Essential Theology for Troubling Times

The Second Coming

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then those who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words.” - 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18

Our Savior and Lord is coming again - a second and final time.  This should be encouraging to His church - an event that we should be looking forward to with great expectation!  What a homecoming that day will be, to be with all the old and new testament saints, to be with loved ones who died in Christ - with all the redeemed!   The bible reminds us too that all things will be made new; there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, and no more death! (cf. Revelation 21:4)

The second coming is not going to be some kind of secret entrance from our Lord either.  Scripture tells us that every eye will see Him (cf. Rev.1:7) and it will happen in a twinkling of an eye (cf. 1 Cor. 15:52).  No one knows, Jesus says, when that day is coming, but He warned us to be ready! (cf. Matt. 24:44)  As a part of being ready, we are called to be the people God has called us to be and we should be diligent about fulfilling the great commission - “making disciples” of Jesus Christ!  We are to focus on being His ambassadors and witnesses to a lost world.

Although it will be a great day for His church, it will be an equally terrible day for the unredeemed.  Like in the “days of Noah” there will be no second chances.  All opportunities to accept God’s free gift of salvation will be over and “anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).

May the church of the living God be found busy “seeking and saving the lost” at His return!

rodney