The Importance of Christ's Return
PHAP
The most certain thing in all the world is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ
to this earth. The unbroken testimony of Scripture and the personal promise
of our Lord Himself speaks of our Lord's return. From Genesis to
Revelation the Bible is replete with the promises of His Second Advent.
Because of the denial of the Second Coming by so many in these latter
days, it is important to see from the Word of God the prominence of this
truth throughout the Scriptures. There are a great many believers who are
under the false impression that, while the Bible teaches the Second Coming,
it is not a cardinal doctrine, not a doctrine of great importance and not
necessarily fundamental. They say, "Of course, we believe in the Second
Coming, but after all it is not a fundamental doctrine. It is not essential to
salvation."
Such statements reveal that the ones who hold such an opinion have not
studied the Word of God and have not searched the Bible carefully. If these
folks are right, then the Holy Spirit certainly made a mistake by giving this
truth of the return of Christ such a prominent place throughout the entire
Bible. Without His Second Coming, the First Coming of Christ is
incomplete, and His work is a partial failure. Without His Second Coming,
hundreds of passages in the Bible are untrue, the apostles and the prophets
were tragically deceived, God becomes unfaithful and Jesus Christ Himself
was mistaken concerning His coming again. There can be no hope for the
world, for Israel or for the believer without belief in the fact of the Second
Coming of Christ for His own.
Prominence of the Event
To quote all the passages in the Old and New Testament dealing with the
Second Coming of Christ and the events associated with it would mean
quoting about one-third of the entire Bible. About one verse in three deals
with some phase of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The very
first promise in the Bible is a promise of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
In Genesis 3, verse 15, God declares war on the devil in these words, "And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
There are two promises contained in this verse, one concerning the First
Coming, the other promise concerning the Second. The promise of the First
Coming is the bruising of the heel of the seed of the woman, who is Jesus
Christ. This promise was literally fulfilled nineteen hundred years ago when
the Lord Jesus was nailed to the Cross of Calvary and His heel bruised
against the cruel Cross. There is another promise in this verse, however, one
not yet fulfilled, the bruising of the serpent's head. This will be fulfilled at the
Second Coming of Christ, according to the twentieth chapter of Revelation.
Just as the first promise in the Old Testament contains the assurance of His
Second Coming, so the last promise in the Old Testament also speaks of the
Lord's Second Coming. In Malachi 4 the prophet is speaking of Christ's
return at the Day of the Lord when he says,
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud,
yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall
burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor
branch.
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with
healing in his wings (Malachi 4:1-2).
You will notice that this is a promise concerning the Second Coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ, here called the "Sun of righteousness." When He comes
for the church in the Rapture He comes as the "Morning Star." When He
comes to earth the second time, He comes as the "Sun of righteousness."
The first promise, and the last promise, in the Old Testament concern our
Lord's Second Coming. Between these two are hundreds of other promises
by Moses, David, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the rest of the
prophets.
The Same in the New Testament
The same is true of the New Testament Scriptures. The first promise of the
New Testament, coupled with the announcement of His First Coming, is the
promise of His Second Coming. Many have missed this. In Luke, chapter 1,
verse 30, the angel gives Mary the promise of our Lord's Second Coming:
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with
God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and
shalt call his name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord
God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).
This announcement of His birth is accompanied by the prophecy of His
Second Coming as King to reign over the house of Jacob forever, and to
establish His Kingdom. Just as the first promise in the New Testament
contains the promise of His coming again, so, too, with the last promise in
the New Testament and in the Bible. In Revelation 22:20 Jesus, speaking
through John the Apostle, says "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely
I come quickly. Amen." That is the last promise of the Holy Spirit in the
Bible. Here, too, is the last prayer which is found in the Bible: "Even so,
come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).
The last promise of the Bible and the prayer with which it closes concern
His coming again. How can anyone, therefore, say that the Bible does not
teach the return of Jesus when the Holy Spirit places such importance and
emphasis on the subject? How dare anyone say that it is not a cardinal,
important, fundamental, basic doctrine? How can any one accuse us of
preaching too much and too often on the truth of Christ's return? How can
we avoid the truth when it is found on almost every page of the Scriptures?
The Last Words of Our Lord Jesus
What was the thing the Lord Jesus talked about during the last few days
with His disciples? We might expect in those last few hours of His life that
He would talk about the Cross and His agony and His suffering and His
death. We might expect Him to look for sympathy and for pity from His
followers and disciples. How surprising, then, to find that, in the last days
before Calvary, He did little more than mention His coming passion,
suffering and death. He talked, instead, almost exclusively and continuously
about His coming again at the end of the age, and the signs of His coming
again. Read carefully Matthew 24 and 25, Luke 21, Mark 11, 12 and 13 or
John 14. These chapters deal with His coming again and the signs of the end
of the age. In them, Jesus answers the question of His disciples, "Tell us,
when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and the
end of the age?"
[1]
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[1]De Haan, M. R. (1997). The signs of the times. Originally published:
Signs of the times, and other prophetic messages. Grand Rapids, Mich. :
Zondervan Pub., 1951. (18). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
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