End Times & the Return of Christ – the final chapter in a series on Essential Doctrines
Scriptural teaching on end times contains many mysteries concerning which sincere Christians have differed. For that reason, let’s lay out in this chapter what is clear, and leave the mysteries for God to reveal in his time. Christ said, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But…you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:7,8).
First, we know that Jesus is going to return to this earth. “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” (Acts 1:11). Although his glory as the Son of God was veiled on earth, his glory will be revealed at his return. “The Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels” (Matt. 16:27). His return will be universally visible to all on earth. “His day will be like the lightning which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other” (Luke 17:23). “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him” (Rev. 1:7). His return will be audible, with the sound of trumpets. “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” (1 Thess. 4:16).
The day of his return is unknown but will be preceded by a general apostacy as in the days of Noah or as in Sodom before its destruction. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man…It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:26,28-30).
His return will be sudden and unexpected. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly” (1 Thess. 5:2,3). Therefore “let us be alert” (1 Thess. 5:6).
His return will bring destruction upon the universe. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat” (2 Peter 3:10).
Although his coming is unpredictable, Jesus listed signs that would precede his return which give believers some sense of its approach. Many commentators have realized that the signs listed in Matthew 24 may refer to two events; first to the destruction of Jerusalem during the time of Titus in 70 A.D., and secondly to Christ’s return and the end of the world as we know it.
These signs include the rise of false Christs and false prophets who will perform counterfeit signs leading to many turning away from the faith. Believers will face great tribulation and persecution so that “if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened” (Matt. 24:22). Many will become martyrs.
There will be wars, famines, earthquakes and a great increase in wickedness and decrease in love. A growing preponderance of signs will indicate that the return of Christ may be near, especially this sign; “this gospel shall be preached in all the world for a witness and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). There will also be signs in the heavens, “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (Matt 24:29). But “no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven” (Matt. 24:36). When it occurs, it will be obvious. Christ “is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels” (2 Thess. 1:7).
The abomination of desolation will appear. An infallible sign will be the revelation of the anti-Christ which will occur just before the return of Christ. For Christ will not return “until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction [who opposes and exalts] himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped [setting] himself up in God’s temple proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thess. 2:3,4).
When Christ does come in the clouds, he will resurrect all those who died in faith and gather them together with all those who remain alive at that time. “We believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 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” (1 Thess. 4:14-17).
After death men and women will face judgment—the timing of which is controversial. What is clear is that Christ will confirm that the effect of his death upon the cross is to take away all the sins of those who put their trust in him. “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring to salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Heb. 9:27,28). Believers will give an account of how they have lived out their faith. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). This judgment will include meting out rewards for how Christians faced persecution and served God. “Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven” (Matt 5:11 –12).
Evil angels and those who know not Christ as Saviour will be judged and cast into eternal punishment in hell. God “will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess 1:8,9). “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8; Matt. 13:49,50). (See also the parable of the rich man and Lazurus in Luke 16:22-24.)
Judgment will also affect the physical universe. “The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7). At his return “the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be” (2 Peter 3:10,11). After that destruction, God will create a new heaven and new earth. “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea” (Rev. 21:1).
Concerning many of the details of eschatology—the study of end times—there is considerable disagreement among sincere Christians. Will there be a thousand-year reign before the final end as believed by pre-millennials, or no unique earthly reign as believed by, a-millennials? Will the spread of the gospel gradually lead to the betterment of the earth as believed by post-millennials? Will there be two judgements? Will there be a distinct time of terrible tribulation and if so, will believers be raptured out of it before it begins, in the middle of a seven year period, or afterward?
Historically, Christians have not been dogmatic about last things. The Nicene creed merely states: “He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end. …We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.”
The Westminster Confession of 1646 mentions the judgment concerning which date no one knows, the state of the soul after death, the resurrection, glorification of believers, and the eternal torment of the unsaved.
In whatever way God may unfold the mysteries of last things, ultimately, we look forward to the victory of Christ over all evil and the establishment of a peaceable kingdom in which his glory will shine.
“Even so come Lord Jesus!” Meanwhile, let us be busy seeking to advance God’s spiritual kingdom through preaching the gospel.
The end of a new book tentatively entitled; Doctrine For Dummies
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