prospect of Christ's future coming is bound up with that of final judgement. 'He will come to judge both the living and the dead.'
It will not be as a helpless babe in a manger, or with his glory veiled behind a humbled humanity; but in the full blaze of his glory, in the glory-clouds of heaven, with the entire host of heaven itself as his entourage. On that day the dead will be raised and every human being who has ever lived will stand before him as the Judge of all the earth. There they will be 'rewarded' [judged] for whatever they have done in this life.
For the wicked, who have never acknowledged their sin and never acknowledged God, there will be no escape. Their sins and guilt will finally catch up with them. They will be called to account and be found guilty as charged before the court of heaven. For them are reserved the horrors of eternal death - permanent separation from God and his goodness: what the Bible calls 'Hell'. It is a doctrine so fearsome that we tremble to believe it and need great care and sensitivity as we proclaim it.
For those who in this life have believed the good news and put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, although they too must stand before that throne of judgement, it will be to hear in court what they have been assured already: that they have been acquitted. Not because of any righteousness of their own or atonement they could make; but all because of the Lamb who sits in the midst of the throne. The One they face as Judge is the One they have already known as Lord and Saviour. He has taken their place, secured their righteousness, paid their penalty and drawn the sting of death so that for them it is no more.
That day will indeed be the 'great' day of the Lord; but it will also be 'terrible'. The mere thought of it drives home the exhortation of Peter to all who will listen: 'Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming' (2Pe 3.11-12). The day of man is nearly over, the day of God is coming and all should live in the light of what it will bring.
The brevity of this little clause in the Creed belies its enormity. It should make us think again about the doctrine of the Second Coming and the place it has in our lives and preaching.
Mark Johnston is Senior Minister of Grove Chapel in Camberwell, London.
