PAROUSIA SECOND COMING of JESUS: SEVEN BIBLICAL SIGNS of the SECOND COMING of JESUS CHRIST
At “midnight,” in earth’s darkest hour, God will manifest His power to deliver His people. Scripture describes the events: “A loud voice” comes out of the “temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’” This voice shakes the earth, causing such “a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth” (Rev. 16:17, 18). The mountains shake, rocks are scattered everywhere, and the whole earth heaves like the waves of the ocean. Its surface breaks up “and the cities of the nations fell. . . .Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” (verses 19, 20). “The sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place” (Rev. 6:14).
Despite the chaos descending upon the physical world, God’s people take courage as they see “‘the sign of the Son of Man’” (Matt. 24:30). As He descends on the clouds of heaven, every eye sees the Prince of life. He comes, this time, not as a man of sorrows, but as victor and conqueror to claim His own. In place of the crown of thorns, He wears a crown of glory, and “on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:12, 16).
At His coming great despair grips those who have refused to acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, and have rejected the claim of His law on their lives. Nothing makes the rejecters of His grace so aware of their guilt as that voice that had pleaded so patiently, “‘”Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die?”‘” (Ezekiel 33:11). “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'” (Rev. 6:15-17).
But the joy of those who have long looked for Him overshadows the despair of the wicked. The coming of the Redeemer brings to its glorious climax the history of God’s people; it is the moment of their deliverance. With thrilling adoration they cry out: “‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation’” (Isa. 25:9).
As Jesus draws near, He calls His sleeping saints from the graves and commissions His angels to “‘gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other'” (Matt. 24:31). Around the world the righteous dead hear His voice and rise from their graves—glad moment! Then the living righteous are changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52). Glorified and given immortality, together with the resurrected saints they are caught up to meet their Lord in the air to remain with Him forever (1 Thess. 4:16, 17).
The Certainty of Christ’s Return
The apostles and early Christians considered Christ’s return “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13; cf. Heb. 9:28). They expected all the prophecies and promises of Scripture to be fulfilled at the Second Advent (see 2 Peter 3:13; cf. Isa. 65:17), for it is the very goal of the Christian pilgrimage. All who love Christ look forward eagerly to the day when they will be able to share face-to-face fellowship with Him
The Testimony of Scripture
The certainty of the Second Advent is rooted in the trustworthiness of the Scripture. Just before His death Jesus told His disciples that He would be returning to His Father to prepare a place for them. But He promised, “‘I will come again’” (John 14:3).
As Christ’s first coming to this earth had been prophesied, so His second coming is also foretold through all of Scripture. Even before the Flood God told Enoch that it was Christ’s coming in glory that would end sin. He prophesied, “‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him'” (Jude 14, 15).
One thousand years before Christ, the psalmist spoke of the Lord’s coming to gather His people, saying, “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people: ‘Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice'” (Ps. 50:3-5).
Christ’s disciples rejoiced in the promise of His return. Amid all the difficulties they encountered, the assurance this promise brought never failed to renew their courage and strength. Their Master was coming back to take them to His Father’s house!
The Guarantee the First Advent Provides
The Second Advent is closely tied to Christ’s first advent. If Christ had not come the first time and won a decisive victory over sin and Satan (Col. 2:15), then we would have no reason to believe that He will eventually come to end Satan’s dominion of this world and to restore it to its original perfection. But since we have the evidence that He “appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,” we have reason to believe that He “will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Heb. 9:26, 28).
Christ’s Heavenly Ministry
Christ’s revelation to John makes it clear that the heavenly sanctuary is central to the plan of salvation (Rev. 1:12, 13; 3:12; 4:1-5; 5:8; 7:15; 8:3; 11:1, 19; 14:15, 17; 15:5, 6, 8; 16:1, 17). The prophecies that indicate that He has begun His final ministry on behalf of sinners add to the assurance that soon He will return to take His people home (see chapter 23 of this book). The confidence that Christ is actively working to bring to consummation the redemption already accomplished at the cross has brought great encouragement to Christians who are looking forward to His return.
7 Signs of Christ’s Return
As Christ spoke about the signs that would indicate that His coming was near, He also indicated concern that His people not be deceived by false claims. He warned that before the Second Advent:
- “‘False christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.'” He said, “‘If anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it'” (Matt. 24:24, 23). Forewarned is forearmed. To enable believers to distinguish between the genuine event and a false coming, several Biblical passages reveal details of the manner in which Christ will return.
- A Literal and Personal Return. When Jesus ascended in a cloud, two angels addressed the disciples, who were still gazing up after their departed Lord: “‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven'” (Acts 1:11).
In other words, they said that the same Lord who had just left them—a personal, flesh-and-blood being, not some spirit entity (Luke 24:36-43)—would return to earth. And His Second Advent would be as literal and personal as His departure.
- A Visible Return.Christ’s coming will not be an inward, invisible experience but a real meeting with a visible Person. Leaving no room whatsoever for doubt as to the visibility of His return, Jesus warned His disciples against being taken in by a secret second coming by comparing His return to the brilliance of lightning (Matt. 24:27).
Scripture clearly states that the righteous and the wicked will simultaneously witness His coming. John wrote, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him” (Rev. 1:7), and Christ noted the response of the wicked: “‘All the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory'” (Matt. 24:30).
- An Audible Return. Adding to the picture of a universal awareness of Christ’s return is the Biblical assertion that His coming will be made known by sound as well as sight: “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thess. 4:16). The “‘great sound of a trumpet'” (Matt. 24:31) accompanies the gathering of His people. There is no secrecy here.
- When Christ returns, He comes as a conqueror, with power and “‘in the glory of His Father with His angels'” (Matt. 16:27). John the revelator portrays the glory of Christ’s return in a most dramatic way. He pictures Christ riding on a white horse and leading the innumerable armies of heaven. The supernatural splendor of the glorified Christ is apparent (Rev. 19:11-16).
- A Sudden, Unexpected Return. Christian believers, longing and looking for Christ’s return, will be aware when it draws near (1 Thess. 5:4-6). But for the inhabitants of the world in general, Paul wrote, “The day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:2, 3; cf. Matt. 24:43).
Some have concluded that Paul’s comparison of Christ’s coming to that of a thief indicates that He will come in some secret, invisible manner. However, such a view contradicts the Biblical picture of Christ’s return in glory and splendor in view of everyone (Rev. 1:7). Paul’s point is not that Christ’s coming is secret, but that, for the worldly minded, it is as unexpected as that of a thief.
Christ makes the same point by comparing His coming with the unexpected destruction of the antediluvian world by the Flood. “‘For as in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man'” (Matt. 24:38, 39, NIV). Though Noah had preached for many years about a coming flood, it took most people by surprise. There were two classes of people living. One class believed Noah’s word and went into the ark and was saved, the other chose to stay outside the ark and the “‘flood came and took them all away'” (Matt. 24:39).
- A Cataclysmic Event.Like the simile of the Flood, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the metal image depicts the cataclysmic manner in which Christ will establish His kingdom of glory .
