Should there be a Sudden Rending of the sky, a lightning-like flash, the sound of trumpets such as our ears have never heard—if Christ should suddenly appear in the sky with his holy angels—what would our reaction be?
It will happen!
One of the most frequently mentioned truths of all Scripture is that Jesus Christ is coming again. Strange to say, it is probably the most abused as well as the most neglected teaching in the Bible. Some ignore it altogether, and others distort it.
The time of Christ’s return has been the subject of much foolish speculation. Some people become so interested in the details of events of that future time that they fall to wrangling among themselves and in so doing becloud the whole transcendent fact that Christ is coming again.
Generally speaking, there are four schools of thought on this subject. Some people flatly deny that Christ is to return in person. We will not deal here with this group; many among them even question the uniqueness of Christ as the eternal Son of God, and their position hardly comes within the purview of Christian consideration.
Most differences of opinion center on when Christ will come. Postmillenarians believe in the gradual improvement of conditions on earth until the millennium is ushered in, after which Christ will appear.
A second and larger group is the amillenarians, who believe in his return, but also believe that the millennium described in Revelation 20 is figurative rather than literal.
Finally, there are the premillenarians, who believe in the imminent return of the Lord to set up his reign on the earth for a thousand years. After that Satan will be released for a short time, finally to be destroyed by Christ and the armies of heaven.
Because of the strong convictions held on these matters, few people will be pleased by this article, but I feel constrained to write because so many good people are beclouding a transcendent and glorious truth by arguing over details of secondary importance.
What is of paramount concern is the fact that Christ is coming back to this earth.
As he ascended to heaven after his resurrection, and while his disciples were gazing upward in amazement and awe, two men clothed in white suddenly stood near and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
“This same Jesus … shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” These words are as clear and specific as words can be.
If this were an isolated statement that was at variance with the general teaching of Scripture, we might be constrained to look for some other meaning. But it coincides perfectly with what our Lord said on a number of occasions and with what the writers of the Epistles and of Revelation reiterated again and again.
What a stupendous thought! What a portentous event! From our position in the twentieth century, we remember that Christ lived on earth two millenniums ago. While we may accept the fact of his resurrection, it is easy to give him—so far as his bodily presence is concerned—a place in past history. We fail to realize that with our own physical eyes we may see him at any moment!
It is at this point that the tragedy of controversy over the second coming is most poignant and that the silence of many believers becomes so distressing.
The doctrine of the second coming of Christ centers in the fact that he is to return. He himself affirmed this truth on many occasions. Speaking to his confused and sorrowing disciples, he said, “Let not your heart be troubled.… I will come again.” Then, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Repeatedly he gave such assurances to his disciples.
The Holy Spirit, speaking through the disciples, affirmed the same truth. In First Thessalonians 4:16, we read: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.” And in Revelation 1:7, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.”
Christ spoke of his return as a sudden event: “As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” He compares his return to the sudden destruction that came on Noah’s generation, and to the unexpected entrance of a thief at midnight.
The imminent return of the Lord has been the comfort and hope of the saints down through the ages since his ascension. That he has delayed so long serves to emphasize the fact that for him a thousand years are but a day. He is not “slack” in keeping his promise, but rather is longsuffering toward sinful men and anxious for them to repent while there is still time.
In their enthusiasm for the subject of the second coming, some are likely to confuse the infinitudes of God and eternity with time and space as we know them. Einstein’s theory of relativity, the splitting of the atom, and yet undiscovered facts of the universe may well give inklings of what Christ will do and how he will do it, but this does not mean that this world and the universe of which it is a part will continue to be governed by laws as we now know them. Paul may have given a hint in First Corinthians 1:27–29; the God of creation can easily use “things which are not, to bring to naught things that are.”
But even more reprehensible than the setting up of details and schedules pertaining to the Lord’s coming are the strange phenomena of silence and indifference. European theologians, far less certain of a man-made utopia than some of their American confreres, urged the World Council of Churches in its Evanston meeting years ago to face squarely the doctrine of last things, and in subsequent discussions were far more inclined to follow a biblical approach than some in this country.
Why the resounding silence concerning Christ’s second coming in so many American pulpits today? Why ignore a truth as clearly taught as any to be found in Holy Writ? Why deny to men the thrilling fact that Christ is coming back and that he is the hope of the world? The fact is inescapable that he is going to return to this earth, and there is no truth more calculated to galvanize attention, to promote right living, and to generate witnessing zeal.
The early Church found the hope of Christ’s coming a constant source of comfort and a spur to righteous living. This hope can do the same for the Church today.
