Based on the little attention it receives in teaching and preaching today, one might suppose that the future return of our Lord is a fringe doctrine invented by extremists, a second thought hastily tacked on to resolve some alleged difficulty in the original Christian message. Instead, it is a foundational teaching of the faith, rooted in the promise solemnly given by angels immediately after Jesus' ascension. This "blessed hope" is part of the earliest Christian narrative as reported by Luke: "Repent therefore . . . that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from … [Read more...]
How many miles in second coming?
It could scarcely be stated more simply. Our Lord Jesus Christ is "coming again" (2 Peter 1:16). He will "descend from heaven" (1 Thes. 4:16), and he "will come in the same way" his disciples "saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). If asked whether we interpret these phrases literally, most of us would likely say that we do. However, on further consideration we might decide we wish to tweak our original answer. Better to say, I suggest, that we take the language seriously, receiving as unquestionable truth what we perceive it to affirm--namely that we expect to see Jesus again--and that he will … [Read more...]
IF NOT ‘SECOND COMING’ THEN WHAT?
From Jesus' remarks to his apostles at the Last Supper and throughout the New Testament thereafter, believers are repeatedly assured that a day will come when Jesus will return from heaven. Moreover, they are both warned and urged to be ready for this glorious event, which could occur at any moment. This "one hope of our calling" is reiterated throughout the New Testament and it is enshrined in the liturgical core and Confessions of the church. However, the exact phrase "second coming" appears nowhere in the Bible with reference to Jesus' return. When commenting or teaching on that subject, … [Read more...]
JESUS’ THIRD APPEARANCE ENDS WAIT
The New Testament regularly presents Christians as a People waiting for Jesus to reappear. For 2,000 years, in countries throughout the earth and under circumstances of every kind, Christians have waited and continue to wait. Why is this waiting necessary? It is necessary because the work through which God is accomplishing his redemptive purpose does not happen immediately or all at once, but in three separate stages. Each stage begins with an appearance by Jesus Christ. One is present; one is past; one is future (Heb. 9:24-28). Let us consider each of the three in turn. Present ('now to … [Read more...]
A PEOPLE IN WAITING
What is a Christian? Just ask Peter, James, Paul, Luke, or the anonymous author of Hebrews. Christians, they will tell you, are people in waiting. But waiting for whom or for what? The most important question is "for whom do we wait?" To which the answer is that we wait for "a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:20). Like the Thessalonians, our conversion involved a full-body turn from every lesser allegiance, "to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven . . ." Jesus our Lord is our Savior as well, who will rescue us from the wrath to come (1 Thes. 1:10). But that … [Read more...]
APOCALYPTIC LOCUSTS FROM THE PIT
This is Iraq, a country with borders drawn in 1920 by the League of Nations following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. More to our interest, this is a country situated on the same God-created real estate where the Jewish and Christian stories began. In this ancient land Abraham once lived and went about his business as usual. Until that day he heard the voice that said it was God, the voice that ordered Abraham to pack up his immediate family and go to only God-knows-where. Abraham obeyed. Christians in the land of Abraham God eventually gave Abraham's descendants the land of … [Read more...]
One mighty act that includes all
Did Jesus' work merely make it possible for sinners to enjoy at-one-ment with God if they follow through, correctly and precisely, so that they complete what Jesus only started? We find answers in the opening words of a single sentence: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor. 5:19). From the moment of the first human sin and even before, restoring right relationship between sinners and God was top priority on God's personal list of things to do. This job was too important to delegate it to any angel, much less to any mere mortal. God assigned this task to Jesus of … [Read more...]
THE KINGDOM OF GOD – 3
Because Jesus personally embodies God's kingdom, New Testament writers do not mind saying that those who believe in Christ through the gospel even now participate to some extent in kingdom membership and blessings (Rom. 14:17; Col. 1:13; Rev. 1:9). Yet the church as institution is not the kingdom. A simplistic identification of the two always results in self-conceit and triumphalism by the church and disillusionment and unbelief by the world. The church must continue to pray for God's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). We live in hope, awaiting entrance into the … [Read more...]
Christmas Prophecy Fulfilled
This Christmas I am impressed anew that we are seeing biblical prophecy fulfilled before our eyes. Not the kind of prophetic fulfillment about which the sensationalists talk and write best-seller books for the gullible masses -- about Middle Eastern conflict and geopolitics and world banks and bar codes at the supermarkets. No, something far more solid and biblical than any of that! God's word to Isaiah 2,700 years ago has come to pass: "The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope." All you have to do is turn on the radio, or … [Read more...]
HEALING A BREACH
During the 1930's and 1940's, a group of congregations were pushed out of the mainstream of the Churches of Christ because they believed that when Jesus returns, he will reign for 1,000 years on the earth. Most Churches of Christ interpret the "millennium" in Revelation 20 figuratively rather than literally. A gracEmail subscriber in Tennessee asks how this church division might now be set right. * * * The history of Christianity has included some horrendously unchristian behavior -- Catholics and Protestants killing each other, Calvinists and Lutherans persecuting … [Read more...]