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Pre-Wrath Second Coming of Christ

Blog 1   The importance the doctrine of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

1.1   Statistics

The first coming of Jesus Christ to the earth is the focal point of history. What He accomplished with His life of exegeting the Father, His sacrificial death, and His powerful resurrection was the first part of God’s great plan of redemption. He must return to reclaim all that He redeemed, including the earth itself. He must finish His work and complete God’s plan. Christ’s return is what all history is heading to. This will bring the culmination of the ages. Therefore, the doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming is one of major emphasis in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament.

John MacArthur (2006) listed several statistics in proof of this point:

“Prophecy occupies one-fifth of Scripture; and the Second Coming occupies one-third of that one-fifth. Of the 333 prophecies concerning Christ, only 109 of them were fulfilled in His First Coming, leaving 224 yet to be fulfilled in His Second Coming. Of the forty-six Old Testament prophets, less than ten of them speak of events in Christ’s First Coming, while thirty-six of them speak of events connected with His Second Coming. There is a total of 1,527 Old Testament passages referring to the Second Coming. There are 7,959 verses in the New Testament, 330 of which refer directly to the Second Coming (i.e., one out of twenty-five). Next to the subject of faith, the subject of the Second Coming is the most dominant subject in the New Testament.” (p. 1)

Jeremiah (2016) citing Hitchcock (1991) contended, “The 260 chapters of the New Testament contain 318 references to the Second Coming of Christ” (p.241). Obviously, something of this magnitude in God’s Word is something that Christians must understand. If every “jot and tittle” is important, according to Jesus (Matt. 5:18), then certainly the doctrine of His Second Coming, which according to Paul in Titus 2:13 is our “blessed hope”, is something that all Christians should have a clear understanding of.

1.2   Why must Jesus Christ return?

Mac Arthur (2006) further emphasized the importance of the subject of Jesus’ return by giving several points and sub points of reasons why Jesus must come again to the earth. His main points were that God’s person, God’s program, and God’s priorities all demand that Christ returns (pp. 4-34).

When most people think of Jesus, naturally, they think of His First Advent. That is known history. Jesus accomplished mighty things. Van Kampen (1999) exclaimed, “At His first coming He permanently reversed the consequences of sin – spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God – and paid the price for the redemption of a people of His own choosing…” (p. 62). But that wasn’t the end of the story. That only paved the way for the culmination of God’s plan of the ages. Van Kampen (1999) cited four major things that Christ will accomplish with His Second Coming:

• “Christ will rescue the citizens of God’s kingdom…from the terrible persecution of Antichrist…” (p. 64).
• “He will destroy all those inhabitants of the kingdom of darkness…” (p. 64).
• “Christ, at His coming, will reclaim for God the unsaved remnant of Abraham (Israel) who survive God’s judgment…” (p. 64).
• “Christ will be given physical possession of the earth by God Almighty…[who] will bring to fulfillment His kingdom as determined in eternity past” (p. 65).

God’s plan of redemption has to be completed when He will come again to destroy the kingdom of darkness and reclaim all that He purchased at Calvary, including creation itself (Rom. 8:19-21). MacArthur (1973) stressed that because of all the Old Testament prophecies of God concerning the events that are a part of Christ’s return, and because of the clear words of Jesus that He will come again (Jn. 14:3), the credibility of both God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, would be destroyed if Jesus doesn’t come back. Therefore, as emphasized by MacLeod (1999), “Too often, Christians have conceived of the Incarnation as the only focus of God’s dealings with the world, when in reality there are two focal points: the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ” (p. 204). Jeremiah (2016) agreed, “We give great attention to His first coming, as we should, but His second coming deserves no less. In fact, I could make a strong case for an even greater emphasis on the Second Coming than on the first” (pp. 240-241).

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is an extremely essential part of God’s plan for all the ages. Therefore, He has given it a major portion of His special revelation to man, the Bible. It behooves us, therefore, to know and understand the events and concepts that are involved. This knowledge, and the application thereof, could greatly impact a Christian’s life. Further, if a Christian’s life is changed, it will influence the lives of those he interacts with. The Second Coming is an important doctrine for Christians to understand, as emphasized by the scholars who speak to this issue.

References

Jeremiah, D. (2016). Is this the end? Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

MacArthur, J. (2006). The second coming of Jesus Christ. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

MacArthur, J. (1973). Why Jesus must return to earth, part 1. Grace to You. Retrieved from  https://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/1320#top

MacLeod, D. J. (1999). The first ‘last thing’: The second coming of Christ (Rev. 19:11-16). Bibliotheca Sacra, 156(622), 203-220. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ccu.edu:2073/ehost/detail/detail?vid=31&sid=c7eb2f2c-eff2-411f-93c3-db6fe21a08c4%40sessionmgr107&hid=116&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=rfh&AN=ATLA0000984880

Van Kampen, R. (1999). The sign of Christ’s coming and the end of the age. Wheaton, IL:     Crossway Books, a division of Good News publishers.